Unit 5: 2nd Declension Neuter Nouns

Notes 5.3

Learning Goals: By the end of the lesson students will be able to:

1. Recognize neuter nouns of the 2nd declensions.

2. Know the “neuter rule.”

3. Decline neuter nouns of the 2nd declensions.

4. Be able to distinguish between nom. and acc. for a neuter noun.

Do you remember…?

• A noun’s declension is discerned by its genitive singular:• -ae = 1st declension• -i = 2nd declension

Neuter nouns

• So far this year we have talked about nouns that are either masculine or feminine in gender.

• Neuter is the last of the 3 genders in Latin. • Neuter, -tra, -trum is a Latin word that means

neither. • This means that they are neither masculine nor

feminine.• Remember that grammatical gender is NOT the

same as biological gender. The 2 don’t often mesh.

What’s special about neuter?

• 2nd declension neuter nouns are recognized in a couple of ways:• The nom. singular ends in –(i)um• 2nd declension neuter nouns also have –i in the

genitive singular, just like the masculine ones.

• Other than the endings being slightly different, there is one other really important thing to know about neuter nouns.

• It’s called the neuter rule.

The neuter rule

The nominative and accusative endings are always the same!

• The neuter rule applies to any neuter noun no matter what declension it is in.

nom.

gen.

dat.

acc.

abl.

voc.

-um, -ium -a

sg pl

-um, -ium -a

(-i)

-ō -is

2nd Declension Neuter: The Endings

Let’s see it work:

How it works step-by-step:

Step 1: Label the cases

Step 2: Label the sg and pl

Step 3: Write the nom. sg as it appears in the vocabulary listing.

(Step 4: Write the gen. sg in its expanded form. This step is important! The gen. sg is where we get the root.)

Step 4: Take the root from the gen. sg and this is where you add all the other endings.

nom.

gen.

dat.

acc.

abl.

voc.

signum signa

sg pl

signum signa

(signi)

signō signis

Have you spotted the potential problem?

• The neuter plurals are the same in the nominative and the accusative as the 1st declension endings for nominative singular.

• How can you tell the difference between puella (feminine singular) and templa (neuter plural)?

The solution is easy!

• Just use the rest of the sentence to clear it up for you.

• If it is feminine, it will be the singular subject. The verb needs to be 3rd person singular to agree with it.• Puella amicam salutat.• The girl greets (her) friend.

• If the word is neuter plural you have two choices. 1) It could be the subject (nom. case).

• If it’s the subject, the verb must be in 3rd plural to agree with it.

2) It could be the direct object (acc. case).• If it’s the direct object it must answer the

question what or whom. • We must also use some common sense! Let’s see

some examples.

• Templa in silvis sunt magna.• The temples in the woods are large.

• Viri templa in silvis semper faciunt.• Men often make temples in the woods.

• Is it really logical to have temples making anything?!

Caution!! It can be tricky, though!

• The other ones that are tricky are the ones that have 2 neuter nouns and you have to figure out which one is the subject and which one is the object.

• Don’t underestimate the power of common sense!• Templa in ianuis signa habent.

• Temples have signs in the doors.

• Would it make sense for the signs to have temples in the doors? It might very well be grammatically correct, but it makes no sense!

Quid agis? How are you doing?

My level of understanding Check for understanding

4I understand the terms neuter and neuter rule on my own; I can recognize a noun that is neuter; AND I can decline a neuter noun on my own – no notes!

3I understand the terms neuter and neuter rule on my own; I can recognize a noun that is neuter; AND I can decline a neuter noun with my notes.

2 I understand the terms neuter and neuter rule on my own AND I can recognize a noun that is neuter.

1 I understand the terms neuter and neuter rule with help.