Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges
J. B. Greenough, G. L. Kittredge, A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge, Ed.

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THIRD DECLENSION (CONSONANT AND i-STEMS)

[*] 114. Adjectives of the Third Declension are thus classified:—

1. Adjectives of Three Terminations in the nominative singular,—one for each gender: as,ācer, ācris , ācre.
2. Adjectives of Two Terminations,—masculine and feminine the same: as, levis (M., F.), leve (N.).
3. Adjectives of One Termination,—the same for all three genders: as, atrōx .

[*] a. Adjectives of two and three terminations are true i-stems and hence retain in the ablative singular -ī, in the neuter plural -ia, in the genitive plural -ium, and in the accusative plural regularly -īs (see §§ 73 and 74).¹

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Adjectives of Three and of Two Terminations

[*] 115. Adjectives of Three Terminations are thus declined:—

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ācer, ācris, ācre, keen, STEM ācri-

		SINGULAR			PLURAL
	M.	F.	N.	M.	F.	N.
NOM.	ācer	ācris	ācre	ācrēs	ācrēs	ācria
GEN.	ācris	ācris	ācris	ācrium	ācrium	ācrium
DAT.	ācrī	ācrī	ācrī	ācribus	ācribus	ācribus
ACC.	ācrem	ācrem	ācre	ācrīs (-ēs）	ācrīs (-ēs）	ācria
ABL.	ācrī	ācrī	ācrī	ācribus	ācribus	ācribus

[*] a. Like ācer are declined the following stems in ri-:—

1. alacer, campester, celeber , equester, palūster, pedester, puter , salūber , silvester, terrester, volucer. So also names of months in -ber: as, Octōber (cf. § 66).

[*] Note 1.--This formation is comparatively late, and hence, in the poets and in early Latin, either the masculine or the feminine form of these adjectives was sometimes used for both genders: as, coetus alacris (Enn.). In others, as faenebris , fūnebris , illūstris , lūgubris , mediocris , muliebris , there is no separate masculine form at all, and these are declined like levis (§ 116).

[*] Note 2.-- Celer , celeris , celere, swift, has the genitive plural celerum , used only as a noun, denoting a military rank. The proper name Celer has the ablative in -e.

[*] 116. Adjectives of Two Terminations are thus declined:—

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levis, leve, light, STEM levi-

[*] Note.--Adjectives of two and three terminations sometimes have an ablative in -e in poetry, rarely in prose.

	SINGULAR		PLURAL
	M., F.	N.	M., F.	N.
NOM.	levis	leve	levēs	levia
GEN.	levis	levis	levium	levium
DAT.	levī	levī	levibus	levibus
ACC.	levem	leve	levīs (-ēs）	levia
ABL.	levī	levī	levibus	levibus

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Adjectives of One Termination

[*] 117. The remaining adjectives of the third declension are Consonant stems; but most of them, except Comparatives, have the following forms of i-stems:—²

1. -ī in the ablative singular (but often -e);
2. -ia in the nominative and accusative plural neuter;
3. -ium in the genitive plural;
4. -īs (as well as -ēs) in the accusative plural masculine and feminine.

In the other cases they follow the rule for Consonant stems.

[*] a. These adjectives, except stems in l- or r-, form the nominative singular from the stem by adding s: as, atrōx (stem atrōc- + s ), egēns (stem egent- + s ).³

[*] b. Here belong the present participles in -ns (stem nt-）⁴: as, amāns , monēns . They are declined like egēns (but cf. § 121).

