Third Declension Adjectives

CHAPTER 16

Upon completion of this chapter, students should be able to:Distinguish among third declension adjectives of one ending, two endings, and three endings.Recognize, form, and translate third declension adjectives.Distinguish among adjectives used as attributives, objective complements, and predicate nominatives.State the rule for adjective word order.OBJECTIVES

Latin has two major categories of adjectives. You are already familiar with 1st/2nd declension forms such as magnus, -a, -um and pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum, as well as the subcategory of ius adjectives (unus, una, unum). These adjectives are declined as all other 1st and 2nd declension nouns, depending on the gender of the noun which they modify; in other words, they will only use 1st/2nd declension endings.

ADJECTIVES

If a 1st/2nd declension adjective modifies a feminine noun, it will use 1st declension endings.

If a 1st/2nd declension adjective modifies a masculine noun, it will use 2nd declension masculine endings.

If a 1st/2nd declension adjective modifies a neuter noun, it will use 2nd declension neuter endings.

ADJECTIVES

Note that the declension number of the NOUN does not affect the declensional pattern of the adjective; even if the noun which an adjective modifies is a 3rd declension noun, you will still use either 1st or 2nd declension endings, depending on the gender of the noun.the great woman nom. sing. fem. magna feminathe great friend nom. sing. masc. magnus amicusthe great war nom. sing. neut. magnum bellumthe great citizen nom. sing. fem. magna civisthe great sea nom. sing. neut. magnum mareof the good king gen. sing. masc. bon registo the good kings dat. pl. masc. bonis regibus

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives that do not belong to the category of 1st/2nd declension adjectives are known as 3rd declension adjectives.The other major group of adjectives is known as the 3rd declension adjectives.Adjectives of this category generally have third declension i-stem forms and are declined exactly like 3rd declension i-stem nouns, except that :Abl sing (all genders) = -iGen pl (all genders) = -iumNom/Acc pl (neuters) = -iaAll 3rd declension adjectives are considered to be i-stems.

THIRD DECLENSION ADJECTIVES

3rd declension adjectives are generally subdivided into three kinds, according to the number of spellings in the nominative singular (how many nominative singular forms exist for each adjective). Adjectives of this category differ from one another in only one respect the different nominative singular forms.

THIRD DECLENSION ADJECTIVES

There are three major categories of 3rd declension adjectives:adjectives of three endings or three termination adjectives have THREE distinct forms of the nominative singular that differentiate for each of the three genders (acer, acris, acre; celer, celeris, celere)adjectives of two endings or two termination adjectives have a single nominative form for both masculine and feminine, and another for the neuter (fortis, forte; omnis, omne)adjectives of one ending or one termination adjectives does not differentiate the genders at all in the nominative singular (potens; audax). Note that this termination will generally provide you with the genitive singular form as well as the nominative in your vocabulary list; this is to help you decline it according to the required case, number and gender.

THIRD DECLENSION ADJECTIVES

Examples:3-ending adjectivesex: acer, acris, acre sharp, keenceler, celeris, celere swift, quick2-ending adjectives (the largest category)ex: fortis, forte strong, bravedulcis, dulce sweet1-ending adjectivesex: potens, gen potentis powerfulsenex, gen . senis, old, agedTHIRD DECLENSION ADJECTIVES

First a quick review of i-stems

I-Stem NounsM or FNNcvismareGcvismarisDcvmarAcccvemmareAblcvemar

NcvsmariaGcviummariumDcvibusmaribusAcccvsmariaAblcvibusmaribus

Adjs. Of 2 EndingsAdjectives of 2 endingsThese decline just like a 3rd declension i-stemOne set of forms for m & f, one set for nt.EXCEPT there is an i in the abl. Sing. of m & f forms tooThese words end in -is in both masculine and feminine, so rather than repeat it twice (like fortis, fortis, forte), we memorize the two different endings and know that the first ending always applies to masculine and feminine both. It is declined the same:

