Latin Grammar Notes

MILLNER LATIN LESSONS

HIC HAEC HOC HUJUS HUIC HUNC HOC

THE LATIN LANGUAGE LEARNING PODCAST FROM LONDON
LATINUM, the name of the Latin language learning podcast offered on mypodcast.com . The Free Online Language Course. Latin Grammar Over the course of putting my Latinum course together, I noted a few things about textbooks that teach grammar - the material is not usually structured for optimal memorisation. Material is presented in grammatical categories that have been chosen for good philological reasons, not for ease of learning. For example, playing around with the ordering of the declensions makes for a system that can be learned very quickly indeed: SINGULARS CASE I II III IIII V NOMINATIVE A US CLONES TRAX US ES VOCATIVE A E CLONES TRAX US ES ACCUSATIVE AM UM EM UM EM ABLATIVE A O E U E DATIVE AE O I UI EI GENITIVE AE I IS US EI MEMORISE: AH-AH-UM-A-AE-AE; ( AH AH UM A AE) US-E-UM-OO-I ( MUSEUM OOEE) CLONE'S TRAX EM-E-I-IS ( CLONE'S TRAX AMAZE) US-UM- U- UI- US (USE 'EM YOU USE) ES-ES-EM-E-EI-E (S & M E HEY!) Some notes: Just say these one after the other, and then write them down. The words in brackets are rough equivalents that help with memorisation. PLURALS CASE I II III IIII V NOMINATIVE AE I ES US ES VOCATIVE AE I ES US ES ACCUSATIVE AS OS ES US ES ABLATIVE IS IS IBUS IBUS EBUS DATIVE IS IS IBUS IBUS EBUS GENITIVE ARUM ORUM UM UUM ERUM MEMORISE: AE-AE-AS-IS-ARUM ( I 'AS 'IS ARM I.E. "I HAVE HIS ARM") I-I-OS-IS-ORUM ( EE -OS-'IS-ORM I.E. "HE HAS HIS ARM") ES-IBUS-UM (EASY BOSOM) US -IBUS -UUM ( USE 'E BOSOM I.E. "USE YE BOSOM") ES - EBUS -ERUM (EASY BOSERUM) Note the 'rule of two' the first two declensions have the first two cases the same. The 'rule of three' - the next three have the first three cases the same. Neuters always follow the 'rule of three' ADJECTIVES: Learn your adjectives in the order Feminine, Masculine, Neuter, NOT masc, fem,neuter, as in all grammar books. Then, the adjective will follow the order of the declensions, and will give clearer patterns for memorising. Here are the endings for adjectives that are declined like BONUS. CASE FEMININE (follows 1st declension form) MASCULINE (follows 2nd declension form) NEUTER (follows masculine) NOMINATIVE A US UM VOCATIVE A E UM ACCUSATIVE AM UM UM ABLATIVE A O O DATIVE AE O O GENITIVE AE I I Note the neuter of the adjective is a neutered masculine. Thus, it follows the form of the masculine, except if has the 'rule of three' for the first three cases. Putting it next to the masculine makes it easier to memorise. CASE FEMININE plural (follows 1st declension form) MASCULINE plural (follows 2nd declension form) NEUTER plural (follows masculine) NOMINATIVE AE I A VOCATIVE AE I A ACCUSATIVE AS OS A ABLATIVE IS IS IS DATIVE IS IS IS GENITIVE ARUM ORUM ORUM A COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING FORMS COMPARED TO FIRST DECLENSION FEMININE SINGULAR. THERE IS SOME IRREGULARITY, BUT EVEN HERE THERE ARE PATTERNS. CASE FEMININE SING NOMINATIVE HAEC MUSA BONA MEA ILLA IPSA ISTA EA VOCATIVE O MUSA BONA MEA ACCUSATIVE HANC MUSAM BONAM MEAM ILLAM IPSAM ISTAM EAM ABLATIVE HAC MUSA BONA MEA ILLA IPSA ISTA EA DATIVE HUIC MUSAE BONAE MEAE ILLI IPSI ISTI EI GENITIVE HUJUS MUSAE BONAE MEAE ILLIUS IPSIUS ISTIUS EJUS A COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING FORMS COMPARED TO FIRST DECLENSION FEMININE PLURAL. NOTE