[*] 118. Adjectives of one termination are declined as follows:—

	atrōx, fierce, STEM atrōc-		egēns, needy, STEM egent-
		SINGULAR
	M., F.	N.	M., F.	N.
NOM.	atrōx	atrōx	egēns	egēns
GEN.	atrōcis	atrōcis	egentis	egentis
DAT.	atrōcī	atrōcī	egentī	egentī
ACC.	atrōcem	atrōx	egentem	egēns
ABL.	atrōcī (-e）	atrōcī (-e）	egentī (-e）	egentī (-e）
		PLURAL
NOM.	atrōcēs	atrōcia	egentēs	egentia
GEN.	atrōcium	atrōcium	egentium	egentium
DAT.	atrōcibus	atrōcibus	egentibus	egentibus
ACC.	atrōcīs (-ēs）	atrōcia	egentīs (-ēs）	egentia
ABL.	atrōcibus	atrōcibus	egentibus	egentibus

[*] 119. Other examples are the following:—

	concors, harmonious STEM concord-		praeceps, headlong STEM praecipit-
		SINGULAR
	M., F.	N.	M., F.	N.
NOM.	concors	concors	praeceps	praeceps
GEN.	concordis	concordis	praecipitis	praecipitis
DAT.	concordī	concordī	praecipitī	praecipitī
ACC.	concordem	concors	praecipitem	praeceps
ABL.	concordī	concordī	praecipitī	praecipitī
		PLURAL
NOM.	concordēs	concordia	praecipitēs	praecipitia
GEN.	concordium	concordium	[praecipitium]5
DAT.	concordibus	concordibus	praecipitibus	praecipitibus
ACC.	concordīs (-ēs）	concordia	praecipitīs (-ēs）	praecipitia
ABL.	concordibus	concordibus	praecipitibus	praecipitibus

	iēns, going STEM eunt-		pār, equal STEM par-		dīves, rich STEM dīvit-
			SINGULAR
	M., F.	N.	M., F.	N.	M., F.	N.
NOM.	iēns	iēns	pār	pār	dīves	dīves
GEN.	euntis	euntis	paris	paris	dīvitis	dīvitis
DAT.	euntī	euntī	parī	parī	dīvitī	dīvitī
ACC.	euntem	iēns	parem	pār	dīvitem	dīves
ABL.	eunte (-ī）	eunte (-ī）	parī	parī	dīvite	dīvite
			PLURAL
NOM.	euntēs	euntia	parēs	paria	dīvitēs	[dītia]
GEN.	euntium	euntium	parium	parium	dīvitum	dīvitum
DAT.	euntibus	euntibus	paribus	paribus	dīvitibus	dīvitibus
ACC.	euntīs (-ēs）	euntia	parīs (-ēs）	paria	dīvitīs (-ēs）	[dītia]
ABL.	euntibus	euntibus	paribus	paribus	dīvitibus	dīvitibus

[*] Note.--Of these vetus is originally an s-stem. In most s-stems the r has intruded self into the nominative also, as bi-corpor (for † bi-corpos ), dēgener (for † dē-genes ).

	ūber, fertile STEM ūber-		vetus, old STEM veter-
		SINGULAR
	M., F.	N.	M., F.	N.
NOM.	ūber	ūber	vetus	vetus
GEN.	ūberis	ūberis	veteris	veteris
DAT.	ūberī	ūberī	veterī	veterī
ACC.	ūberem	ūber	veterem	vetus
ABL.	ūberī 6	ūberī	vetere (-ī）	vetere (-ī）
		PLURAL
NOM.	ūberēs	ūbera	veterēs	vetera
GEN.	ūberum	ūberum	veterum	veterum
DAT.	ūberibus	ūberibus	veteribus	veteribus
ACC.	ūberēs	ūbera	veterēs	vetera
ABL.	ūberibus	ūberibus	veteribus	veteribus

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Declension of Comparatives

[*] 120. Comparatives are declined as follows:—

	melior, better STEM meliōr- for meliōs-		plūs, more STEM plūr- for plūs-
		SINGULAR
	M., F.	N.	M., F.	N.
NOM.	melior	melius	-----	plūs
GEN.	meliōris	meliōris	-----	plūris
DAT.	meliōrī	meliōrī	-----	-----
ACC.	meliōrem	melius	-----	plūs
ABL.	meliōre (-ī）	meliōre (-ī）	-----	plūre
		PLURAL
NOM.	meliōrēs	meliōra	plūrēs	plūra
GEN.	meliōrum	meliōrum	plūrium	plūrium
DAT.	meliōribus	meliōribus	plūribus	plūribus
ACC.	meliōrēs (-īs）	meliōra	plūrēs (-īs）	plūra
ABL.	meliōribus	meliōribus	plūribus	plūribus

[*] a. All comparatives except plūs are declined like melior .

