Cases, Descriptions and Examples

Cases, Descriptions, and Examples

Latin For Americans LessonXXXVII

nominative

1.nominative as subject

The subject of a sentence is put in the nominative.

Cicero oratiōnem habuitCicero gave a speech

2.nominative as subject complement (predicate nominative)

The subject complement of a sentence with a linking verb is put in the nominative.

Quintus nōn erat stultusQuintus wasn’t stupid

genitive

3.possessive genitive

The genitive is used to indicate the owner (in a wide sense) of the noun it describes.

filius agricolaethe son of the farmer; the farmer’s son

dative

4.dative as indirect object

The indirect object of a verb is put in the dative case.

Marcus patrī donum dēditMarcus gave his father a gift

Marcus gave a gift to his father

5.dative with certain adjectives

With certain adjectives the dative is used: aequus ‘equal to,’ amicus ‘friendly to,’ inimicus ‘unfriendly, hostile to,’ gratus ‘pleasing to,’ similis ‘similar to, like,’ dissimilis ‘dissimilar to, unlike,’ proximus ‘nearest to,’ finitimus ‘neighboring, close to,’ and idoneus ‘suitable for’.

erat similis patrihe was like a father

verba grata puelliswords pleasing to girls

accusative

6.accusative as direct object

The direct object of a verb is in the accusative.

pecuniam invēnērunt they found the money

equum puellae dēdithe gave the girl a horse

7.accusative of motion toward (place to which)

Motion toward (place to which) is expressed by the accusative case with the prepositions in‘into, against’, ad ‘toward’, per‘through’ or sub‘under’.

ad casam festinavithe hurried to the house

sub arborem cucurritshe ran under the tree

8.accusative as subject of infinitive

Some verbs, e.g. doceo, -ēre, 2 ‘to teach’; iubeo, -ēre, 2 ‘to order’; and cupio, -ere, 3 [io] ‘to wish,want’ frequently have infinitives functioning as direct objects, with an accusative as subject of the infinitive. (In the second example, the linking verb esse also has a subject accusative complement poetam; in the third example, the infinitive also has a direct object Homērum also in the accusative. In these cases of multiple accusatives, the accusative subject usually stands first.)

servōs discēdere iussēruntthey ordered the slaves to leave

tē esse poetam semper cupīvīI always wanted you to be a poet

puerōs recitare Homērum docuithe taught the boys to recite Homer

ablative

9.ablative with certain prepositions

Certain prepositions, such as prō ‘for’ and sine ‘without’ take the ablative.

prō patriā pugnavēruntthey fought for their fatherland

10.ablative of means or instrument

The ablative is used to express means or instrument; in other words, it answers the question ‘by what means?’. It is usually an object.

gladiīs pugnavēruntthey fought with swords

11.ablative of place where

Place where is expressed with the preposition in ‘in’ or sub‘under’ and the ablative.

in insulā habitantthey live on an island

Marcia sub arbore sedetMarcia is sitting under a tree

12.ablative of separation (place from which)

The ablative with the prepositionā or ab ‘from’, dē ‘down from’, ē or ex ‘out of’ is used to express separation.

deus dē caelō vēnitthe god came down from the sky

ē silvā cucurritshe ran out of the forest

13.ablative of personal agent

Personal agent is expressed by the ablative with a or abin passive voice sentences.

ab Antoniō vocābarI was being called by Antonius

14.ablative of manner

The ablative with cumis used to express the manner in which something is done; in other words, it answers the question ‘how? in what manner?’ Cum may be omitted if an adjective modifies the noun.

verba cum curā parāvithe prepared his words with care

eōs magnā (cum) laude accēpithe received them with great praise

15.ablative of accompaniment

The ablative with cum is used to express accompaniment; it generally denotes persons.

cumMarcō ambulābamI was walking with Marcus

vocative

16.vocative as direct address

A vocative is used for direct address. (A vocative looks the same as a nominative, with only two exceptions: a 2nd declension singular noun, proper name or adjective ending in –us has a vocative ending in –e, and a 2nd declension singular noun or proper name (not adjective) ending in -ius has a vocative ending in -ī.). The vocative is usually not in the first position in the sentence.

ambulā, Anna, ad casam!Anna, walk to the house!

quid agis, MarceTullī?Marcus Tullius, what are you doing?

Cases, Descriptions, and Examples LFA XXXVII