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    • Words >
      • Nouns >
        • Nominative and Vocative Case
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        • Dative Case
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          • Pluperfect Tense
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AMCHS Latin

1st and 2nd Declension adjectives

Adjectives, like nouns, belong to declension categories, although adjectives are kind of weird in this regard. They can belong to either one of two categories: 1st/2nd declension adjectives or 3rd declension adjectives. The 1st/2nd declension adjectives are called that because they change declensions based on the gender of the noun being described. 


Take the word "laetus," which means "happy," for example. A happy man would be "vir laetus," whereas a happy woman would be "femina laeta," and a happy temple would be "templum laetum." Notice that the ending after the "lae-" changes based on whether the word being described is masculine, feminine, or neuter. 1st/2nd declension adjectives actually use the noun case endings from the first and second declensions to determine what they will look like for different genders.


FEMININE (FIRST DECLENSION)

Feminine: If the adjective is describing a feminine noun, it will use first declension noun case endings. Some examples are...

               Nominative:  femina laeta           domus aurea            gladiatrix pulchra
               Accusative:    feminam laetam   domum auream     gladiatricem pulchram
               Nom. Plural:  feminae laetae       domi aureae            gladiatrices pulchrae

...and so on for the different cases and numbers. Here are the first declension endings for your reference.

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MASCULINE  (SECOND DECLENSION)

Masculine: If the adjective is describing a masculine noun, it will use second declension masculine noun case endings. Some examples are...

               Nominative:  dominus laetus         poeta callidus          gladiator pulcher
               Accusative:    dominum laetum    poetam callidum    gladiatorem pulchrum
               Nom. Plural:  domini laeti               poetae callidi           gladiatores pulchri

...and so on for the different cases and numbers. Here are the second declension endings for your reference.

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NEUTER (SECOND DECLENSION NEUTER)

Neuter: If the adjective is describing a neuter noun, it will use second declension neuter noun case endings. Some examples are...

               Nominative:   iter longum           silentium aureum       nomen pulchrum
               Genitive:         itineris longi          silentii aurei                 nominis pulchri
               Nom. Plural:   itineres longa        silentia aurea               nomines pulchra

...and so on for the different cases and numbers. Here are the second declension neuter endings for your reference.
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