Latin
Latin Second Declension: Table and 8 Solved Exercises
Spot it by the genitive in -i: full tables for dominus, puer, ager and neuter bellum, the vocative in -e, neuter plurals in -a and 8 solved exercises.
Recommended for: Grade 9 · Grade 10
The Latin second declension collects the nouns whose genitive singular ends in -i: dominus, domini (master), puer, pueri (boy), ager, agri (field), bellum, belli (war). The nominative ends in -us, -er or -um: nouns in -us and -er are masculine, nouns in -um are neuter. If you already know the first declension, the method is the same: drop the genitive ending to get the stem, then add the ending for each case.
How to recognize it
Always look at the second form of the dictionary entry. If it ends in -i, you are in the second declension. Drop that -i to get the stem: domini gives domin-, belli gives bell-, agri gives agr-. The nominative alone is not enough: -us also appears in the fourth declension (manus, manus) and the third (corpus, corporis).
The endings chart: dominus
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | dominus | domini |
| Genitive | domini | dominorum |
| Dative | domino | dominis |
| Accusative | dominum | dominos |
| Vocative | domine | domini |
| Ablative | domino | dominis |
Dative and ablative are identical in the singular (domino) and again in the plural (dominis). The form in -i appears three times: genitive singular, nominative plural and vocative plural.
Neuters in -um: bellum
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | bellum | bella |
| Genitive | belli | bellorum |
| Dative | bello | bellis |
| Accusative | bellum | bella |
| Vocative | bellum | bella |
| Ablative | bello | bellis |
Neuters follow a rule that holds in every declension: the nominative, vocative and accusative are the same form, and in the plural they always end in -a. That is why bella can be the neuter plural of bellum (wars) or the feminine singular of bellus: the rest of the sentence decides.
Nouns in -er: puer and ager
| Case | puer (sg.) | puer (pl.) | ager (sg.) | ager (pl.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | puer | pueri | ager | agri |
| Genitive | pueri | puerorum | agri | agrorum |
| Dative | puero | pueris | agro | agris |
| Accusative | puerum | pueros | agrum | agros |
| Vocative | puer | pueri | ager | agri |
| Ablative | puero | pueris | agro | agris |
The endings are the same as in dominus; only the stem changes. In the nominative and vocative singular the ending -us disappears, leaving -er. Then there are two groups: nouns like puer keep the -e- throughout (puer, vir), while nouns like ager lose it (liber, libri; magister, magistri; faber, fabri). No rule tells you which group a noun belongs to: you learn it from the genitive in the dictionary.
The vocative in -e and its exceptions
The vocative is used to call someone. Nouns in -us take -e: Marcus becomes Marce, dominus becomes domine. Nouns in -ius take -i instead: filius becomes fili, Vergilius becomes Vergili. For nouns in -er and for neuters the vocative is the same as the nominative.
Gender, exceptions and special nouns
- The general rule is: -us and -er masculine, -um neuter.
- Some nouns in -us are feminine because they name trees or the ground: fagus (beech), pinus (pine), humus (soil).
- A few nouns in -us are neuter: vulgus (the crowd) and virus (poison) have an accusative equal to the nominative.
- Deus is irregular, above all in the plural: dii, deorum, diis, deos (with variants di, dei, dis, deis).
- A few nouns also have a locative in -i (Corinthi, at Corinth), which you meet later with place names.
Once the declensions start to pile up you need the whole picture: the guide to the five Latin declensions puts all the paradigms side by side.
Most common mistakes
- Mixing up dative and ablative singular: they are identical (domino), so you need the logical function to tell them apart.
- Using the vocative in -us: you say domine, not dominus, when you call someone; and fili, not filie.
- Dropping the -e- of puer (puri instead of pueri) or keeping it in ager (ageri instead of agri).
- Treating -i as one case: amici can be genitive singular, nominative plural or vocative plural.
- Forgetting that in neuters the nominative and accusative are equal: do not look for a different subject and object.
- Reading neuter plural bella as a feminine singular.
The first exercises cover the basic endings, then you move on to the vocative, neuters, ambiguous forms and the analysis of a full sentence. Every answer has been rechecked against the charts above.
Solved exercises
1. Write the genitive plural and the ablative singular of 'dominus, domini' (master). base
Show solution
- Find the stem from the genitive singular (domini): drop the ending -i and you are left with domin-.
- In the second declension the genitive plural ends in -orum: domin- + -orum = dominorum.
- The ablative singular ends in -o: domin- + -o = domino.
- Check against the table: dominorum sits in the plural column, domino in the singular column. No forms were swapped.
Answer: Genitive plural: dominorum. Ablative singular: domino.
