30.10.25: Level 1; Carolus et Maria [13][iii] 3rd declension nouns

The text features a number of third declension nouns.

Rosae et multī aliī flōrēs sunt in hortō medicī. │ Roses and many other flowers are in the doctor’s garden.

Mox hiems erit, sed Claudius hiemem nōn laudat. │ It will soon be Winter, but Claudius doesn’t praise Winter.

Hieme nūllī flōrēs sunt in hortīs.  │ There are no flowers in the gardens in Winter.

Aestāte multōs flōrēs ibi vidēmus. │ In Summer we see many flowers there.

Pater Cassī Claudiō … equōs suōs mōnstrat. │ Cassius’ father shows his horses to Claudius.

Claudius est amīcus … patris Cassī │ Claudius is a friend of Cassius’ father [= literally: … of the father of Cassius]

Nunc est nox et quiēs est in terrā. │ Now it is night and there is calm on the land.

Equī in stabulō stant et quiētem capiunt. │ The horses are standing in the table and taking a rest.

Look again at the vocabulary list in the first post and how those words are listed:

aestās, aestātis [3/f]: summer

flōs, flōris [3/m]: flower

hiems, hiemis [3/f]: winter

nox, noctis [3/f]: night

pater, patris [3/m]: father

quiēs, quiētis [3/f]: sleep; rest

These are third declension nouns,  a very important topic, and links to all previous posts are here:

[i] 3^rd declension nouns

https://mega.nz/file/KUVi2IjQ#4ysbn3CPFqLTTxvquDvhOKZ5fuN4dPg3QtozQ4xRjig

[ii] 3^rd declension nouns: review

https://mega.nz/file/zd03CR5K#o3d0lqdRkvvSvfbJridQA-O7qWArCkBXiH8e2HwX-U0

The information in those files appears lengthy. However, they contain not only the key information but also examples in context, exercises, review, progress checks and considerable repetition because not all concepts in a language will immediately “sink in”.

There are, however, some key points to note:

[i] Unlike the other noun declensions which have very specific nominative case forms e.g. puella [1^st declension; almost all are feminine], servus [2^nd declension; almost all are masculine], magister, puer, vir, [2^nd declension masculine] and templum [2^nd declension neuter], the nominative case of 3^rd declension nouns can [a] have a variety of endings and [b] can be any gender which, unless it refers to a human being, can often not be predicted, for example:

rēx: king (masculine)

flōs: flower (masculine)

uxor: wife (feminine)

quiēs: rest (feminine)

mare: sea (neuter)

cor: heart (neuter)

Image #1: [ii] Unlike the 1^st and 2^nd declension nouns, many 3^rd declension nouns change the stem i.e. the form to which all the other case endings are added, for example:

Nominative singular: mīles (soldier)

Genitive singular: mīlit¦is

And it is from that genitive singular that the rest of the declension is formed, for example:

Nom: mīles

Gen: mīlit¦is i.e. the stem is mīlit-, and it is that stem which dictates the rest of the declension:

Dat: mīlit¦ī

Acc. mīlit¦em

Abl. mīlit¦e

The same applies to the plural e.g. Nom. pl: mīlit¦ēs

The first image gives examples of stem changes of 3rd declension nouns; some 3rd declension nouns do not change their stem e.g. nāvis (as shown), but a large number of them do, and so, when learning 3rd declension nouns, it is important to note not only the nominative singular, but also the genitive singular.

[ii] Image #2 shows the declension of the 3^rd declension nouns mīles (soldier) and iter (journey); most dictionaries, vocabulary lists and grammar books will indicate this:

mīles (nominative singular), mīlitis (genitive singular which indicates the stem) [3(rd declension) / m(asculine)]

aestās, aestātis [3/f]: summer

iter, itineris [3/n]: journey

[iii] The importance of knowing the genitive is crucial. Look at the following examples:

servus, servī [2^nd declension]: slave; genitive singular -ī

tempus, temporis [3^rd declension]: time; genitive singular -is

i.e. there are also 3^rd declension nouns which end in -us

Similarly:

magister, magistrī [2^nd declension]: teacher; genitive singular -ī

pater, patris [3^rd declension]: father; genitive singular -is

i.e. there are also 3^rd declension nouns which end in -er

Therefore, knowing only the nominative will not tell you to which declension these nouns belong. However, the genitive singular is different for all the Latin declensions which is why it is standard practice in dictionaries and other reference works to give the nominative and genitive singular of all Latin nouns so that the declension of the noun is always clear. And that doesn’t simply apply to the 3rd declension. Latin nouns will be commonly listed in the following way:

puella, puellae (or simply: -ae) [1/f]

agricola, -ae [1/m]; yes, most nouns ending in -a are feminine, but some are not and so a dictionary will indicate that

hortus, -ī [2/m]: garden

pīnus, -ī [2/f]; as above: most nouns ending in -us are masculine, but some are not and so, again, gender is always noted

puer, -ī [2/m]: boy, but …

soror, sorōris [3/f]: sister

You will see as you go on that there are two other Latin declensions and they too will indicate the genitive singular to identify the declension because they are all different, for example:

hortus, -ī [2/m]: garden

pectus, pectoris [3/n]: chest; breast

portus, portūs [4/m]: harbour; port 

This is not something that you need to know inside-out at this stage, but simply to be aware of.

Image #3 shows an example of this with two nouns:

servus, -ī [2/m]: slave and genus, generis [3/n]: type i.e. they belong to two different declensions and their endings are completely different from each other.