Latin/Adjectives Lesson 2

Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity! We are continuing adjectives with the 3rd declension forms this week. If you’re just joining us and want to catch up, there are links on the right.

New Grammar
Adjectives of the 3rd declension are declined like nouns of the 3rd declension, with a few important exceptions. There is usually no distinction between masculine and feminine, so usually the dictionary listings are for m/f and neuter nominative. (Dictionaries will list m,f,n if there are 3 different forms, and in this case the stem comes from the nom. f. They will list nominative followed by genitive if there is only one nominative form). Third declension adjectives always have the i-stem in the genitive plural, and neuters have i-stems in the nominative and accusative plural. And the ablative singular ending is –ī instead of –e. Here's a chart:

Here is a good reference site for 3rd declension adjectives. Another thing to remember about adjectives (of any type) is that sometimes they are used substantively, that is, taking the place of a noun. We do this in English (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) but not nearly as often as in Latin. It will frequently make a big difference if the adjective is m/f (omnēs – everyone, all people) or n. (omnia = everything, all things).

Practice
Now that we have a wide variety of adjectives and nouns, the next lesson will be more systematic study of present tense verbs. We hope you are enjoying exploring Latin.

Valēte!