TO: Lesson - 4th Declension Nouns

Image: letter tiles spell out the word FEAR

4th Declension Nouns

In Latin I, we learned about 1st, 2nd and 3rd declension nouns. It is now time to turn our attention to the last two declensions, 4th declension and 5th declension.

Noun Review

Nouns are traditionally defined as those words which describe a person, place or thing. In Latin, a noun can be identified by a unique set of inflections (endings) which describe case and number. Because of these endings, nouns are separated into groups or families, called Declensions. In Latin I, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd declensions were covered. Please refer to the Latin I Noun Review Links to an external site. handout for additional details and review on these declensions.

4th Declension Nouns

As with all nouns, the declension of the noun is determined by the genitive ending. 4th declension nouns use the ending -us for the genitive singular. To obtain the base of a 4th declension noun, drop the -us from the genitive form. This is the same method used for all nouns. Let's look at a dictionary entry for a 4th declension noun:

  • metus, metus, m. - fear
    • 1st item: metus = nominative singular
    • 2nd item: metus = genitive singualr
    • 3rd item: m. = gender (m = masculine)
    • 4th item: fear = English meaning

The second word listed, metus, is the genitive form. Note the -us ending, marking this word as a 4th declension noun.

To obtain the base, use the genitive form and remove the genitive ending -us:

  • Noun Base: genitive form - genitive ending
    • metus - us = met-

4th declension nouns are mostly masculine, but a few are either feminine or neuter. Feminine nouns in the 4th declension use the same endings as the masculine, while neuter nouns in the 4th declension do have a few unique endings.