Latin Nominative Case Quiz

Case in Latin - Nominative

• The nominative case in Latin identifies the subject of a verb. It answers the question "who?" or "what?" performing the action.
• Subjects in Latin sentences are always in the nominative case.
• Nominative case morphology changes based on noun/pronoun type, gender, and number.
• Specific nominative forms exist for different noun declensions.

First Declension Nouns

• First declension nouns (feminine) typically end in -a in the nominative singular.
• Examples: puella (girl), rosa (rose)
• The nominative plural often ends in -ae.
• Examples: puellae (girls), rosae (roses)

Second Declension Nouns

• Second declension nouns (masculine and neuter) typically end in -us (masculine), -um (neuter) in the nominative singular.
• Examples: puer (boy), ager (field), domus (house)
• Nominative plural forms typically end in -i (masculine), -a (neuter).
• Examples: pueri (boys), agri (fields)

Third Declension Nouns

• Third declension nouns (masculine, feminine, and neuter) have complex variations.
• Stems vary greatly, affecting the nominative form.
• Consonant stems (e.g., rex, lupus) have unique nominative forms.
• Vowel stems (e.g., vir, mulier) follow different patterns.

Pronouns in the Nominative Case

• Personal pronouns have distinct nominative forms, indicating the subject.
• Examples: ego (I), tu (you - singular), nos/nosmet/nosmetipse (we), vos (you - plural), is/illud/ipse/ipsa/ipsum (he/she/it).
• Demonstrative and relative pronouns also have specific nominative forms for gender, number, and case.

Importance of the Nominative

• Understanding the nominative case is essential for accurate Latin sentence interpretation. Identifying the subject is crucial.
• Errors in nominative case identification significantly impact sentence meaning.