04.07.24: level 1; Ora Maritima [3](5)

book: https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/permalink/445400638071210/

Patruus meus quondam praefectus erat in Āfricā Merīdiānā. Nunc mīlitiā vacat, et agellō suō operam dat. Agellus patruī meī nōn magnus est. Circum vīllam est hortus. Mūrus hortī nōn altus est. Rīvus est prope hortum, unde aquam portāmus, cum hortum irrigāmus. In hortō magnus est numerus rosārum et violārum. Rosae et violae tibi, mī patrue, magnam laetitiam dant. Tū, Lȳdia, cum patruō meō in hortō saepe ambulās.

2^nd declension nouns in -us; almost all of them are masculine

Nominative

Patruus meus … erat … │My uncle was …

Rīvus est prope … │The river is near …

Agellus … nōn magnus est │The plot of land is not big

Vocative: he addresses his uncle directly; the only time when there is a difference between the nominative and the vocative is with nouns ending in –(i)us:

patruus > mī patrue

fīlius > mī fīlī

Genitive

Agellus ¦ patruī meī │The plot of land ¦ of my uncle i.e. my uncle’s plot of land

Mūrus ¦ hortī ¦ nōn altus est. │The wall ¦ of the garden ¦ is not high.

Dative

Agellō suō operam dat │ He gives attention to his plot of land

Accusative

hortum irrigāmus │we water the garden

prope hortum │near the garden

Ablative

in hortō │in the garden

cum patruō meō │with my uncle

Images: The entire second declension singular of nouns in -us is in that paragraph.

agellus, -ī [2/m]: (small) plot of land

hortus, -ī [2/m]: garden

mūrus, -ī [2/m]: wall

patruus, -ī [2/m]: uncle

rīvus, -ī [2/m]: stream

All nouns in Latin are listed with [i] the nominative singular and [ii] the genitive singular; this matters because it indicates to which declension the noun belongs:

puella, -ae [1/f] first declension

hortus, -ī [2/m] second declension

Can’t you work out the declension from ‘hortus’ alone? No, you can’t. Other nouns end in -us which are not second declension, but the genitive singulars are different. Therefore, it is the genitive singular which tells you the declension, which is why it’s crucial to learn a noun together with that form, and the further down the road you go, the more you’ll see why that’s important.