The ablative case is the Latin "everything else" case.
Can recognize Ablative case in a short Latin prompt
Schau dir diese Beispiele an. Kannst du das grammatische Muster erkennen?
We dine with friends in the tavern.
He fights with a sword.
Achte auf die hervorgehobenen Teile. Was haben sie gemeinsam?
The ablative case is the Latin "everything else" case. It covers ideas English handles with the little words by, with, from, in, and on: the means you use, the company you keep, the place where something happens, and the source you move away from.
English leans on prepositions for all of this ("with a sword," "in the forest"). Latin often does the job with the ablative ending alone, and sometimes adds a preposition on top. Because so many meanings share one case, context decides which sense fits.
| Declension | Nominative | Ablative sing. | Ablative pl. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | puella | puellā | puellīs |
| 2nd | servus | servō | servīs |
| 3rd | rēx | rēge | rēgibus |
Examples:
Note the first-declension ablative singular puellā: on the page it looks just like the nominative puella, and only the macron marks the difference, so read vowel length carefully. English speakers also tend to hunt for a preposition; remember that a bare ablative like gladiō already means "with a sword" with no separate word.
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an
ÜbungsaufgabenWe dine with friends in the tavern.
One case does the work of several English prepositions: 'with friends' and 'in the tavern' are both ablative here.
He fights with a sword.
The instrument is a bare ablative: gladio = 'with a sword'. Cum is not used here; it stays for company (cum amicis) and for manner with a modifier (magno cum labore).
Im Kurs üben
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an