Now, dear commilitones, we have reached a slighty more bitter pill to chew: the 3rd declination!!!

So, fasten your seatbelts for the slight free dive you are going to take now! But: no conjugation this time...That would be too much!*S*

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The 3rd Declination

Which nouns belong to the 3rd declination? The ones with a genitive singular ending with -is. Always remember that! So, my dear ones, this means, that the nominative singular can be like anything. But do not fear, for if you learn a noun from the 3rd declination, you will always get to learn the genitive singular along with it. Thus, you will know that the noun belongs to the 3rd declination. What's then so special about this 3rd declination? Well, the very thing described above! And of course, that the Latin Language is full of nouns in the 3rd declination...

Now, when we have located a noun like this, we will have to decline it in the very special 3rd declination way. Just like the 1st and 2nd, the 3rd declination has its very own special row of endings:

The type of endings are, more or less, always the same for any noun and they are like this:

Masculin/Feminin|Neuter
singular:
nom. The noun| the noun
gen. -is|-is
dat. -i|-i
acc. -em| the noun
abl. -e|-e
plural:
nom. -es| -a (-ia)
gen. -um(-ium)|-um(-ium)
dat. -ibus|-ibus
acc. -es| -a(-ia)abl. -ibus|-ibus

N.B. 1: nominative and vocative are the same form in this declination. The neuter nominative, vocative and accusative are the same form.

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Now, with this general pattern, four groups can be sived out and they are the following:

Group 1: -e, -a, -um

[Before we head on, one thing must be explained and please, try to member this one! It is the term "parisyllaba"and "imparisyllaba":"parisyllaba"are nouns, which have an equal amount of syllables in nom. and gen. singular. The "imparisyllaba" are nouns, which have an unequal amount of syllables in the nom. en gen. singular (usually the gen. sing. has one more syllable)]

Group 1 consists of nouns: imparisyllaba with one consonant before the ending -is in the gen.sing. They always have these endings:

-e in the abl.sing.
-a in nom.acc.voc neuter plur.
-um in the gen. plur.

example of Group 1:

Masculin
singular

nom.: leo (lion)
gen.: leonis
dat.: leoni
acc.: leonem
abl.: leone

plural

nom.: leones
gen.: leonum
dat.: leonibus
acc.: leones
abl.: leonibus

Feminin
singular

nom.: hiems (winter)
gen.: hiemis
dat.: hiemi
acc.: hiemem
abl.: hieme

plural

nom.: hiemes
gen.: hiemum
dat.: hiemibus
acc.: hiemes
abl.: hiemibus

Neuter
singular

nom.: caput (head)
gen.: capitis
dat.: capiti
acc.: caput
abl.: capite

plural

nom.: capita
gen.: capitum
dat.: capitibus
acc.: capita
abl.: capitibus

NB.2: Some of the nouns in this group are flexed in a slight different way, because they get -ium in the gen.plur. instead of -um. They are the following:

faux, faucis (throat, mountain pass): gen.plur.: faucium
nix, nivis (snow): gen.plur.: nivium
ius, iuris (right, law): gen.plur.: iurium
lis, litis (argument, quarrel, lawsuit):gen.plur.: litium
par, paris (pair):gen.plur.: parium
mus, muris (mouse): gen.plur.: murium
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Group 2: -e, -a, -ium

The nouns which are imparisyllaba with two or more consonants before the ending -is of the gen.sing. and all parisyllaba have these endings:

-e in the abl.sing.
-a in the nom.voc.acc.plur. neuter
-ium in the gen. plur.

example of Group 2:

Masculin
singular

nom.: mons (mountain, hill)(imparisyllabum!)
gen.: montis
dat.: monti
acc.: montem
abl.: monte

plural

nom.: montes
gen.: montium
dat.: montibus
acc.: montes
abl.: montibus

Feminin
singular

nom.: nubes (cloud)(parisyllabum!)
gen.: nubis
dat.: nubi
acc.: nubem
abl.: nube

plural

nom.: nubes
gen.: nubium
dat.: nubibus
acc.: nubes
abl.: nubibus

Neuter
singular
nom.: os (bone)(imparisyllabum!)
gen.: ossis
dat.: ossi
acc.: os
abl.: osse

plural

nom.: ossa
gen.: ossium
dat.: ossibus
acc.: ossa
abl.: ossibus

N.B.3: Again, here also are some exceptions: nouns belonging to this group, but with -um in the gen.plur.:

