Different Declensions: New Nouns

Easy Latin: Part 6

 salve!

Welcome to Easy Latin Part 6. If you've been following this beginners Latin series, you know that we've been gradually building up our skills. In this post we're going to look at changing nouns to make sentences more interesting.

---

Recap: 1st declension

Last time, we looked at the difference between two types of noun. The subject (nominative) and the object (accusative). In Latin, the endings of nouns change depending on which role the noun plays in the sentence. Here’s the first type of noun we looked at last time: the first declension.

• puella: “girl” when she is the subject of the sentence, in charge of the verb. We call this the nominative.

• puellam: “girl” when she is the object of the sentence. The -m on the end is the signifier of her now receiving the action of the sentence. We call this the accusative.

For instance:

• femina puellam videt.

  “The woman sees the girl”.

  The girl (puellam) is the object. She is not in charge of the verb (“sees”).

• puella feminam videt.

  “The girl sees the woman”.

  Here the girl (puella) is the subject. She is doing the verb (“sees”).

---

New Types of Nouns: 2nd declension

Next, let's look at a second type of noun. It looks a little different to the first declension (puella, puellam) but there is a similarity. Consider these examples:

• servus vocat.

  “The slave calls.”

  Here, servus is the subject of the sentence - the nominative. He is doing the verb (“calls”).

• domina servum vocat.

  “The mistress calls the slave.”

  Here, servum is the object of the sentence - the accusative. He is receiving the action.

Again, like the first declension, the second declension accusative can be spotted by the -m on the end of the noun.

To be clear: declension just means type of noun

All first declension nouns change the same way, (puella, puellam) and all second declension nouns change the same way (servus, servum). They are different from each other in the nominative, so fall into different types.

---

Adding More Information

Let's add more information. Take this sentence:

• argentarius numerat.

  “The banker counts.”

If we modify it to:

• argentarius pecuniam numerat.

We've introduced extra information. “The banker counts the money.”

Here, argentarius (a second declension noun) is the nominative, the subject of the sentence. pecuniam (a first declension noun) “the money”, is the object of the sentence, marked by the -m at the end.

---

Practice Sentences

Here are two similar sentences for practice. domina means “mistress” and dominus means “master”.

1. domina dominum vocat.

2. dominus dominam vocat.

… [Read on to find out the answers] …

1. domina is the subject, a first declension noun in the nominative case. dominum is the object, marked by the -m at the end. He is the accusative.

   “The mistress calls the master”.

2. dominus is the subject of the second sentence, and it is a second declension nominative - in charge of the action. dominam, with the -m, is a first declension accusative (the object of the sentence).

   “The master calls the mistress”.

---

Patterns

First Declension subjects (nominatives)

• domina

• femina

• nauta

• puella

• pecunia

They are the subjects (in charge of the sentence) and they all end in a.

First Declension objects (accusatives)

• dominam

• feminam

• nautam

• puellam

• pecuniam

These all end -am, and are used when these nouns are not in charge of the verb.

---

Second Declension subjects (nominatives)

Similarly, we've looked at a different type of noun that end in -us.

• dominus

• servus

• argentarius

The master, the slave, the banker. These are the subject of their sentence.

Second Declension objects (accusatives)

• dominum

• servum

• argentarium

They are the object of the sentence. They all end -um.

---

Get the workshop

If you want to continue your Latin journey, sign up for my workshop. It's on demand video training to learn Latin in just one hour, and it is completely free.

It has all the fundamentals of grammar and vocabulary. I'll go through the five biggest mistakes I see students making time and again, and you get all of my free guides as well, so sign up here!

---

Need extra help with Latin?

I have spaces to take on students for Latin tuition! Get private online lessons with me, at a time that suits you. You can find out more here, or fill in the form below to book a free trial!

---

Thanks so much for joining me today, and I'll see you next time on bambasbat.

vale!