Vocative case: regulae, exempla, exercitia

The vocative case is the form used to address someone directly, to call or name the person you are speaking to. When you translate it, it usually comes out as "O..." or simply as the name set off by commas: "Mārcus, come here!"

Noun type	Nominative	Vocative
1st decl.	puella	puella (same)
2nd in -us	servus	serve
2nd in -ius	Mārcus / fīlius	Mārce / fīlī

So second-declension masculine nouns ending in -us change to -e, and names in -ius end in a single -ī.

Salvē, amīce! - Hello, friend!
Quid agis, Mārce? - How are you, Mārcus?
Venī, fīlī! - Come, son!

The error to avoid is leaving servus or Mārcus unchanged when addressing someone. Roman Latin says serve and Mārce. Everywhere else, if a noun is not one of these -us/-ius types, the vocative simply matches the nominative.

Frequently asked questions

When is Vocative case used?

The vocative case is the form used to address someone directly , to call or name the person you are speaking to. When you translate it, it usually comes out as "O..." or simply as the name set off by commas: "Mārcus, come here!"

How is Vocative case formed?

English does not change a name when we call out to it; "Mārcus!" looks the same whether it is a subject or a shout. Latin behaves the same way for most nouns: the vocative is identical to the nominative. There is just one common exception worth learning now. So second-declension masculine nouns ending in -us change to -e , and names in -ius end in a single -ī . The error to avoid is leaving servus or Mārcus unchanged when addressing someone. Roman Latin says serve and Mārce . Everywhere else, if a noun is not one of these -us/-ius types, the vocative simply matches the nominative.

Vocative case

Put it into practice

Frequently asked questions