M & FNfortisfortefortisfortisfortfort fortemfortefortfortfortsfortiafortiumfortiumfortibusfortibusfortsfortiafortibusfortibus

Adjs. Of 3 EndingsAdjectives of 3 EndingsThese work just like adjs. of 2 endings, only they differentiate between the m and f in the nom sing.Other than the nom sing, they are just like adjs of 2 endingsThese adjectives always end in -er in the masculine, -is in the feminine, and -e in the neuter. Drop the -is ending from the gen to get the stem, cr-, and decline like a third declension I-stem noun:2 forms

M or FNN cer,criscreGcriscrisDcrcrAcccremcreAblcrcr

NcrscriaGcriumcriumDcribuscribusAcccrscriaAblcribuscribus

Adjs. of 1 endingAdjectives of 1 endingEqual opportunity adjectivesdo not discriminate between the gendersnote the -ia of the neuter plural nom and acc.

We say these have one ending because the nominative shares the same ending in all three gendersin this case, potns. Since that doesn't help us figure out the stem, we also learn the genitive singular form, just like we do with a noun, so we can drop the -is from it to get the stem.

M or FNNpotnspotensGpotentispotentisDpotentpotentAccpotentempotensAblpotentpotent

NpotentspotentiaGpotentiumpotentiumDpotentibuspotentibusAccpotentspotentiaAblpotentibuspotentibus

USING THIRD DECLENSION ADJECTIVESRemember that an adjective, regardless of its declension, must agree with the word it modifies in gender, case, number. The declensional pattern of endings which an adjectives uses, however, is part of the vocabulary entry 3rd declension adjectives will use 3rd declension endings NO MATTER what the declension of the noun being modified. It is not the endings that need to agree, but the case number and gender.3rd declension adjectives can be used with a noun of any declension, just as 1st/2nd declension adjectives may be used with 3rd declension nouns.

3rd declension adjectives function in the same ways as other adjectives:They can modify nouns; this is also known as the attributive use, as it designates certain attributes to the noun in questionit tells us more about the noun. (omnes agricolae all the farmers)They can serve as predicate nominatives. (Viri erant acres. The men were fierce.) describes the subject with a form of the verb sumThey can function as objective complements; an objective complement is a noun, pronoun, or adjective which follows a direct object and renames it or tells what the direct object has become. So, it describes the result of the action of the verb (Virtus viros fortes fecit. Virtue made the men brave.)They can function as substantive adjectives.used in place of a noun (Fortuna fortes adiuvat. Fortune helps the brave.)

USING THIRD DECLENSION ADJECTIVES

omnes amici mei nom. pl. masc. all my friendsfortis vir nom. sing. masc. the brave manacris regina nom. sing. fem. the fierce queenbreve bellum nom. sing. neut. dulces puellae in potent animo ingent mar omnium urbium celer puero potentium copiarum

USING THIRD DECLENSION ADJECTIVES

PRACTICE AND REVIEWFortes viri et feminae ante aetatem nostram vivebant.

Eos centum senes miseros ab Italia trans maria difficilia heri mittebat.

Illi duo viri omnes cupiditates ex se eiecerunt, nam naturam corporis timuerunt.

Potens regina, quoniam se dilexit, istos tres vitavit et se cum eis numquam iunxit.

Itaque inter eos ibi stabam et signum cum animo forti diu exspectabam.

PRACTICE AND REVIEWCeler rumor per ora auresque omnium sine mora currebat.

Vis belli acerbi autem vitam eius paucis horis mutavit.

Quinque ex nautis se ex aqua traxerunt seque Caesari potenti commiserunt.

Caesar non poterat suas copias cum celeribus copiis regis iungere.

Themistocles omnes cives olim appellabat et nomina eorum acri memoria tenebat.

In caelo sunt multae nubes et animalia agricolae tempestate mala non valent.

*****Remember that in Latin, adjectives commonly follow the nouns they are modifying. This is opposite of how we see them in English.*