First and second declension adjectives

Frequently asked questions

When is First and second declension adjectives used?

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).

How is First and second declension adjectives formed?

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. 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.