Latin/Adjectives Lesson 2
Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity! We are continuing adjectives with the 3rd declension forms this week. If you’re just joining us and want to catch up, there are links on the right.
New Grammar
editAdjectives of the 3rd declension are declined like nouns of the 3rd declension, with a few important exceptions. There is usually no distinction between masculine and feminine, so usually the dictionary listings are for m/f and neuter nominative. (Dictionaries will list m,f,n if there are 3 different forms, and in this case the stem comes from the nom. f. They will list nominative followed by genitive if there is only one nominative form). Third declension adjectives always have the i-stem in the genitive plural, and neuters have i-stems in the nominative and accusative plural. And the ablative singular ending is –ī instead of –e. Here's a chart:
| case | singular (m/f) | singular (n) | plural (m/f) | plural (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom | gravis | grave | gravēs | gravia |
| Gen | gravis | gravis | gravium | gravium |
| Dat | gravī | gravī | gravibus | gravibus |
| Acc | gravem | grave | gravēs | gravia |
| Abl | gravī | gravī | gravibus | gravibus |
Here is a good reference site for 3rd declension adjectives. Another thing to remember about adjectives (of any type) is that sometimes they are used substantively, that is, taking the place of a noun. We do this in English (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) but not nearly as often as in Latin. It will frequently make a big difference if the adjective is m/f (omnēs – everyone, all people) or n. (omnia = everything, all things).
| Latin | English | Audio (Classical) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| brevis, e | short | ||
| difficilis, e | difficult | ||
| dulcis, e | sweet | ||
| facilis, e | easy | ||
| fēlīx, fēlīcis (one form in nom. s.) | happy, lucky, fortunate | ||
| fortis, e | strong, brave | ||
| gravis, e | heavy, serious, severe | ||
| juvenis, e | young | ||
| omnis, e | every, all | ||
| senex, senis (one form in nom. s.) | old, aged; an old man or woman | ||
| similis, e | like, similar (used with gen. or dat. case to complete the meaning) | ||
| trīstis, e | sad |
New Sentences
edit| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arca est gravis. | The box is heavy. | |
| Mārcus est brevis, sed Gāius est altus. | Marcus is short, but Gaius is tall. | |
| Aranea est fēlix, sed musca est trīstis. | The spider is happy, but the fly is sad. | |
| Proelium est longum et difficile. | The battle is long and difficult. | |
| Via est longa et difficilis. | The road is long and difficult. | |
| Lūcia in viā longā et difficili ambulat. | Lucia walks on the long and difficult road. | |
| In gravī perīculō sumus! | We are in serious danger! | |
| Senex multōs nepōtēs juvenēs habet. | The old man has many young grandchildren. | |
| Uxōrēs nautārum fēlicium mulierēs fortēs sunt. | The wives of the happy sailors are strong women. | |
| Omnia amō. | I like/ love everything. | |
| Omnēs amō. | I like/ love everyone. | |
| Omnia sunt bona. | Everything is good | lit. All things are good. |
| Omnēs in hortō labōrant. | Everyone is working in the garden | lit. All people are working in the garden. |
| Puerī juvenēs trīstēs sunt quod dulciola nōn sunt dulcia. | The young boys are sad because the candies are not sweet. | |
| Māter librum fēlicem puerīs trīstibus legit. | Mother reads a happy book to the sad boys. | |
| Virtūs mīlitum fortium est magna. | The courage of the brave soldiers is great. | |
| Fīlius est similis patrīs (patrī). | The son is like the father. | |
| Fīliī similēs patrum (patribus) sunt. | Sons are like fathers. | |
| Amīcī meī similēs familiae sunt. | My friends are like a family. | |
| Paula librum tristem legit. | Paula reads a sad book. | |
| Discipulī librōs dē omnibus legunt. | The students read books about everything. | |
| Schola nōn est facilis. | School is not easy. | |
| Senēs et juvenēs librum bonum amant. | Old and young people love a good book. | |
| Soror mea ovem juvenem in difficilibus montibus videt. | My sister sees a young sheep in the difficult mountains. | |
| Post mortem trīstem mātrīs meae, pater meus uxōrem nōvam habet. | After the sad death of my mother, my father has a new wife. | |
| Amor omnia vincit. | Love conquers all. | |
| Fortēs fortuna juvat. | Fortune favors the brave. |
Practice
edit| Practice and learn the words and phrases in this lesson | |
|---|---|
| Step one | First learn the words using this lesson: |
| Step two | Next try learning and writing the sentencing using this: |
| Note that the Memrise stage covers the content for all lessons in each stage. If you are skipping previous stages you may need to manually "ignore" the words in previous levels (use the 'select all' function) | |
Now that we have a wide variety of adjectives and nouns, the next lesson will be more systematic study of present tense verbs. We hope you are enjoying exploring Latin.
Valēte!