The imparisyllabum parens, parentis (father, mother, parent): gen.plur.: parentum

The following parisyllaba:

pater, patris (father):gen.plur.: patrum
mater, matris (mother):gen.plur.: matrum
senex, senis (old man):gen.plur.: senum
frater, fratris (brother):gen.plur.: fratrum
canis, canis (dog):gen.plur.: canum
iuvenis, iuvenis (young man, lad):gen.plur.: iuvenum
vates, vatis (priest):gen.plur.: vatum
sedes, sedis (chair):gen.plur.: sedum
volucris, volucris (bird): gen.plur.: volucrum
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Group 3: -i, -ia, -ium

All neuter nouns, ending in the nom. and acc. on -e, -al and -ar have the following endings:

-i in the abl.sing.
-ia in the nom.voc.acc. plur.
-ium in the gen.plur.

example of Group 3:

Neuter
singular

nom.: mare (sea)
gen.: maris
dat.: mari
acc.: mare
abl.: mari

plural

nom.: maria
gen.: marium
dat.: maribus
acc.: maria
abl.: maribus

Neuter
singular

nom.: animal (animal)
gen.: animalis
dat.: animali
acc.: animal
abl.: animali

plural

nom.: animalia
gen.: animalium
dat.: animalibus
acc.: animalia
abl.: animalibus

Neuter
singular

nom.: calcar (trace)
gen.: calcaris
dat.: calcari
acc.: calcar
abl.: calcari

plural

nom.: calcaria
gen.: calcarium
dat.: calcaribus
acc.: calcaria
abl.: calcaribus

N.B. 4: The noun rete (fishing net), belonging to this group, has a different abl.sing.: rete!
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Group 4: -im, -i, -ium

These nouns have:

-im in the acc.sing.
-i in the abl.sing.
-ium in the gen.plur.

We are talking now of only these nouns:

1.febris (fever)
2.sitis (thurst)
3.vis (violence)
4.puppis (poop)
5.securis (ax)
6. turris (tower)
7.tussis (cough)

and names of rivers and cities, ending on -is in the nom.sing., if they are parisyllaba, like:

Neapolis, -is (Naples)
Tiberis, -is (Tiber)

example of Group 4:

Turris (tower)
singular

nom.: turris
gen.: turris
dat.: turri
acc.: turrim
abl.: turri

plural

nom.: turres
gen.: turrium
dat.: turribus
acc.: turres
abl.: turribus


Vis (violence, power)
singular

nom.: vis
gen.: --
dat.: --
acc.: vim
abl.: vi

plural

nom.: vires
gen.: virium
dat.: viribus
acc.: vires
abl.: viribus
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Nouns with an unregular flexion: the irregular 3rd declination

Iuppiter (Jupiter, Jove):

nom.: Iuppiter
gen.: Iovis
dat.: Iovi
acc.: Iovem
abl.: Iove


Bos (ox, piece of cattle):
singular

nom.: bos
gen.: bovis
dat.: bovi
acc.: bovem
abl.: bove

plural

nom.: boves
gen.: boum
dat.: bubus (bobus)
acc.: boves
abl.: bubus (bobus)


Vas (vase, dishes):
singular

nom.: vas
gen.: vasis
dat.: vasi
acc.: vas
abl.: vase

plural

nom.: vasa
gen.: vasorum
dat.: vasis
acc.: vasa
abl.: vasis


Sus (swine, boar):
singular

nom.: sus
gen.: suis
dat.: sui
acc.: suem
abl.: sue

plural

nom.: sues
gen.: suum
dat.: subus
acc.: sues
abl.: subus


Ops (help):
singular

nom.: ops
gen.: opis
dat.: ---
acc.: opem
abl.: ope

plural

nom.: opes (means of help)
gen.: opum
dat.: opibus
acc.: opes
abl.: opibus

N.B.5: Note the following nouns and their gen.sing.:

iter (n. journey)-->gen.sing.:itineris!
supellex (f. houshold stuff)-->gen.sing.: supellectilis!


That's it for now, my dear commilitones! I hope it wasn't too hard...*S* Next post will be some exercises, of course, regarding this chapter and a very handy list in which you can see the gender of each 3rd declination noun in one blink! Till next time!