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Latin Declensions
The five regular Latin noun declensions, drilled the Dowling way — case by case, across all five declensions at once, since that's the order you actually need to recognize endings in when reading.
1st Declension
f.
puella, puellae “girl”
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | puella | puellae |
| Genitive | puellae | puellārum |
| Dative | puellae | puellīs |
| Accusative | puellam | puellās |
| Ablative | puellā | puellīs |
| Vocative | puella | puellae |
2nd Declension
m.
dominus, dominī “master”
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | dominus | dominī |
| Genitive | dominī | dominōrum |
| Dative | dominō | dominīs |
| Accusative | dominum | dominōs |
| Ablative | dominō | dominīs |
| Vocative | domine | dominī |
n.
bellum, bellī “war”
Neuter nom./acc./voc. are always identical (singular -um, plural -a).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | bellum | bella |
| Genitive | bellī | bellōrum |
| Dative | bellō | bellīs |
| Accusative | bellum | bella |
| Ablative | bellō | bellīs |
| Vocative | bellum | bella |
m.
puer, puerī “boy”
-r stem noun: no -us in the nominative singular, and the e is kept throughout (contrast ager). Vocative singular is identical to the nominative.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | puer | puerī |
| Genitive | puerī | puerōrum |
| Dative | puerō | puerīs |
| Accusative | puerum | puerōs |
| Ablative | puerō | puerīs |
| Vocative | puer | puerī |
m.
ager, agrī “field”
-r stem noun: the e drops in every form except nom./voc. singular (contrast puer, which keeps it).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ager | agrī |
| Genitive | agrī | agrōrum |
| Dative | agrō | agrīs |
| Accusative | agrum | agrōs |
| Ablative | agrō | agrīs |
| Vocative | ager | agrī |
m.
fīlius, fīliī “son”
-ius nouns have an irregular vocative singular in -ī (fīlī), not -ie.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | fīlius | fīliī |
| Genitive | fīliī | fīliōrum |
| Dative | fīliō | fīliīs |
| Accusative | fīlium | fīliōs |
| Ablative | fīliō | fīliīs |
| Vocative | fīlī | fīliī |
3rd Declension
m./f.
rēx, rēgis “king”
Regular consonant-stem: gen. pl. -um. Contrast the i-stem pattern below, which takes -ium instead.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | rēx | rēgēs |
| Genitive | rēgis | rēgum |
| Dative | rēgī | rēgibus |
| Accusative | rēgem | rēgēs |
| Ablative | rēge | rēgibus |
| Vocative | rēx | rēgēs |
n.
corpus, corporis “body”
Regular neuter consonant-stem: nom./acc. pl. -a. Contrast the neuter i-stem pattern below, which takes -ia instead.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | corpus | corpora |
| Genitive | corporis | corporum |
| Dative | corporī | corporibus |
| Accusative | corpus | corpora |
| Ablative | corpore | corporibus |
| Vocative | corpus | corpora |
f.
ovis, ovis “sheep”
i-stem: genitive plural is -ium instead of the regular -um. (Genitive singular happens to match the nominative here, since ovis is parisyllabic.)
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ovis | ovēs |
| Genitive | ovis | ovium |
| Dative | ovī | ovibus |
| Accusative | ovem | ovēs |
| Ablative | ove | ovibus |
| Vocative | ovis | ovēs |
n.
mare, maris “sea”
Neuter i-stem: dative/ablative singular end in -ī (not -e), and nominative/accusative/vocative plural end in -ia (not -a).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | mare | maria |
| Genitive | maris | marium |
| Dative | marī | maribus |
| Accusative | mare | maria |
| Ablative | marī | maribus |
| Vocative | mare | maria |
4th Declension
f.
manus, manūs “hand”
This declension is predominantly masculine (e.g. frūctus); manus is a well-known feminine exception, chosen here since it's the most common 4th-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | manus | manūs |
| Genitive | manūs | manuum |
| Dative | manuī | manibus |
| Accusative | manum | manūs |
| Ablative | manū | manibus |
| Vocative | manus | manūs |
n.
genū, genūs “knee”
Neuter 4th declension: nom./acc./voc. end in -ū (sg.) and -ua (pl.) rather than -us/-ūs. Dative singular is often genū instead of genuī.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | genū | genua |
| Genitive | genūs | genuum |
| Dative | genuī | genibus |
| Accusative | genū | genua |
| Ablative | genū | genibus |
| Vocative | genū | genua |
5th Declension
f.
rēs, reī “thing”
gen./dat. sg. -eī has a short e after a consonant (reī) but a long ē after a vowel stem (diēī from diēs).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | rēs | rēs |
| Genitive | reī | rērum |
| Dative | reī | rēbus |
| Accusative | rem | rēs |
| Ablative | rē | rēbus |
| Vocative | rēs | rēs |