26.03.26: Level 1; topic (review); pets [2]; accusative case

Latin has two ways of expressing ‘I have’; [1] is a “no-brainer” because it doesn’t affect any other word:

[1] Mihi est … │ Literally: to me (there) is … + whatever it is you have; the noun does not change

mihi est canis │ I have a dog

mihi est hippopotamus

mihi est crocodīlus

And if (sensibly) you don’t have a crocodile …

mihi nōn est crocodīlus

mihi est frāter / soror │ I have a brother / sister

mihi est liber │ I have a book

This is not unlike Russian which, although it does have a verb ‘to have’ (used in very specific contexts), it uses the phrase u menya ¦ jest’ [literally: by me / at my place ¦ there is …] to express ‘I have’

[2] If you’re new to Latin, then please don’t try to run before you can walk:

[i] habeō │ I have

habēs │ You (singular i.e. talking to one person) have

habēsne …? │ Do you have …?

-ne can be added to a verb to turn it into a question

habet │ (s)/he / it has

[ii] Nouns which are used with habeō – and thousands of other verbs –  are in the accusative case, which expresses the direct object of a sentence.

You see below that I have divided this into three groups:

[1] First declension

luscinia

> lusciniam habeō │ I have a nightingale

> lusciniam audiō │ I hear / listen to the nightingale

sīmia

> sīmiam habeō │ I have a monkey

> sīmiam timeō │ I fear / I’m afraid of the monkey

[1] Second declension

cattus

> cattum habeō │ I have a cat

> cattum videō │ I see a cat

psittacus

> psittacum habeō │ I have a parrot

> psittacum cūrō │ I take care of the parrot

It is these two – the first and second declension – where you should start in understanding how nouns work in Latin. The links below are for key posts in the group that discuss these.

23.02.24: Declensions and cases [1] (nominative; vocative)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/396107356333872/

23.02.24: declensions [1] first and second declension

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/396459352965339/

26.02.24: nominative plural of first and second declension nouns [1]; hī / hae

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/397673796177228/

26.02.24: nominative plural of first and second declension nouns [2]; quot?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/397675569510384/

28.02.24: the accusative case (singular and plural) of first declension nouns

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/398913862719888/

29.02.24: accusative case singular of first declension nouns

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/399267342684540/

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

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/399454222665852/

29.02.24: leaving the easiest to last; the accusative singular and plural of 2nd declension neuter nouns in -um

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/399534969324444/

01.03.24: summary of the nominative and accusative singular and plural of 1st / 2nd declension nouns

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/399755895969018/

[iii] The other nouns in the list of pets are third declension; you may already be familiar with this, but if you’re not, I would simply note what’s below before going on that journey because the third declension involves a lot of learning and it’s far better first to be familiar the first and second declensions, what declensions are and how they work.

Key points:

(1) 3^rd declension nouns can end in different ways:

avis

canis

piscis

fēlēs

passer

mūs

serpēns

testūdō

(2) they can be any gender; check the vocabulary list in the previous post and you will see them marked m(asculine) and f(eminine); none of the words listed are neuter

(3) Those which are masculine and feminine have an accusative in -em but note that, when endings are added, some nouns change.

(1) to (3) above are the reasons why I would recommend to leave the 3^rd declension at the early stages:

avem habeō │ I have a bird

canem habeō│ I have a dog

piscem habeō│ I have a fish

fēlem habeō│ I have a cat

passerem habeō│ I have a sparrow

Now see what happens:

mūs

> mūrem habeō│ I have a mouse; mūrem timeō │ I’m scared of the mouse

serpēns

> serpentem habeō│ I have a snake; serpentem teneō │ I’m holding the snake

testūdō

> testūdinem habeō│ I have a tortoise; testūdinem spectō │ I’m looking at / watching the tortoise

Link to all files on the 3^rd declension:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/permalink/750844210860183/