In the previous chapter, we looked at first and second declension adjectives. The other group of adjectives in Latin belong to the third declension. (There are no adjectives in the fourth or fifth declensions.)
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
|
|
Singular |
|||
|
Nominative |
celer |
celeris |
celere |
|
Genitive |
celeris |
celeris |
celeris |
|
Dative |
celerī |
celerī |
celerī |
|
Accusative |
celerem |
celerem |
celere |
|
Ablative |
celerī |
celerī |
celerī |
|
Vocative |
celer |
celeris |
celere |
|
|
Plural |
|
|
|
Nominative |
celerēs |
celerēs |
celeria |
|
Genitive |
celerium |
celerium |
celerium |
|
Dative |
celeribus |
celeribus |
celeribus |
|
Accusative |
celerēs |
celerēs |
celeria |
|
Ablative |
celeribus |
celeribus |
celeribus |
|
Vocative |
celerēs |
celerēs |
celerēs |
Note that there are a few places where these ending differ from the regular third declension pattern:
|
case |
regular third |
|
adjective third |
|
Abl. sing. |
e |
→ |
ī |
|
Gen. pl. |
um |
→ |
ium |
|
Nom/Acc pl. (neuter only) |
a |
→ |
ia |
This modified pattern used by third declension adjectives is called the "i-stem" pattern, because, as you can see, the letter i is added or replaces a letter. There are some third declension nouns that use this pattern, which you will see later.
Third declension adjectives have three different kinds of vocabulary listings. The first listing is three words, and these words are the nominatives of the three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). The stem is found by removing is from the feminine.
celer celeris celere – swift, fast
celer : masculine nominative singular
celeris : feminine nominative singular stem: celer
celere : neuter nominative singular
The second type of listing has two words. The first is the masculine and feminine nominative singular, and the second is the neuter nominative singular. The stem is found by removing is from the feminine.
similis simile – like
similis : masculine/feminine nominative singular stem: simil
simile : neuter nominative singular
The third type of listing also has two words. The first is the nominative singular for all three genders, and the second is the genitive singular for all three genders. The stem is found by removing is from the genitive. You can tell the difference between this kind and the previous kind because the second word in the listing ends in -is, where in the version above it will end in –e.
ingēns ingentis – huge
ingēns : masculine/feminine/neuter nominative singular
ingentis : – masculine/feminine/neuter genitive singular stem: ingent