3.4 The first declension
The endings of Latin nouns are predictable. Each noun belongs to one of five patterns, called declensions. If you know the declension to which a noun belongs – in other words if you know its pattern – you can determine its possible endings.
The first declension
Table 6 below shows the genitive, dative and ablative case endings of the first declension, using the noun puella (‘girl’) as an example. Almost all nouns whose dictionary entry ends in -a belong to the first declension, i.e. they form endings in the same way as puella. This group includes most names of Roman women, such as Iūlia (‘Julia’) and Octāvia (Octavia).
Note that the ablative ending is a long ‘-ā’, not a short ‘-a’.
| case | ending | puella |
|---|---|---|
| singular | ||
| genitive | -ae | puellae |
| dative | -ae | puellae |
| ablative | -ā | puellā |
Activity 17
a.
genitive
b.
dative
c.
ablative
d.
none of the above
The correct answer is c.
a.
genitive
b.
dative
c.
ablative
d.
either genitive or dative
e.
none of the above
The correct answer is d.
d.
The context would help you determine whether the noun was in the genitive or dative case.
a.
Cleopatra
b.
Cleopatrae
c.
Cleopatrā
The correct answer is b.