[*] b. The stem of comparatives properly ended in ŏ¯s-; but this became or in the nominative masculine and feminine, and ōr- in all other cases except the nominative and accusative singular neuter, where s is retained and ŏ is changed to ŭ (cf. honŏr, -ōris; corpus, -ŏris). Thus comparatives appear to have two terminations.

[*] c. The neuter singular plūs is used only as a noun. The genitive (rarely the ablative) is used only as an expression of value (cf. § 417). The dative is not found in classic use. The compound complūrēs, several, has sometimes neuter plural complūria .

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Case-Forms of Consonant Stems

[*] 121. In adjectives of Consonant stems—

[*] a. The Ablative Singular commonly ends in -ī, but sometimes -e.

1. Adjectives used as nouns (as superstes, survivor) have -e.
Participles in -ns used as such (especially in the ablative absolute, § 419), or as nouns, regularly have -e; but participles used as adjectives have regularly -ī:—
1. dominō imperante, at the master's command; ab amante, by a lover; ab amanti muliere, by a loving woman.
2. The following have regularly -ī:—āmēns, anceps , concors (and other compounds of cor ), cōnsors (but as a substantive, -e),dēgener, hebes , ingēns , inops , memor (and compounds), pār (in prose), perpes , praeceps , praepes , teres .
3. The following have regularly -e: caeles , compos, [†dēses],dīves, hospes , particeps, pauper, prīnceps , sōspes , superstes . So also patrials (see § 71. 5) and stems in āt-, īt-, nt-, rt-, when used as nouns, and sometimes when used as adjectives.

[*] b. The Genitive Plural ends commonly in -ium, but has -um in the following:⁷—

1. Always in compos, dīves, inops , particeps, praepes , prīnceps , supplex , and compounds of nouns which have -um: as, quadru-pēs, bi-color.
Sometimes, in poetry, in participles in -ns: as, silentum concilium, a council of the silent shades (Aen. 6.432).

[*] c. The Accusative Plural regularly ends in -īs, but comparatives commonly have -ēs.

[*] d. Vetus (gen. -ĕris) and pūbes (gen. -ĕris） regularly have -e in the ablative singular, -a in the nominative and accusative plural, and -um in the genitive plural. For ūber , see § 119.

[*] e. A few adjectives of one termination, used as nouns, have a feminine form in -a: as, clienta , hospita , with the appellative Iūnō Sōspita .

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Irregularities and Special Uses of Adjectives

[*] 122. The following special points require notice:—

[*] a. Several adjectives vary in declension: as, gracilis (-us), hilaris (-us), inermis (-us), bicolor (-ōrus).

[*] b. A few adjectives are indeclinable: as, damnās , frūgī (really a dative of service, see § 382. 1. N. 2), nēquam (originally an adverb), necesse , and the pronominal forms tot , quot , aliquot, totidem . Potis is often used as an indeclinable adjective, but sometimes has pote in the neuter.

[*] c. Several adjectives are defective: as, exspēs (only nom.), exlēx ( exlēgem ) (only nom. and acc. sing.), pernox ( pernocte ) (only nom. and abl. sing.); and prīmōris , sēminecī , etc., which lack the nominative singular.

[*] d. Many adjectives, from their signification, can be used only in the masculine and feminine. These may be called adjectives of common gender.

Such are adulēscēns, youthful; [†dēses], -idis, slothful; inops , -opis, poor; sōspes , -itis, safe. Similarly, senex, old man, and iuvenis, young man, are sometimes called masculine adjectives.

For Adjectives used as Nouns, see §§ 288, 289; for Nouns used as Adjectives, see § 321. c; for Adjectives used as Adverbs, see § 214; for Adverbs used as Adjectives, see § 321. d.