2. Give the genitive singular and the accusative plural of 'puer, pueri' (boy) and of 'ager, agri' (field). Why do two nouns that both end in -er behave differently? base
Show solution
- The dictionary gives the genitive: puer, pueri keeps the -e- in the stem; ager, agri drops it (agr-).
- Genitive singular: pueri and agri (just read the second form of the dictionary entry).
- Accusative plural in -os: puer- + -os = pueros; agr- + -os = agros.
- The only difference is the stem: puer- for the first noun, agr- for the second. The endings are identical.
Answer: Puer: pueri, pueros. Ager: agri, agros. Puer keeps its -e- in every case, ager loses it everywhere except the nominative and vocative singular.
3. How do you call out to the master of the house ('O master!'), to Marcus ('Marcus') and to the son ('filius') in Latin? base
Show solution
- The vocative of nouns in -us ends in -e: dominus becomes domine, Marcus becomes Marce.
- Filius is a special case: nouns in -ius have a vocative in -i, so the form is fili (not filie).
- For nouns in -er the vocative is the same as the nominative: puer stays puer.
Answer: Domine! Marce! Fili! Nouns in -us take -e in the vocative; nouns in -ius take -i.
4. Decline 'bellum, belli' (war, neuter) in the nominative, accusative and genitive plural. What do the first two forms have in common? intermedio
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- The stem is bell-. Neuter plurals make the nominative, vocative and accusative in -a: bell- + -a = bella.
- The genitive plural is the same as in the masculine: bell- + -orum = bellorum.
- Nominative and accusative plural are identical: bella. This is the rule for neuters in every declension.
- Careful: neuter plural bella is not the feminine singular bella of bellus (beautiful).
Answer: Nominative plural bella, accusative plural bella, genitive plural bellorum. In neuters the nominative and accusative are always the same.
5. Parse the form 'amici' (from 'amicus, amici'): which cases and numbers can it be? intermedio
Show solution
- Stem amic-. The ending -i appears in three places in the chart.
- Singular: genitive (of the friend).
- Plural: nominative (the friends) and vocative (O friends!).
- Dative and ablative are ruled out: those are amico (singular) and amicis (plural).
- To choose between the three you need the verb and the context: the form alone is ambiguous.
Answer: Genitive singular, nominative plural or vocative plural. Dative and ablative are impossible.
6. Translate the two sentences: (a) 'Servus domino aquam dat.' (b) 'Dominum servus laudat.' intermedio
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- Sentence (a): servus is nominative (subject), domino is dative (to whom), aquam is a first-declension accusative (what), dat = gives.
- Translation (a): the slave gives water to the master.
- Sentence (b): dominum is accusative singular (ending -um), servus is nominative (ending -us).
- In Latin word order does not decide the subject: the object comes first, but the subject is still servus.
- Translation (b): the slave praises the master.
Answer: (a) The slave gives water to the master. (b) The slave praises the master, not the master praises the slave.
7. Parse and translate: 'Pueri agros agricolarum laudant.' avanzato
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- Pueri: nominative plural of puer, pueri (second declension). It is the subject because laudant is third person plural.
- Agros: accusative plural of ager, agri. Direct object.
- Agricolarum: genitive plural of agricola, agricolae, which is first declension but masculine (ending -arum).
- Laudant: third person plural present of laudare.
- Translate in this order: subject, verb, object, genitive phrase.
Answer: The boys praise the farmers' fields.
8. Write the genitive plural and the dative plural of 'deus, dei' (god). Why is it considered irregular? avanzato
Show solution
- Deus follows dominus only partly. The plural is dii (or di, dei), deorum, diis (or dis, deis), deos, dii, diis.
- Genitive plural: deorum (the rarer form deum also occurs).
- Dative plural: diis (variants dis, deis).
- Deus has no regular vocative: classical Latin uses the nominative form deus.
Answer: Genitive plural deorum (rare deum), dative plural diis (variants dis, deis). The irregularity lies in the plural, where the stem changes from de- to di-.
FAQ
How do you recognize the Latin second declension?
By the genitive singular in -i, the second form the dictionary gives after the nominative (dominus, domini; bellum, belli). The nominative can end in -us, -er or -um, but only the genitive in -i is a safe test.
How do you form the vocative in the second declension?
Nouns in -us take -e (dominus becomes domine); nouns in -ius, such as filius, take -i (fili). All other nouns, meaning those in -er and the neuters in -um, have a vocative identical to the nominative.
Why do Latin neuter nouns have the same nominative and accusative?
It happens in every declension: in neuters the nominative, vocative and accusative always share one form, in the singular (bellum) and in the plural (bella). The function in the sentence tells you which case it is.
What is the difference between puer and ager in the second declension?
Both end in -er in the nominative, but puer keeps the -e- in every case (pueri, puero) while ager loses it after the nominative and vocative (agri, agro). The dictionary warns you with the genitive: pueri or agri.