First-and-second declension adjectives are the first and commonest group of Latin adjectives.
Can recognize First and second declension adjectives in a short Latin prompt
Schau dir diese Beispiele an. Kannst du das grammatische Muster erkennen?
A good master, a good mistress, a good temple.
Many Romans run on the Campus Martius.
Achte auf die hervorgehobenen Teile. Was haben sie gemeinsam?
First-and-second declension adjectives are the first and commonest group of Latin adjectives. They borrow their feminine endings from the first declension and their masculine and neuter endings from the second, which is why the dictionary lists them in three forms, for example bonus, bona, bonum (good).
The idea is simple once you know those two noun families: to agree with a feminine noun the adjective uses first-declension endings, and to agree with a masculine or neuter noun it uses second-declension endings. So a single adjective can look like bona, bonus, or bonum depending on its noun.
| Case | Masc. | Fem. | Neut. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. sing. | magnus | magna | magnum |
| Gen. sing. | magnī | magnae | magnī |
| Acc. sing. | magnum | magnam | magnum |
Examples:
Watch out for two things as an English speaker. The adjective's endings follow its own noun's gender, not its declension: poēta bonus (a good poet) keeps bonus masculine even though poēta looks first-declension, because the poet is masculine. And do not assume the adjective sits next to its noun; Latin often separates them, so match by gender, number, and case, exactly the endings this table shows.
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an
ÜbungsaufgabenA good master, a good mistress, a good temple.
One adjective, three gender forms: -us, -a, -um. This is the pattern most Latin adjectives follow.
Many Romans run on the Campus Martius.
Multi is masculine plural, agreeing with Romani. Quantity words usually precede the noun in Latin; descriptive adjectives usually follow.
Im Kurs üben
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an