Latin Declensions

Since Latin is what is known as an inflected language, you find grammatical endings on its nouns. The inflections of nouns are grouped according to the stem of the noun or the form of the genitive singular. Such noun inflection groups are the Latin declensions.

Nouns in Latin have gender, number (singular and plural) and case. The declensions especially differentiate number and case, but gender has a place, too, since when you decline neuter nouns you'll find a couple of oddities that hold true for all five declensions. For neuter nouns, the Nominative and Accusative will be the same. The Nominative and Accusative plural for neuters usually end in -a. The Nominative and Accusative singulars often end in m. Since there is such similarity in neuters across the five declensions, I have only included masculine and feminine nouns in the paradigms below to show the greatest variety of endings.

• Why Does the Neuter Nominative Plural Match the Singular Nominative Feminine?

Case

Case shows what grammatical role the noun plays in the sentence. The main Latin cases are the Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and Ablative, for which there are, as mentioned, singular and plural forms [called the numbers]. Other forms you may sometimes see are the Vocative and Locative.

5 Declensions Plus

There are five declensions in Latin, but the third declension is a catch-all category, so it is common to differentiate the 3rd declension i-stem nouns, as is shown in the paradigm below. The declensions are based on the stem. The first declension is -a-stem; the second, -o, the third, consonantal; the fourth -u, and the fifth, -e.

See more about each declension:

1. 1st
2. 2nd
3. 3rd
4. 4th
5. 5th

Paradigm of the Latin Declensions

	1st	2nd	3rd	3-i-stem	4th	5th
Singular
Nom	filia	somnus	rex	hostis	aestus	dies
Gen	filiae	somni	regis	hostis	aestus/aesti	diei/die
Dat	filiae	somno	regi	hosti	aestui	diei/die
Acc	filiam	somnum	regem	hostem/hostim	aestum	diem
Abl	filia	somno	rege	hoste/hosti	aestu	die
Plural
Nom	filiae	somni	reges	hostes/hostis	aestus	dies
Gen	filiarum	somnorum	regum	hostium	aestuum	dierum
Dat	filiis/filiabus	somnis	regibus	hostibus	aestibua	diebus
Acc	filias	somnos	reges	hostes/hostis	aestus	dies
Abl	filiis/filiabus	somnis	regibus	hostibus	aestibus	diebus