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Nouns, Adjectives, and Pronouns

The nominal system comprises nouns, adjectives, and pronouns: the classes of words that inflect for number and case. Participles (and gerundives) are adjectives formed from verbs; infinitives (and supines and gerunds) are nouns formed from verbs.


Agreement

Adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number, gender, and case. AG 286

Nouns in apposition to each other have the same case. AG 282

Pronouns take the number, gender, and case of the nouns they stand for. AG 295

The case of a relative pronoun depends on its function in the relative clause, not of the case of its antecedent. AG 305


Nominative

The subject of a finite verb is in the nominative. AG 339

A predicate nominative follows a copula verb and modifies the subject, or is in apposition to the subject. AG 283-284


Genitive

The genitive case is most often used for possession. AG 343

The objective genitive depends on a noun that has a verb-like sense, and gives the object of the implied verb. For example, “amor patriae” (love of country): someone loves his or her country. AG 348

The partitive genitive indicates the whole from which a part is drawn. AG 346

The genitive can indicate the material of which something is made. AG 344


Dative

The dative case is most often used for the indirect object of a verb. AG 361

Some compound verbs take a dative, even though the prepositions they are compounded with take the accusative or ablative. AG 370

The dative can be used to indicate a person interested in the action of the verb. This construction is variously called "dative of reference," "dative of interest", "dative of advantage," or "ethical dative." AG 376-380

Some adjectives take a dative. AG 383-385

The dative denotes the agent with the passive periphrastic. AG 374

The "double dative" is two datives, one an ordinary dative of reference or an indirect object, the other denoting a purpose or goal. Usually the verb is a form of “sum”, though other verbs are also used. AG 382


Accusative

The accusative case is most often used for the direct object of a transitive verb. AG 387

Some verbs take two objects: “magister discipulos linguam latinam docet” (the teacher teaches the students the Latin language). AG 391-393

The accusative can denote the limit or goal of motion. AG 388b

The subject of an infinitive is in the accusative. This construction is most frequent in indirect discourse. AG 397e, 580

The accusative can be used in a construction much like the ablative of respect, called the "adverbial accusative." AG 397 a, b

Many prepositions take the accusative. AG 220-221


Ablative

The ablative case can denote the means by which something is done. AG 409

The ablative case can indicate a place where something happens. Usually the preposition “in” is used, but not invariably.AG 426, 429

The ablative case can indicate separation. This is the most basic use of this case, as indicated by its name (“ab + latus” from “aufero”). Usually this construction includes one of the prepositions “ab”, “de”, or “ex”. AG 400-402

The ablative case can indicate manner. AG 412

The ablative case can specify something in respect to which something happens; this is the "ablative of respect" or "ablative of specification." AG 418

The ablative case can denote the time when something happens. AG 423

Many prepositions take the ablative. AG 220-221

The ablative absolute is a way of commenting on something that is logically, but not grammatically, related to the main sentence. AG 419-420

Ablative absolute phrases almost always include a participle; the most common exception is the idiom "in the consulate of...".

Some verbs take an ablative, really an ablative of means. AG 410


Vocative and locative

The vocative case is used for talking to people. Vocatives and imperatives are often found together; they are morphologically similar, since each is the bare stem form. AG 340

The locative case is vestigial and used with very few nouns except “domus”, “rus”, and names of towns and small islands. It indicates the place where something happens. AG 427

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