SP: Lesson - Noun-Adjective Agreement

Noun-Adjective Agreement

The image depicts a Roman grave marker from the 1st c. CE in Philippi, Greece. Note that the marker indicates that the interred was a Quaestor. Can you make out any additional information?

The English word grave comes from the 3rd Declension adjective gravis, grave.

3rd declension adjectives, like all adjectives in Latin, must agree with the noun they describe in three ways:

• Case
• Number
• Gender

Since declension is not included in that list, that means that 3rd declension adjectives can agree with nouns from any declension. Also not included in that list: the ending. Adjectives and nouns are linked grammatically, rather than by external characteristics (endings). Even so, it will often be true that an adjective shares its noun's ending, just because adjectives borrow their endings from nouns. Both sets of noun-adjective pairs agree below:

• cum militibus acribus
  • In this first example, the adjective acribus shares the same ending as militibus because they are both 3rd declension, and so use the same masculine, ablative and plural ending (-ibus). 
• cum agricolis acribus
  • In this second example, agricolis is 2nd declension: we can still tell that acribus describes this noun, because the two words are both masculine, ablative and plural (2nd declension = -is; 3rd declension = -ibus).

To determine whether an adjective agrees with a noun, analyze the noun for its case, number and gender.

Noun-Adjective Agreement

Initial Question	Latin Sentence	Analysis	Conclusion
What form of the adjective acer, acris, acre would agree with the noun vir in the following sentence?	Vir ________ erat senator bonus. - The man was a good senator.	Case: Vir is the subject, so it is nominative.  Number: The nominative ending -ir is singular.  Gender: vir, viri is masculine. So, the adjective that agrees with vir must be nominative singular masculine: acer	Vir acer erat senator bonus. - The keen man was a good senator.
What form of the adjective fortis, forte would agree with the noun fides in the following sentence?	Selene fidem ________ in Pseudolo habuit. - Selene had stong faith in Pseudolus.	Case: fidem is the direct object, so it is accusative. Number: The accusative ending -em is singular. Gender: fides, fidei is feminine. So, the adjective that agrees with fidem must be accusative singular feminine: fortem	Selene fidem fortem in Pseudolo habuit. - Selene had strong faith in Pseudolus.
What form of the adjective audax (gen. audacis) would agree with the noun impetus in the following sentence?	Senator impetibus ________ revocavit. - The senator countered with bold attacks.	Case: impetibus is the ablative of means (with what did he counter?), so it is ablative.  Number: The ablative ending -ibus is plural.  Gender: impetus, impetus is masculine. So, the adjective that agrees with impetibus must be ablative plural masculine: audacibus	Senator impetibus audacibus revocavit. - The senator countered with bold attacks.

Noun-Adjective Pair Examples - Fully Declined

Let's see what it looks like when we use an adjective to describe a noun.

• Adjective:
  • acer, acris, acre - sharp, fierce
    • Base: acr-
• Nouns:
  • exercitus, exercitus, m. - army
  • res, rei, f. - thing, matter
  • bellum, belli, n. - war

Noun-Adjective Pairs

	Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
Case	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	exercitus acer	exercitus acres	res acris	res acres	bellum acre	bella acria
Genitive	exercitus acris	exercituum acrium	rei acris	rerum acrium	belli acris	bellorum acrium
Dative	exercitui acri	exercitibus acribus	rei acri	rebus acribus	bello acri	bellis acribus
Accusative	exercitum acrem	exercitus acres	rem acrem	res acres	bellum acre	bella acria
Ablative	exercitu acri	exercitibus acribus	re acri	rebus acribus	bello acri	bellis acribus
Vocative	exercitus acer	exercitus acres	res acris	res acres	bellum acre	bella acria

Nota bene: 3rd declension adjectives, like acer, can be used with nouns of any declension, as demonstrated by this chart. For additional examples of noun-adjective pairs using 3rd declension adjectives, please download the More Notes on Adjectives Links to an external site. handout.