The vocative case is the form used to address someone directly, to call or name the person you are speaking to.
Can recognize Vocative case in a short Latin prompt
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Salvē, Mārce!
Hello, Mārcus!
Et tū, Brūte?
And you, Brutus?
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
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!"
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.
| 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.
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.
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesSalvē, Mārce!
Hello, Mārcus!
Mārce, not Mārcus: Latin has a separate form for addressing someone. English lost it entirely and uses the plain name.
Et tū, Brūte?
And you, Brutus?
Brute is a vocative. English keeps the Latin form in this one quotation and nowhere else.
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Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises