Lesson 3: Second Declension Nouns and Adjectives
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[edit] Second Declension
Like the 1st Declension, the 2nd Declension consists of 'stem + ending'. However, the 2nd Declension has different endings and a different stem. The genders of the 2nd Declension are masculine and neuter (not feminine).
Generally, the nominative singular of masculine 2nd Declension nouns ends in either -us, -er, or -ir; the neuter nominative singular ends in -um.
So, let's go ahead and learn the 2nd Declension.
[edit] 2nd Declension Masculine Endings
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -us/er/ir | -i |
| Genitive | -i | -orum |
| Dative | -o | -is |
| Accusative | -um | -os |
| Ablative | -o | -is |
| Vocative | -e/x | -i |
Notes: 1) for nouns ending in '-er' or '-ir', the vocative singular is the same as the nominative; 2) the stem of each noun is attained from the genitive singular form (just like in the 1st Declension).
[edit] 2nd Declension Neuter Endings
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -um | -a |
| Genitive | -i | -orum |
| Dative | -o | -is |
| Accusative | -um | -a |
| Ablative | -o | -is |
| Vocative | -um | -a |
Notes: 1) In all neuter nouns (not just 2nd Declension; neuter nouns in other declensions will be encountered later on in this course), the nominative and accusative have the same form in both numbers; 2) Notice that the vocative in both numbers has the same form as the nominative.
[edit] Declining Some Nouns
Now that we know the appropriate endings, we can decline any 2nd Declension noun, right?
Let's give it a try:
Hortus, horti (m.) - garden
- Stem = hort- which we can see from the genitive singular in the dictionary entry
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | hortus | horti |
| Genitive | horti | hortorum |
| Dative | horto | hortis |
| Accusative | hortum | hortos |
| Ablative | horto | hortis |
| Vocative | horte | horti |
Now let's try this noun:
puer, pueri (m.) - boy
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | puer | pueri |
| Genitive | pueri | puerorum |
| Dative | puero | pueris |
| Accusative | puerum | pueros |
| Ablative | puero | pueris |
| Vocative | puer | pueri |
