1. Agenda diēs Iovis, Id. Sept. A.D. MMXVIII
HW Check: wksht. 3 / Do Now: work on sentences from wksht. #2
Review Wksht. 2 (2nd Declension Nouns)
Review Worksheet 3 (Translation Practice)
2-1-2 Adjectives: Forms & Noun-Adjective Agreement
Pensum:
Worksheet 4
Study Vocab. List 1 (Quiz Monday)
Cover books by TOMORROW
Latin MS8
Mr. Finnigan
Boston Latin School

2. Adjectives – Basics & Forms

3. Adjectives – Basics
Just as in English, adjectives in Latin are modifiers
they describe nouns

4. nom. sg. masc., nom. sg. fem., nom. sg. neut. – meaning/definition
Forms of Adjectives
Dictionary entries for Latin adjectives look like this:
magnus, magna, magnum – large; great
nom. sg. masc., nom. sg. fem., nom. sg. neut. – meaning/definition
These adj. are called adj. because they take the endings for 2nd masc., 1st fem., and 2nd neut. declensions

5. Forms of Adjectives Declining adjectives is just like declining nouns:
Find the stem
Add your endings
To find the STEM of a Latin adj., go to the 2nd form (nom. sg. fem.) and drop the ending (–a)

6. Declining a 2-1-2 adjective…
MASCULINE
FEMININE
NEUTER
Singular
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Plural

7. When declined fully, it should look like this:
MASCULINE
FEMININE
NEUTER
Singular
Nom.
magnus
magna
magnum
Gen.
magnī
magnae
Dat.
magnō
Acc.
magnam
Abl.
magnā
Plural
magnōrum
magnārum
magnīs
magnōs
magnās

8. 2-1-2 –ER Adjectives

9. 2-1-2 –ER Adjectives
another type of adjectives is ones with –er in the nom. sg. masc. form
liber, libera, liberum: free
miser, misera, miserum: wretched, unfortunate, poor
noster, nostra, nostrum: our, ours
pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum: beautiful; noble, fine
sacer, sacra, sacrum: sacred, holy
vester, vestra, vestrum: your, yours (cp. tuus, -a, -um)

10. 2-1-2 –ER Adjectives
these act just like ager and puer in the masculine forms
some retain the –e– in the stem (like puer)
liber, libera, liberum
miser, misera, miserum
others drop the –e– from the stem (like ager)
noster, nostra, nostrum
pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum
sacer, sacra, sacrum
vester, vestra, vestrum

11. 2-1-2 –ER Adjectives
in all other forms, they act like –us, –a, –um adjectives
you must memorize which ones keep/drop the –e– from the stem
use derivatives to help you determine whether the e stays or go

12. Declining a 2-1-2 –ER Adjective pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum
MASCULINE
FEMININE
NEUTER
Singular
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Plural

13. Declining a 2-1-2 –ER Adjective pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum
Declining a –ER Adjective pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum Stem: ________
MASCULINE
FEMININE
NEUTER
Singular
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Plural

14. Declining a 2-1-2 –ER Adjective pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum
Declining a –ER Adjective pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum Stem: pulchr–
MASCULINE
FEMININE
NEUTER
Singular
Nom.
Gen.
Dat.
Acc.
Abl.
Plural

15. Declining a 2-1-2 –ER Adjective pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum
Declining a –ER Adjective pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum Stem: pulchr–
MASCULINE
FEMININE
NEUTER
Singular
Nom.
pulcher
pulchra
pulchrum
Gen.
pulchrī
pulchrae
Dat.
pulchrō
Acc.
pulchram
Abl.
pulchrā
Plural
pulchrōrum
pulchrārum
pulchrīs
pulchrōs
pulchrās

16. Noun-Adjective Agreement

17. Noun-Adjective Agreement
All adjectives MUST agree with the noun(s) they modify in THREE respects:
Gender (masc., fem., neut.)
Number (sg., pl.)
Case (nom., gen., dat., acc., abl.)
Endings do NOT have to look the same (think of 2PAINS nouns, e.g. agricolae bonī)
BUT, sometimes they do

18. Exerceāmus! the wide field (ager, agrī, m.: field)
Find the stems for both the nouns and the adjectives below and then decline them fully:
the wide field (ager, agrī, m.: field)
the great war (bellum, bellī, n.)
the small daughter (fīlia, fīliae, f.)
the good farmer

19. Placement of Adj. in a Sentence

20. Position of Adj. in a Sentence
Adjectives can come before or after the noun(s) they modify
In any phrase, the most significant word tends to come first for emphasis
These types of adj. usually come before the word modified:
Numeral adjectives (primus, secundus, tertius, quartus, etc.)
Quantitative adjectives (multus/multī, paucī, etc.)
Most other adjectives tend to come after the noun

21. Adjectives as Nouns: Substantives

22. Substantive Adjectives
Adj. do NOT always need to modify nouns
An adj. may stand on its own and be used as a noun
This is called the SUBSTANTIVE use of adjectives
We have these in English, but mostly in the plural/collective forms:
“The land of the free and the home of the brave.”
“Give me your tired, your poor…”
“Only the good die young.”

23. Substantive Adjectives
Adj. do NOT always need to modify nouns
An adj. may stand on its own and be used as a noun
This is called the SUBSTANTIVE use of adjectives
How to Translate? According to the gender and number
bonus: a good man – bonī: good men/people
bona: a good woman* – bonae: good women
bonum: a good thing – bona: good things*

24. Substantive Adjectives
Translate the following:
fera (2 ways)
bonōrum (2 ways)
malī (2 ways)
multa
bonae
parvīs (3 ways)