Latin/First Declension
Latin nouns are divided into five declensions, plus irregulars. Most first declension nouns are of the feminine gender. Our example word will be: Puella, puellae, f. girl. The first declension endings are as follows in the singular:
| Case | Example | Ending |
| Nominative | Puella | -a |
| Genitive | Puellae | -ae |
| Dative | Puellae | -ae |
| Accusative | Puellam | -am |
| Ablative | Puellā | -ā |
Here is the plural:
| Case | Example | Ending |
| Nominative | Puellae | -ae |
| Genitive | Puellarum | -ārum |
| Dative | Puellis | -īs |
| Accusative | Puellas | -ās |
| Ablative | Puellis | -īs |
Common First Declension Words
editFirst declension nouns are fairly common in Latin, and are essential to learn. To assist with this, here are a few simple nouns in the first declension that will help you in your studies. Note that the order of the forms used for the example nouns are as follows: Nominative, Genitive, Gender. Translation. (Puella, Puellae, f. Girl) You will see this convention used in Latin dictionaries and elsewhere in the Wikiversity Latin section. Sometimes, instead of the full genitive form, only the ending will be given, as in "Puella, -ae, f. girl." In the vocabulary sections, English words derived from the latin will be provided where available.
Here are some common nouns of the first declension:
- agricola, agricolae, m. farmer. (Agriculture)
- aqua, aquae, f. water. (Aquarium)
- femina, feminae, f. woman (Feminine)
- insula, insulae, f. island. (Insular)
- ira, irae, f. anger. (Irate)
- nauta, nautae, m. sailor. (Nautical)
- puella, puellae, f. girl.
- silva, silvae, f. forest. (Sylvan)
- via, viae, f. road, way
Peculiarities
editMost first declension nouns are feminine. But a few first declension nouns are masculine. This is very unusual, and you can easily remember these nouns using the acronym P.A.I.N. :
- Poeta, poetae, m. poet; pirata, piratae, m., pirate
- Agricola, agricolae, m. farmer
- Incola, incolae, m. inhabitant
- Nauta, nautae, m. sailor
While noun gender does not affect declension, it does affect the endings of adjectives applied to the noun.