29.02.24: accusative singular and plural of second declension nouns in -us

• [The Road to Latin (Chesnutt) 1932]

Read and try to understand the text using the vocabulary to help you.

Note the endings -um and -ōs: these are the singular and plural endings for the accusative of the second declension nouns in -us - and the endings are the same for the adjectives,

Cornēlius est dominus vīllae; dominus Cornēlius est vir bonus. Dominus bonus servum laetum habet. Puer laetus dominum bonum amat. Dominus magnum hortum habet; dominus et domina in hortō ambulant. Hortus est longus et lātus. Servus laetus in hortum properat. Ferē cotīdiē in hortō labōrat. Esne dēfessus, serve bone? Esne tū dēfessus, puer? Cornēlius multōs fīliōs habet. Fīliī sunt bonī. Fīliī sunt Marcus, Lūcius, Aulus, Pūblius, Servius. Fīliī parvī sunt Pūblius et Servius. Fīlius adultus est Mārcus. Estisne discipulī bonī, puerī? Lūcius est discipulus bonus et dīligenter labōrat. Aulus quoque est bonus discipulus. Fīliī parvī nōndum sunt discipulī. Cornēlius fīliōs bonōs amat et saepe laudat. Nōnne Cornēlium amātis, fīliī?

adultus, -a, -um: adult; grown-up

cotīdiē: every day; daily

dēfessus, -a, -um: tired

dīligenter: diligently; carefully (dīligenter labōrat: he / she works hard)

domina: mistress

dominus: master

dominus vīllae: master of the house (more on this in a later post)

ferē: almost

laetus, -a, -um: happy

lātus, -a, -um: wide

laudāre: to praise

nōndum: not yet

properāre: hurry

saepe: often

Note: Esne dēfessus, serve bone? │ Are you tired, good slave? The adjective in -us also has a vocative form; it's used here because the slave is being addressed directly.

The image shows the pater familias (paterfamilias), the oldest living male in the family and the head of the Roman household; he is pictured with his wife (uxor) and children (līberī).

29.02.24: accusative singular and plural of 2nd declension masculine nouns

The accusative singular and plural of 2nd declension masculine nouns are:

-um [singular]

-ōs [plural]

Accusative singular

saccus: bag > Servus saccum portat. The slave is carrying a bag.

Nouns ending in -er also change their ending to -um and, as in the other cases, most of these nouns lose the /e/ before the ending is added:

magister: teacher > Discipulus magistrum vexat. The pupil is annoying the teacher.

Note:

puer: boy > Magister puerum castīgat. The teacher punishes the boy.

Vir: man > Rēgina virum laudat. The queen praises the man.

From the text:

• Nōnne Cornēlium amātis, fīliī? You love Cornelius, don’t you, sons?

Further examples from the text which, again, show that the 1st/ 2nd declension adjective has the same ending:

• Dominus bonus servum laetum habet. The good master has a happy slave.
• Puer laetus dominum bonum amat. The happy boy loves the good master.
• Dominus magnum hortum habet. The master has a large garden.

Accusative plural

Servus saccum portat. The slave is carrying a bag.

> Servus saccōs portat. The slave is carrying bags.

Discipulus magistrum vexat. The pupil is annoying the teacher.

> Discipulī magistrōs vexant. The pupils are annoying the teachers.

Magister puerum castīgat. The teacher punishes the boy.

> Magister puerōs castīgat. The teacher punishes the boys.

From the text:

• Cornēlius multōs fīliōs habet. Cornelius has many sons.
• Cornēlius fīliōs bonōs amat et saepe laudat. Cornelius loves and often praises (his)* good sons.

*Note: Latin often omits the possessive adjective when it is clear who the ‘owner’ is. The possessive adjective should, however, be included in translation when appropriate.

The accusative with prepositions:

A number of prepositions are followed by the accusative case. Here, we focus on ‘in’ which might give you pause for thought since that preposition was introduced in an earlier post as one that is followed by the ablative. Look at these two sentences from the text:

• Servus laetus in hortum [accusative] properat. The happy slave hurries into the garden.
• Ferē cotīdiē in hortō [ablative] labōrat. Almost every day he works in the garden.

This preposition in Latin can take both cases:

[i] With the accusative it refers to physically going into a place i.e. movement from one place into another

[ii] With the ablative it refers to physically being in a place

The German and Russian languages also make this distinction, as can English but not so consistently: He ran in the house = he ran into the house. It is the Latin in + accusative that must be used to convey this idea.

Compare:

• He is walking in the street. In viā [ablative] ambulat.
• He hurries into the street. In viam [accusative] properat.