VTP: Lesson - Advanced Grammar Review: Nouns

Vocative Case - used for direct address.

• The vocative case is (almost always) placed second in a sentence and will usually be set off by commas
  • Note that English will place the vocative either first or last, most often, and will separate the vocative with a comma.
• The vocative case (almost always) borrows nominative forms in Latin
  • Exception: 2nd declension masculine nouns ending in -us (change to e) or -ius (drop -us).
• Examples:
  • Salve, Marce! - Hello, Marcus!
  • Necesse, puellae, est diligentissime studere. - Girls, it is necessary to study most diligently. 

Locative Case - used to express the position (in, at) with certain noun types (names of cities, names of small islands, and the nouns: domus, rus, and humus).

• The locative case uses special endings in the 1st and 2nd declension only. For 3rd-5th declension, simply use the ablative form.
  • 1st Declension: singular = ae; plural = is
  • 2nd Declension: singlular = -i; plural = is
  • domus = singular = domi.
• Example:
  • Copiae Romae collocatae sunt. - The troops were stationed in Rome.
  • Meus pater domi mansit. - My father waited at home.

The genitive case has two main uses outside of the main possessive use:

Partitive genitive: when expressing a part of the whole, we use the genitive case.

• Common introductory words for partitive genitives: multi (many), pauci (a few), nihil (none), pars (part)
• The 1st and 2nd person plural genitive pronoun will end in -um for the partitive genitive: nostrum (of us), vestrum (of you)
• Examples:
  • Multi Romanorum in insulis habitabant. - Many of the Romans lived in apartments (called insulae).
    • The "Romans" are the whole. "Many" describes a part of that whole.
  • Nihil temporis habemus. - We have no time (literally: nothing of time).
    • "Time" is the whole. "Nihil" is used to describe what part of time "we have" - in this case, the part is zero!
  • Utinam pauci nostrum in templo precentur. - May a few of us pray in the temple.
• Exceptions:
  • When using cardinal numbers (unus, duo, tres, etc.), we do not use the genitive, but use the preposition ex with ablative:
    • Septem ex militibus in impetu perierunt. - Seven of the soldiers died in the battle.

Objective Genitive: when the genitive acts as an object for a noun with verbal force. For this use, you'll typically translate the genitive "for" and it's easier to understand what the usage is by looking at some examples.

• Note: this is essentially the only time you will use the genitive form of the 1st/2nd person personal pronouns (mei, tui, nostri, vestri). Note that the plural forms end in -i (partitive = -um; object = -i: so we have nostrum/nostri). 
• Examples:
  • Curam mei habes. - You have care for me. (This could easily be translated: You care for me.)
    • The noun "care" has a sense of "doing something" which is what is meant by "verbal force."
  • Miles approprinquans erat maius periculum nostri. - The approaching soldier was a bigger danger for us.

The Dative case in Latin is used for more than just the indirect object. Let's look at three additional uses that we've seen before.

Dative with Special Adjectives: there is a set of adjectives in Latin that can be completed with a dative case noun. These include:

• amicus (friendly to), difficilis (difficult for), dissimilis (similar to), facilis (easy for), fidelis (faithful to), inimicus (unfriendly to), par (equal to), similis (similar to), utilis (useful to/for).
• Examples:
  • Modus in quo didicimus difficilis multis discipulis erat. - The way that we learned was difficult for many students.
  • Cum Augustus leges faceret, non iam erat par senatui sed super eum. - When Augustus was making laws, he was no longer equal to the senate but above it.

Dative of Possession: when used with the linking verb esse, the dative case can express possession. dat + esse is often translated "to have."

• We actually first saw this construction in Latin I when we learned how to say "My name is..." in Latin:
  • Mihi nomen est... Mihi = dative of possession (the name for me is...)
• Additional Examples:
  • Est mihi liber quem legere malis. - I have a book which you might like to read. (lit: there is a book for me...)
  • Viros quibus opes nullae sunt adiuvare volumus. - We want to help the men who have no wealth. (lit: for whom there is no wealth)

Dative of Purpose: also called the double dative, this construction uses (you guessed it!) two dative forms. The first expresses a purpose (with as or for) and the second provides the receiver of the purpose (with for). The two datives are (almost always) placed together, with the purpose expressed first.

• Common nouns used for expressing purpose are: auxilio (help), curae (care, worry), impedimento (hindrance), praesidio (garrison/guard), subsidio (support), usui (advantage).
• Examples:
  • Caesar duas legiones praesidio urbi reliquit. - Caesar left two legions behind as a garrison for the city.
    • Alternative translation: Caesar left two legions behind to protect the city. Can you see why it's called dative of purpose now?
  • Hostes muros impedimento copiis nostris aedificaverunt. - The enemy built walls as a hindrance to our troops.