28.02.24: introduction to adjectives

[refer to images: A New Latin Primer (Mima Maxey (1933)]

The text is simple enough, but focus on the words in bold.

Haec est magistra.

“Salvēte, discipulī, puerī et puellae.”

Puer est discipulus.

Puella est discipula.

Hae sunt discipulae.

Hī sunt discipulī.

Haec est puella.

Magistra nōn est puella.

Magistra est fēmina.

Haec est magistra. Haec est fēmina. Haec est puella. Haec puella est discipula. Haec puella nōn est magistra.

Haec puella est parva. Haec puella nōn est parva; haec puella est magna.

Haec puella nōn est parva; haec puella est alta.

Haec puella est bona. Fēmina quoque est bona.

Haec puella nōn est bona.

Haec puella est magna. Magistra quoque est magna.

Haec puella est parva.

Puella est pulchra quoque.

quoque: also

alta, bona, magna, parva, pulchra

These words are adjectives i.e. they are used to describe a person or thing. There is, in fact, nothing new to learn here since this type of adjective has the same endings as meus etc.

masculine: altUS (tall)

feminine: parvA (small)

neuter: magnUM (big)

They all end in -a in the text because a girl is being described. However, below are examples with all three genders:

discipulus bonus: a good pupil (masc.)

discipula bona: a good pupil (fem.)

vīnum bonum: good wine (neut.)

These adjectives are known as first / second declension adjectives because they have the same endings as first / second declension nouns.

pulchra (beautiful) belongs to the same group but look at its masculine form:

pulcher

It is the same as a second declension noun in -er (e.g. like magister) and, like the noun, loses the /e/ before the ending is added:

pulcher (masc.)

pulchra (fem.)

pulchrum (neut.)

Adjectives can be [i] attributive or [ii] predicative:

[i] an attributive adjective in English precedes the noun:

a beautiful temple

[ii] a predicative adjective follows the verb 'to be'

the temple is beautiful

[i] In Latin, the attributive adjective, as most often occurs in French, follows the noun although, given the flexibility of Latin word order, this is not a hard and fast rule

templum pulchrum: a beautiful temple

[ii] The predicative adjective in Latin follows the verb:

Templum est pulchrum: the temple is beautiful

However, again, given the word order of Latin, the same concept can also be expressed as:

Templum pulchrum est.

The plurals of these adjectives you already know since they are exactly the same as 1st / 2nd declension nouns:

discipulus bonus: a good pupil (m)

> discipulī bonī: good pupils (m)

puella parva: a little girl

> puellae parvae: little girls

templum pulchrum: a beautiful temple

> templa pulchra: beautiful temples

Therefore, based on what you now know about 1st / 2nd declension adjectives, explain the endings in bold:

• Servus in hortō magnō labōrat.
• Amīcus meus in vīllā magnā habitat.
• Agricola in casā parvā habitat.
• Sacerdōs in templō magnō ōrat.
• In armāriō parvō sunt armillae et annulī.