Amazing, Wonderful, Descriptive Adjectives!
“When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them-‐-‐then the
rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are far apart.”
-‐Mark Twain
What is an adjective?
An adjective is a word that describes, modifies, or limits a noun (or pronoun).
Apple
-‐Red apple
-‐Round apple
-‐Shiny apple
-‐Gala apple
-‐Red, round, shiny, Gala apple
Adjectives in EnglishIn English, an adjective is usually placed in front of
the noun/pronoun it is modifying.
The happy girl gave a beautiful flower to her sad friend.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Adjectives in LatinIn Latin, an adjective agrees with the noun it is modifying in case, number, and gender.
Because of agreement, the adjective can be placed before or after the noun (or anywhere in the sentence!).
[Laeta puella] [pulchrum florem] [tristī amicō] dedit.
[Puella laeta] [florem pulchrum] [amicō tristī] dedit.
Nom. Acc. Dat.
An adjective does NOT need to have the same ending as the noun it is modifying, but they must AGREE!
Declensions of AdjectivesAdjectives borrowed their declensions from nouns. There
are two types of adjectives:
1st/2nd Declension Adjectives
3rd Declension Adjectives
bonus, bona, bonum sacer, sacra, sacrumMasc. Fem. Neut.
2nd M endings
1st endings
2nd N endings
acer, acris, acre tristis, triste
Masc. Fem. Neut.
3rd M/F endings
3rd M/F endings
3rd N endings
More on these TODAY!We start here!
1st/2nd Declension Adjectivessacer, sacra, sacrum: sacred
Sg. Masculine Feminine NeuterNom. sacer sacra sacrumGen. sacrī sacrae sacrīDat. sacrō sacrae sacrōAcc. sacrum sacram sacrumAbl. sacrō sacrā sacrō
Pl. Masculine Feminine NeuterNom. sacrī sacrae sacraGen. sacrōrum sacrārum sacrōrumDat. sacrīs sacrīs sacrīsAcc. sacrōs sacrās sacraAbl. sacrīs sacrīs sacrīs
3rd Declension Adjectivesceler, celeris, celere: swift
Sg. Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nom. celer celeris celereGen. celeris celeris celerisDat. celerī celerī celerīAcc. celerem celerem celereAbl. celerī celerī celerī
Pl. Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nom. celerēs celerēs celeriaGen. celerium celerium celeriumDat. celeribus celeribus celeribusAcc. celerēs celerēs celeriaAbl. celeribus celeribus celeribus
Three Terminations:
3rd Declension Adjectivesbrevis, breve: short
Sg. Masculine / Feminine NeuterNom. brevis breveGen. brevis brevisDat. brevī brevīAcc. brevem breveAbl. brevī brevī
Pl. Masculine / Feminine NeuterNom. brevēs breviaGen. brevium breviumDat. brevibus brevibusAcc. brevēs breviaAbl. brevibus brevibus
Two Terminations:
3rd Declension Adjectivessapiēns, (gen.) sapientis: wise
Sg. Masculine / Feminine NeuterNom. sapiēns sapiēnsGen. sapientis sapientisDat. sapientī sapientīAcc. sapientem sapiēnsAbl. sapientī sapientī
Pl. Masculine / Feminine NeuterNom. sapientēs sapientiaGen. sapientium sapientiumDat. sapientibus sapientibusAcc. sapientēs sapientiaAbl. sapientibus sapientibus
One Termination:
Noun Adjective PairsAn adjective always takes its gender from the noun it is
modifying. It also takes its case and number from the noun.
cena terribilis
omne aurum
ferōcēs equī
mons ingēns
tristis agricola
terrible dinner
all the gold
fierce horses
huge mountain
sad farmer
Decline “sad farmer.”
Sg. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
Pl. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
trististrististristī
tristemtristī
tristēstristiumtristibustristēs
tristibus
agricolaagricolaeagricolaeagricolamagricolā
agricolaeagricolārumagricolīsagricolāsagricolīs
tristis, triste: sad | agricola, -‐ae (m): farmer
1st Declension Noun / 2nd Declension Adjective
Sg. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
Pl. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
maximusmaximīmaximōmaximummaximō
maximīmaximōrummaximīsmaximōsmaximīs
poetapoetaepoetaepoetampoetā
poetaepoetārumpoetīspoetāspoetīs
Worksheet 3 1st/2nd Declension Adjectives
Latin 8 2013-‐2014
A. Fill in the blanks: 1. Latin adjectives are divided into two groups: _____________ declension adjectives and _________ declension adjectives.
!
2. The dictionary entry for a 1st/2nd declension adjective is written with three forms, representing the ________________, ______________, and _______________.
1st/2nd3rd
masculinefeminine neuter
3. All adjectives, regardless of declension, must agree with the noun they modify in __________________, _________________, and _________________. They do NOT need to have the same ending.
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4. 1st/2nd declension adjectives decline just like 1st/2nd declension _____________, but they can be used to modify any Latin noun, regardless of declension.
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5. 1st/2nd declension adjectives are often abbreviated as _____, _____, ______.
case numbergender
nouns
-‐us -‐a -‐um
1. “bad word”
Sg. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
Pl. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
malummalīmalōmalummalō
malamalōrummalīsmalamalīs
verbumverbīverbōverbumverbō
verbaverbōrumverbīsverbaverbīs
2. “our dinner”
Sg. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
Pl. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
nostranostraenostraenostramnostrā
nostraenostrārumnostrīsnostrāsnostrīs
cenacenaecenaecenamcenā
cenaecenārumcenīscenāscenīs
3. “great farmer”
Sg. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
Pl. Adjective NounNom. Gen.Dat.Acc.Abl.
magnusmagnīmagnōmagnummagnō
magnīmagnōrummagnīsmagnōsmagnīs
agricolaagricolaeagricolaeagricolamagricolā
agricolaeagricolārumagricolīsagricolāsagricolīs
Predicate Adjectives
Substantive Adjectives
An adjective can be used with a form of the verb sum, esse to describe the subject of the sentence.
The adjective is in the nominative case.
An adjective can be used without a noun to stand in for a man (masc), woman (fem.), or thing (neut.).
Urbēs sunt magnae. -‐-‐> Urbēs magnae sunt. The cities are large.
Magnus urbem regnat. A great (man) rules the city.
1. Mea mater mihi et meīs sororibus bonās cenās coquit.
2. Pauper nullum aurum et multōs amicōs habet.
3. Ferī militēs magnam urbem ā malīs hostibus liberāvit.
Identify any adjectives and the nouns they modify. Label the case, number, and gender.
Translate.