47 Neuter 2nd Declension Nouns
“All the nouns you’ve learned so far have been masculine or feminine in gender, like vir or fēmina. We are going to finish the genders today by looking at Neuter Nouns. Most neuter nouns are 2nd or 3rd declension, though there are a handful of neuter 4th declension nouns; we will just talk about 2nd declensions ones today. All nouns in Latin that are neuter share two important features:”
Universal Features of Neuter Nouns (A)
The Nominative and Accusative endings are always the same.
In the Nominative and Accusative plural the endings are always a short a. “Repeat what I just said.” And I did.
“For 2nd declension neuter nouns, the ending of the nominative and accusative singular is um. You can recognize a 2nd declension neuter noun in the dictionary because the nominative ends in um, while the genitive, like all 2nd declension nouns, ends in ī:”
bellum, bell-īn.war
fātum, fāt-īn.fate
imperium, imperi-īn.command; empire
ingenium, ingeni-īn.talent
membrum, membr-īn.limb
oppidum, oppid-īn.town, city
sepulchrum, sepulchr-īn.tomb
sīgnum, sīgn-īn.sign; flag
studium, studi-īn.enthusiasm, zeal
moenia, moeni-ōrumn.walls (of a city)
“Only plural, no singular!”
“And here are the endings; the ones distinctive to neuter nouns are underlined:” 2nd Declension Neuter Endings (B)
SingularPlural
Nom.-um-a
Gen.-ī-ōrum
Dat.-ō-īs
Acc.-um-a
Abl.-ō-īs
“The noun forms look like this – notice the distinctive neuter endings:”
fāt-umfāt-afate (subj./pred.)fates (subj./pred.)
fāt-īfāt-ōrumof fateof fates
fāt-ōfāt-īsto/for fateto/for fates
fāt-umfāt-afate (obj.)fates (obj.)
fāt-ōfāt-īsf.w.i.b. fatef.w.i.b. fates “Decline and translate studium, studiī, n., the same way.” (1)
“The principles for translating neuter nouns are the same as those for other nouns. Be careful not to mistake a neuter noun in the nominative or accusative plural – like fāta – for a 1st declension noun in the nominative singular, like puella. You need to know the gender and declension of the noun to identify its forms correctly.”
“Another tricky feature is that THE SAME FORM COULD BE NOMINATIVE OR ACCUSATIVE. Take this sentence. There are three different nouns that, out of context, could be the nominative subject!”
- Nōs bellum parāre iubent fāta.
- Nōs (nom./acc. pl.) bellum (nom./acc. sing.) parāre iubent fāta (nom./acc. pl.).
“Which is the subject? The verb tells you, because it is 3rd person and plural: it cannot be nōs
(wrong person) or bellum (wrong number). So it is fāta.”
- Us (obj.) war (obj.) to prepare (inf.) order (3rd pl. pres) the fates (subj.). >>> The fates order us to prepare (a) war.
“Try these.”
Parā pācem, sī imperium parāre cōgitās. (2)
Virōs ad bellum dare oppida dēbent. (3)
Hominum animī membra movent. (4) “What are the 2 meanings of animus?” You do not need to teach talent. (5)
The country will think about wars when the soldiers will move the flags. (6)
Voices call us through the streets and tombs of the town. (7)
“When an US-A-UM adjective modifies a neuter noun, the adjective uses 2nd declension neuter endings:”
Neuter Noun Plus Adjective great sign, sīgnum magnum
sīgnum magnumsīgna magna
sīgnī magnīsīgnōrum magnōrum
sīgnō magnōsīgnīs magnīs
sīgnum magnumsīgna magna
sīgnō magnōsīgnīs magnīs
great sign (subj./pred.)great signs (subj./pred.) of the great signof the great signs
to/for the great signto/for the great signs great sign (obj.)great signs (obj.)
f.w.i.b. the great signf.w.i.b. the great signs “Prōcēderene possumus? Can we proceed?”
Okay.