THE REGULARILY OF THE FORMS. MASCULINE PLURAL FORMS ALSO SHOW REGULARITY. CASE FEM. PLURAL NOMINATIVE HAE MUSAE BONAE MEAE ILLAE IPSAE ISTAE EAE QUAE NOSTRAE VOCATIVE MUSAE BONAE MEAE NOSTRAE ACCUSATIVE HAS MUSAS BONAS MEAS ILLAS IPSAS ISTAS EAS QUAS NOSTRAS ABLATIVE HIS MUSIS BONIS MEIS ILLIS IPSIS ISTIS EIS QUEIS NOSTRIS DATIVE HIS MUSIS BONIS MEIS ILLIS IPSIS ISTIS EIS QUEIS NOSTRIS GENITIVE HARUM MUSARUM BONARUM MEARUM ILLARUM IPSARUM ISTARUM EARUM QUARUM NOSTRARUM A COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING FORMS COMPARED TO SECOND DECLENSION MASCULINE SINGULAR. THERE IS SOME IRREGULARITY, BUT EVEN HERE THERE ARE PATTERNS. CASE MASC SING. NOMINATIVE HIC DOMINUS BONUS MEUS ILLE IPSE IS QUIS VOCATIVE O DOMINE BONE MI ACCUSATIVE HUNC DOMINUM BONUM MEUM ILLUM IPSUM EUM QUEM ABLATIVE HOC DOMINO BONO MEO ILLO IPSO EO QUO DATIVE HUIC DOMINO BONO MEO ILLI IPSI EI CUI GENITIVE HUJUS DOMINI BONI MEI ILLIUS IPSIUS EJUS CUJUS A COMPARATIVE TABLE SHOWING FORMS COMPARED TO SECOND DECLENSION MASCULINE PLURAL. NOTE THE REGULARILY OF THE FORMS. FEMININE PLURAL FORMS ALSO SHOW REGULARITY. CASE MASC PLURAL NOMINATIVE HI DOMINI BONI MEI ILLI IPSI ISTI II QUI VOCATIVE O DOMINI BONI MEI ACCUSATIVE HOS DOMINOS BONOS MEOS ILLOS IPSOS ISTOS EOS QUOS ABLATIVE HIS DOMINIS BONIS MEIS ILLIS IPSIS ISTIS EIS QUEIS [quibus] DATIVE HIS DOMINIS BONIS MEIS ILLIS IPSIS ISTIS EIS QUEIS [quibus] GENITIVE HORUM DOMINORUM BONORUM MEORUM ILLORUM IPSORUM ISTORUM EORUM QUORUM MORE PATTERNS IN ADJECTIVES (in the singular) OBSERVE: ADJECTIVES THAT ARE LIKE BONUS, USE THE ACCUSATIVE ENDING FOR THE FIRST THREE CASES OF THE NEUTER IN THE SINGULAR. CASE FEMININE (follows 1st declension form) MASCULINE (follows 2nd declension form) NEUTER (follows masculine) NOMINATIVE A US UM VOCATIVE A E UM ACCUSATIVE AM UM UM ABLATIVE A O O DATIVE AE O O GENITIVE AE I I OBSERVE: ADJECTIVES THAT ARE LIKE PULCHER FORM THEIR SINGULARS AS FOLLOWS: NEUTER ENDING IS THE SAME AS THE MASC. ACCUSATIVE ENDING. Note - the exception (marked in red) is in the name of the adjective, so is easy to remember. CASE FEMININE (roughly follows 1st declension form) MASCULINE (roughly follows 2nd declension form) NEUTER (follows masculine) NOMINATIVE RA ER UM VOCATIVE RA ER UM ACCUSATIVE AM UM UM ABLATIVE A O O DATIVE AE O O GENITIVE AE I I OBSERVE: ADJECTIVES THAT ARE LIKE TURPIS FORM THEIR SINGULARS AS FOLLOWS: FEMININE AND MASCULINE ARE THE SAME, THE NEUTER REMAINS AS A NEUTER OF THE MASCULINE (& FEM. ). NOTE THE SIMILARITY OF THE NEUTER ENDINGS TO THE ACCUSATIVE ENDING. CASE FEMININE (roughly follows 3ND declension form) MASCULINE (roughly follows 3ND declension form) NEUTER (follows masculine) NOMINATIVE IS IS E VOCATIVE IS IS E ACCUSATIVE EM EM E ABLATIVE I I I DATIVE I I I GENITIVE IS IS IS OBSERVE: ADJECTIVES THAT ARE LIKE ACER ( SIMILAR TO TURPIS ABOVE) FORM THEIR SINGULARS AS FOLLOWS: NOTE THE SIMILARITY OF THE NEUTER ENDING TO THE ACCUSATIVE ENDINGS. Note, the exception (marked in red) is in the name of the adjective, making it easier to recall. CASE FEMININE (roughly follows 3RD declension form) MASCULINE (roughly follows 3RD declension form) NEUTER (follows masculine) NOMINATIVE IS ER [IS] E VOCATIVE IS ER [IS] E ACCUSATIVE EM EM E ABLATIVE I I I DATIVE I I I GENITIVE IS IS IS Latinum Journal Did the Romans Sing their Poetry Greek Style? Contact Information evanmillner AT gmail.com