Latin Grammar

Salvē (Hello)! The following guide is intended to be an introductory gateway to the language of the Romans—Classical Latin. It was written to be inclusive of all skill levels. Consequently, it may be missing technical nuances that other upper level guides include. Citations are provided for many important sections, which are shown in the Bibliography at the bottom of the page. Happy conjugating!

Introduction

Latin is an inflected language, meaning that words like nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs have different endings. These different endings provide important information about the relationships between the words. The language is attributed to Indo-European origins, like Greek, Iranian, Slavic, and others.^[1] Latin also gave birth to languages French, Italian, Spanish, and English (partially).^[2]

Alphabet and pronunciation

The classical Latin alphabet contains twenty-three letters, as shown in the table below.^[3] It is similar to English, except that the letters J and W are missing (U should be excluded, but will be used in this guide, as explained below the table).^[4]

* While V was used for both the u (vowel) and w sounds, the present guide will utilize U as an additional letter. The U letter will refer to the oo sound.

Vowels, consonants, and sounds

Vowels are pronounced in either short or long form. Long vowels have a straight arrow above them, called a macron "¯" (e.g., ā, ē, ī, ō). Long vowels are held twice as long as short ones.^[5] If there is no macron, then it can be assumed that it is a short vowel. Sometimes, a half-circle line above a vowel may indicate that it is short (e.g., ă, ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ). Macrons are an important part of the Latin language. They should therefore be considered as part of the spelling of the word.

Parts of speech

Like English, Latin utilizes eight parts of speech.^[6] The Oxford Latin Dictionary also classifies some words as particles, which are a special case that will not be covered extensively in this guide.

For English speakers, the Latin parts of speech should look and sound familiar.

Word order in Latin

Unlike English, word order in Latin is extremely flexible. For example, the English sentence the boy walks the dog follows the subject (boy), verb (walks), object (dog) format. Swapping the position of the subject and object would change the meaning of the sentence: the dog walks the boy. In English, the position of the word is therefore important for understanding its role in the sentence.

In Latin, however, the position of the word is more forgiving. This is true because the words have different endings, which provide the information necessary for determining whether it is the subject or object of the verb.

Conjugation, declension, and gender

Verbs

Basic mechanics

Endings of Latin verbs are inflected, and the ending of the verb is called its conjugation. The conjugation of the verb serves the purpose of expressing the five primary characteristics: voice, mood, tense, person, and number.^[7]

There are other important characteristics of Latin verbs, such as whether it is finite, transitive, and irregular, among other considerations.

<table:four principal parts> + modal

First conjugation

Second conjugation

Third conjugation

Fourth conjugation

Irregular verbs

Nouns

Cases

Latin has six cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, and vocative.^[8] Although, the endings for the vocative case are the same as the nominative, so they do not need to be remembered. These endings dictate the role of the word in the sentence, and are important as it relates to people, places, and things (nouns and pronouns).

Listing all the endings for a noun, pronoun, or adjective means to list its declensions (or decline the word).

Declensions

While verbs must be conjugated, nouns and adjectives must be declined according to its common declension, or general word pattern.

First declension

Second declension

Third declension

Pronouns

Demonstratives

Demonstratives are pronouns and adjectives that "point" to "things." Hic, iste, and ille can be loosely translated as this/these and that/those. These demonstratives point to things that are near by (or far from) the speaker or person being addressed. These pronouns must be declined according to the case, number, and gender. When used alone, demonstratives function as pronouns and generally refer to a man, woman, or things.

[example of items]

Iste, which also means that, is used when expressing contempt. It has a pejorative context and is used for emphasis, usually against a person or one of their traits.

Demonstratives can modify nouns, and can thus function as adjectives. When they are placed before a noun, it generally means that its function is an adjective; however, it is important to rely on the context of the sentence in order to be sure.

