Some Latin Basics Grammar Terms Inflection changing the

Some Latin Basics Grammar

Terms • Inflection: changing the ending of the word to indicate modification of its grammatical function • Conjugation (v): what happens to verbs • Conjugation (n): a group of verbs that conjugate in a similar pattern • Decline (v): what happens to nouns • Declension (n): a group of nouns that decline in a similar pattern

Nouns *this is simplified but it gives the general idea • Cases (as indicated by the ending) show a nouns function in a sentence – Nominative: subject – Genitive: possession (of) – Dative: indirect object (to, for), acted upon – Accusative: direct object, receives the action – Ablative: Adverbial/prepositional – Vocative: formal address

Nouns also have • Gender • Number • Note: in Latin there are no articles (the, a)

Verbs • 5 Characteristics – Person: who the subject is – Number: how many subjects – Tense: when action takes place – Mood: speaker’s attitude toward what is being said – Voice: relation between the subject and action of the verb

Pronunciation • Consonants are hard – ‘s’ is voiceless (as in ‘hiss’ but not ‘his’) – ‘v’ sounds like our ‘w’ • Vowels are short unless they have a macron – ā, ē, ī, ō, ū • I and J are sometimes interchangeable