Outline – Capitulum XI

Third Declension Nouns - A noun is in the third declension if its genitive ends in –is. Examples: leō, leōnis, m., auris, auris, f, corpus, corporis, n. All third declension nouns have a specific gender – masculine, feminine or neuter – but unlike first and second declension nouns they are not generally feminine or masculine. Their genders have to be learned as part of the word.

Review of Neuter Nouns in the Third Declension - Like all third declension nouns, the genitive ends in –is. The stem is the genitive form less the –is ending. All neuter nouns have the plural ending –a in the nominative and accusative cases. The accusative singular is exactly the same as the nominative singular. You will recall that we have noted the applicablity of these same two rules to neuter nouns in the second declension.

A chart for regular neuter nouns:

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nom	ōs	ōra	caput	capita
Acc	ōs	ōra	caput	capita
Gen	ōris	ōrum	capitis	capitum
Dat	ōrī	ōribus	capitī	capitibus
Abl	ōre	ōribus	capite	capitibus

A chart for neuter i-stem nouns, which have a long ī in the ablative singular and an –i- between the stem and the termination in the nominative, genitive and accusative plural:

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nom	mare	maria	animal	animālia
Acc	mare	maria	animal	animālia
Gen	maris	marium	animālis	animālium
Dat	marī	maribus	animālī	animālibus
Abl	marī	maribus	animālī	animālibus

Adjective Agreement - Remember that adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in number, case and gender, not in spelling. Examples: venter sānus, frōns magna, caput aegrum, ōs rubrum, corpus hūmanum, parvum mare, multa animālia, and so on through all the cases. First and second declension adjectives always have first and second declension endings.

Adjectives in –er - Some adjectives end in –er in their masculine singular form. The feminine and neuter forms of these adjectives generally follow a regular pattern, which involves dropping the –e-. Examples: ruber, rubra, rubrum; aeger, aegra, aegrum; pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum; niger, nigra, nigrum

Special uses of cases - The ablative case can be used without a preposition to express in what respect something is being predicated of a subject. Examples:

Quīntus pede aegrōtat = Quintus is sick with respect to his foot.

Nec modo pede, sed etiam capite aeger est (line 55) = He is sick not only with respect to his foot but also with respect to his head.

Notice that the same information can be communicated in a couple of other different ways: Quīntus pedem aegrum habet, or Pēs Quīntī [or Quīntō] dolet.

Review of Uses of the Infinitive

Infinitive as Subject – When an infinitive is the subject of the sentence, the infinitive is neuter. Adjectives which agree with an infinitive subject are neuter in gender. Example:

Errāre est hūmānum.

Complementary Infinitive – certain kinds of verbs can call for an infinitive in order to complete their meaning, verbs expressing volition (wanting/wishing) or ability/potentiality. Examples:

Sine animā nēmō vīvere potest. (Without breath no one is able to live.)

Aquila parvās avēs capere et ēsse vult. (The eagle wants to get and eat the little birds.)

Infinitive as Object – Some verbs can govern a verb as part of their direct object. A verb in the direct object is in the infinitive form and the subject and object of the infinitive are both in the accusative case. Example:

In the sentence "The doctor orders the boy to open his mouth" the subject of the sentence is "doctor", its verb is "orders", and the direct object of this verb is the whole clause "the boy to open his mouth". That clause in Latin is the accusative form of "the boy" since that word is one of the objects of "orders", the accusative form of "mouth" since that word is the object of the infinitive, and the infinitive form of "to open" since it is functioning as a noun here, one of the direct objects of "orders". So the sentence becomes Medicus puerum ōs aperīre iubet.

Donʻt overcomplicate this. We do it all the time in English. "The teacher tells the students to be quiet." Magister discipulōs tacēre iubet. "The teacher instructs the students to look at the pictures" Magister discipulōs pictūrās aspicere iubet.

Indirect Statement (Indirect discourse or ōrātiō obliqua) – After so-called "verbs of the head" or verbs of perception, feeling, thinking and saying, the infinitive is used with a subject in the accusative case. This is a lot like the Infinitive as Object. Such verbs include: vidēre, audīre, sentīre, putāre, dīcere and gaudēre. Examples:

Suppose a direct statement is Medicus: "Puer dormit." The indirect statement is Medicus puerum dormīre dīcit.

Suppose a direct statement is Medicus: "Quīntus dentem aegrum habet." The indirect statement is Medicus Quīntum dentem aegrum habēre dīcit.