| THIRD DECLENSION - DECLINATIO TERTIA Here is the full paradigm for the third declension, the most complex out of the five declensions. Did I say Latin was easy? If I did, it must have been a lie! | III | Singular | Plural | Plural | | m. & f. | n | m. & f. | n | m. & f. | n | | Nom. | ending in vowel: a, e, o ending in consonant: l,n,r,s,x, c,t | ditto | -es | -a | -es | -a | Gen. | -is | -is | -um | -um | -ium | -ium | Dat. | -i | -i | -ibus | -ibus | -ibus | -ibus | Acc. | -em | same as Nom. | -es | -a | -es | -a | Voc. | same as Nom. | same as Nom. | -es | -a | -es | -a | Abl. | -e | -e | -ibus | -ibus | -ibus | -ibus |
Good News There is only one word that ends in c: lac, n., (nom.) lactis (gen.) which means milk. Like in English, lac does not have a plural.
How would you order a "caffè latte" in Latin?
Would you say:
"Caffè lac" (nom) or "Caffè laci" (dat.) or "Caffè lace (abl)? You certainly would not say, "Caffè lactis" (gen), nor the vocative, unless your longing for a coffee was really desperate.
By the way: lac (nom.) can also be spelt lact or lacte!
There is also only one word ending in t: caput, n., (nom), capitis (gen.) which means head.
| III | Consul, -is, m.; consul | consuls | Lex, -is, f.; law | laws | Corpus, -is, n.; body | bodies | Ars,
-is,
f.;
art
| arts | Dens, -is, m.; tooth | teeth | Os, -is, n.; bone | bones |
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | | Nom. | Consul | -ēs | Lex | -ēs | Corpus | -a | Ars | Art-es | Dens | Dent-es | Os | Oss-a | Gen. | Consul-ĭs | -ŭm | Lex-ĭs | -ŭm | Corpor-ĭs | -ŭm | Art-ĭs | -ĭum | Dent-ĭs | -ĭum | Oss-ĭs | -ium | Dat. | Consul-ī | -ĭbus | Lex-ī | -ĭbus | Corpor-ī | -ĭbus | Art-ī | -ĭbus | Dent-ī | -ĭbus | Oss-ī | -ĭbus | Acc. | Consul-ĕm | -ēs | Lex-ĕm | -ēs | Corpus | Corpor-a | Art-em | -es | Dent-em | -es | Os | Oss-a | Voc. | Consul | -ēs | Lex | -ēs | Corpus | Corpor-a | Ars | -es | Dens | -es | Os | Oss-a | Abl. | Consul-ĕ | -ĭbus | Lex-ĕ | -ĭbus | Corpor-ĕ | -ĭbus | Art-e | -ĭbus | Dent-e | -ĭbus | Oss-e | -ĭbus |
Let us consider some of the rules that apply to this declension. - Nouns can be masculine, feminine or neutral.
- The pattern of suffixes are the same for masculine and feminine, but ddifferent for the neutral.
- The complication arises with the the genitive plural of masculine, feminine and neutral nouns. They can take the suffix -um or i-ium.
- The plural of the nominative, accusative and vocative take the suffix -a as for the Second Declension, but sometimes it can be -ia.
- Some noun forms also change the base.
The grammatical rules for deciding whether the noun will belong to the -um or -ium form will depend on whether the noun is parisyllabic (having the same number of syllables in all cases of the singular) or imparisyllabic (not having the same number of syllables in all cases of the singular) and whether the letter before the suffix of the genitive singular -is is a single consonant or a double consonant. The following examples will help to understand this point. - a- The Latin word Consul has two syllables: con- (1) and -sul (2), nominative singular. The genitive singular is consulis, i.e. three syllables: con-(1) -sul-(2) and -is(3); hence Consul is an imparisyllabic noun.
- The letter before the genitive singular suffix -is is a single consonant, s, as the preceding letter is a vowel, u; hence the genitive plural will be -um, Consulum.
- b- The Latin word Hostis has two syllables: host-(1) and -is (2), nominative singular. The genitive singular is also hostis, hence two syllables, therefore Hostis is a parisyllabic word.
- The letter before the genitive singular suffix -is is a double consonant, t preceded by an s; hence the genitive plural will be -ium, Hostium.
Grammarians have grouped third declension nouns into four groups. This is beneficial because it seems to put some order to an otherwise complex rule to remember. Keypoint to remember: all third declension nouns have the genitive singular in -is. First Group Imparisyllabic nouns, masculine, feminine or neutral, with just one consonant before the genitive singular -is will have the gentive plural in -um.
Examples: consul, consulis, consulum.
lex, legis, legum.
corpus, corporis, corporum
Second Group Imparisyllabic nouns, masculine, feminine or neutral, with two consonants before the genitive singular -is will have the genitive plural in -ium.
Examples: dens, dentis, dentium, (m.)
gens, gentis, gentium, (f.)
cor, cordis, cordium (n.)
| III | Dens,
-is,
m.;
tooth | teeth | Gens, -is, f.; | | Cor, -is, n.; heart | hearts | | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | | Nom. | Dens | Dent-es | Gens | Gent-es | Cor | Cord-a | | Gen. | Dent-ĭs | -ĭum | Gent-ĭs | -ĭum | Cord-ĭs | -ĭum | | Dat. | Dent-i | -ĭbus | Gent-ī | -ĭbus | Cord-i | -ĭbus | | Acc. | Dent-em | -es | Gent-em | -es | Cor | -a | | Voc. | Dens | -es | Gens | -es | Cor | -a | | Abl. | Dent-e | -ĭbus | Gent-e | -ĭbus | Cord-e | -ĭbus |
Third Group Parisyllabic nouns, masculine or feminine, with one or two consonants before the genitive singular -is will have the genitive plural in -ium.
Examples: civis, civis, civium (m.)
apis, apis, apium (f.), bee
| III | Civis,
-is,
m.;
| | Apis, -is, f.; bee | | | | | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | | Nom. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Fourth Group
All other neutral nouns that end in:
nom. sing. -al, gen. sing. -alis
nom. sing. -ar, gen. sing. -aris
nom. sing. -e, gen. sing. -is
will form the gen. plural in -ium, the ablative sing. chanes to -i from the normal -e, and the three similar plural cases (nom. acc. & voc.) change to -ia.
Examples:
| IV | Animal,
-is,
n.;
animal | animals | Calcar, -is, n.; spur | spurs | Mare, -is, n.; sea | seas | | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | | Nom. | Animal | -ia | Calcar | -ia | Mare | -ia | | Gen. | Animal-ĭs | -ĭum | Calcar-ĭs | -ĭum | Mar-ĭs | -ĭum | | Dat. | Animal-ī | -ĭbus | Calcar-ī | -ĭbus | Mar-ī | -ĭbus | | Acc. | Animal | -ia | Calcar | -ia | Mare | -ia | | Voc. | Animal | -ia | Calcar | -ia | Mare | -ia | | Abl. | Animal-ī | -ĭbus | Calcar-ī | -ĭbus | Mar-ī | -ĭbus |
When in doubt refer to your dictionary. | |