Personal

First and second person personal pronouns

First and second person pronouns ego/nōs and tū/vōs translate roughly to I/we and you/you (all), respectively. All personal pronouns must be declined according to the number and case.

Third person personal pronouns

The third person pronouns is, ea, id translate roughly to he, she, it (or this thing). Like nouns, they must be declined according to the gender, number, and case.

While the examples below showcase the use of personal pronouns, it is important to consider that they are not always necessary. In Latin, personal pronouns are primarily used for emphasis.

Finally, it should be noted that first and second personal pronouns are not usually used to indicate possession. Possessive adjectives (which sound similar) should be used instead. Third person personal pronouns were, however, commonly used for possession.

Relative

Relative pronouns are common words that introduce a relative (or subordinate) clause into a sentence. quī, quae, and quod may be loosely translated as who, which, and that in English. These words introduce a subordinate clause that refers back to a noun or pronoun, known as the antecedent. The subordinate clause functions like an adjective in that it provides information about the antecedent.

Rules for using relative pronouns

Since relative pronouns refer back to the antecedent, both of these parts must agree in gender and number. However, the case of the relative pronoun depends on the information contained in the clause.

When reading Latin sentences, it is important to bracket "[ ]" the relative clauses if a relative pronoun is identified. From there, the gender and number of the relative must be determined by the antecedent. The case is determined by its use within the relative clause.

See the following examples:

Reflexive

Reflexive pronouns are usually in the predicate of a sentence and refer (relfect) back to the subject. They differ from personal pronouns in this regard and must be carefully read.

Reflexive pronouns do not include a nominative case because while they reflect back to the subject, they cannot be the subject (in most cases, but there are exceptions). First and second person reflexive pronouns may be roughly translated as words like myself, yourself, and so on. The third person reflexive pronoun is a little different in its form and has the same forms in the singular as the plural.

Before reviewing the following examples, note how the translation of a reflexive pronoun is indicated with the -self or -selves suffix.

Intensive

The intensive pronoun ipse, ipsa, ipsum (myself, yourself, himself) is used for extra emphasis of an existing noun or pronoun. It may be located in either the subject or the predicate of a sentence. It can also mean the very or the actual. The following examples show this emphasis in action.

Adjectives

Conjunctions

Constructions

Generally speaking, a construction is a collection of units that make up a whole.^[9] For example, in English the construction of a sentence (or single clause) is [Subject] + [Verb] + [Object]. This example, like other constructions, follows rules with regard to its formation (usually). However, constructions do not have to be sentences. They may be phrases or single words. In Latin, there are many constructions that form phrases used for a specific purpose. It is important to take into account that certain constructions may appear odd (in a Latin sentence) or be literally translated in a bizarre fashion. A few notable constructions are listed.

Ablatives

In Latin, words in the ablative case can be used in various useful constructions. These forms may be said to act as idioms and can "shortcut" the number of words used to express an idea. It is important to distinguish between ablative use cases that require (or do not require) a preposition (like ex, away from). Because ablatives are used commonly, it is beneficial to recognize them.

It may be helpful to note that each ablative phrase answers some sort of direct question, as shown below.

Ablatives of means/instrument^[10]

The ablative of means/instrument indicates that something was accomplished by means of whatever the object is. For example, you may encounter a word like stilō (pencil) in the ablative case. This may be roughly translated as with a pencil or by means of a pencil, such as when writing something.

Ablatives of a personal agent^[11]

Like the ablative of means (above), the ablative can be used when the "means" is a person.

Ablatives of accompaniment and manner^[12]

Ablative of place from which^[13]

The ablative of place from which is another construction which is intended for motion from one place to another. It generally must be employed with a preposition like ab (away from), dē (down from), or ex (away from).

Ablative of separation^[14]

The ablative of separation, like the previous construction, involves separation. However, the ablative of separation does not include motion, and is generally used without a preposition. It is usually coupled with separation from abstract concepts such as money, resources, or freedom. The examples below illustrate the use of this construction.