Lesson 25: The Fourth Declension; Domus; Accusatives of Extent of Space and Duration of Time

Fourth declension nouns end in -ūs in the genitive singular. Most are masculine, but a few are feminine or neuter. The fourth declension endings are characterized by the vowel -u-.

The endings:

Masculine and feminine declension, like portus, portūs, harbor:

Neuter nouns are declined like cornū, cornūs, horn:

Like all non-second declension nouns, the vocative of the fourth declension is the same as the nominative.

Domus, which means “house,” has a mix of second and fourth declension forms, so it has to be memorized on its own. The common endings are below with the irregular ones in bold, and some rarely seen ones in parentheses.

When expressing a distance, use the accusative without a preposition.

• Quinque passūs ambulavi. - I walked five paces.

When expressing a duration of time, use the accusative without a preposition.

• Tres horas ambulavi. - I walked for three hours.

Note the difference between this accusative of duration of time and the ablatives of time within which and time when that we learned earlier. The accusative is only used for durations.

• adventus, -ūs, m., arrival, approach
• cornū, cornūs, n., horn, wing (of an army)
• domus, domūs, f., house
• exercitus, -ūs, m., army
• fluctus, -ūs, m., wave
• impetus, -ūs, m., attack
• manus, -ūs, f., hand, band (of men)
• passus, -ūs, m., pace
• portus, -ūs, m., port, harbor
• spiritus, -ūs, m., breath, air, spirit, life

Domus, manus, and the names of trees are feminine. Nearly all other fourth declension nouns are masculine.

Many fourth declension nouns are formed by adding the suffix -tus, -tūs or -sus, -sūs to verb stems, resulting in a noun that names the action of the verb. Examples:

Oppugno and peto. Both of these verbs mean “attack,” but oppugno is only used for attacking fortified positions like towns and camps, while peto is for personal attacks on individuals.

For other translations of “attack,” Latin uses impetum faciō in plus the accusative, meaning I make an attack on:

• Impetum in hostes tertia hora fecimus. - We attacked the enemy (made an attack on the enemy) at the third hour.

Passus. The Romans measured a pace (two steps) as five feet, so a mile was a thousand paces, mille passus. “Miles” in the plural would use the noun milia with the partitive genitive that we learned before:

• quinque milia passuum - five miles (five thousands of paces)

1. Men, you will attack the enemy who live across the mountains tomorrow.
2. We had walked three miles when we pitched camp near the river.
3. My horse which runs well is behind your house.
4. When we sailed to Spain, the waves of the sea were large.
5. I held the heavy sword which my father gave me in my hands before the battle.
6. Caesar sent a slave to the harbor with a letter for his generals.
7. There are four houses on that road within ten miles from town.
8. Do either people or horses have horns?
9. This is the port at which we waited for our brother's arrival.
10. Great were those with whom Caesar fought.

This is the first half of the Prayer for Peace from the Latin Mass. Words we haven't covered yet that aren't obvious are footnoted.

Domine Jesu Christe, qui dixisti Apostolis tuis: Pacem relinquo vobis, pacem meam do vobis: ne respicias¹⁾ peccata²⁾ mea, sed fidem³⁾) Ecclesiae⁴⁾ tuae.

Psalm 46. 2:

Omnes gentes, plaudite⁵⁾ manibus: jubilate⁶⁾ Deo in voce exsultationis⁷⁾.

Psalm 30. 15, 16

In te speravi, Domine: dixi: Tu es Deus meus, in manibus tuis tempora mea.

Give an English word derived from each Latin word introduced in this lesson.

Four declensions down, one to go!

1. Men, you will attack the enemy who live across the mountains tomorrow. - Cras, viri, impetum in hostes qui trans montes habitant facietis.
2. We had walked three miles when we pitched camp near the river. - Tria milia passuum ambulaveramus cum castra ad flumen posuimus.
3. My horse which runs well is behind your house. - Equus meus qui bene currit post tuam domum est.
4. When we sailed to Spain, the waves of the sea were large. - Ubi ad Hispaniam navigavimus, fluctūs maris magni erant.
5. I held the heavy sword which my father gave me in my hands before the battle. - Gladium gravem quem mihi pater meus dedit in manibus meis ante proelium tenui.
6. Caesar sent a slave to the harbor with a letter for his generals. - Caesar servum ad portum cum litteris imperatoribus eius misit.
7. There are four houses on that road within ten miles from town. - Quattuor domus sunt in illa via decem milia passuum ab oppidum.
8. Do either people or horses have horns? - Autne homines aut equi cornua habent?
9. This is the port at which we waited for our brother's arrival. - Portus est in quo adventum nostri fratris exspectavimus.
10. Great were those with whom Caesar fought. - Magni erant illi quibuscum Caesar pugnavit.

This is the first half of the Prayer for Peace from the Latin Mass. Words we haven't covered yet that aren't obvious are footnoted.

Domine Jesu Christe, qui dixisti Apostolis tuis: Pacem relinquo vobis, pacem meam do vobis: ne respicias⁸⁾ peccata⁹⁾ mea, sed fidem¹⁰⁾) Ecclesiae¹¹⁾ tuae.

O Lord Jesus Christ, who said to Your Apostles: I leave you peace, My peace I give you: do not look on my sins, but on the faith of your Church.

Omnes gentes, plaudite¹²⁾ manibus: jubilate¹³⁾ Deo in voce exsultationis¹⁴⁾.

Clap your hands, nations, shout to God in a voice of joy.

In te speravi, Domine: dixi: Tu es Deus meus, in manibus tuis tempora mea.

In You I have hoped, Lord; I said, You are my God, my times are in Your hands.

Give an English word derived from each Latin word introduced in this lesson.

• adventus, -ūs, m., arrival, approach, advent
• cornū, cornūs, n., horn, wing (of an army), unicorn (one horn)
• cursus, -ūs, m., course, cursor
• domus, domūs, f., house, domicile, domestic
• ductus, -ūs, m., leadership, generalship, ??
• exercitus, -ūs, m., army, ??
• fluctus, -ūs, m., wave, fluctuate
• impetus, -ūs, m., attack, impetuous
• manus, -ūs, f., hand, band (of men), manual
• passus, -ūs, m., pace, pace
• portus, -ūs, m., port, harbor, port
• spiritus, -ūs, m., breath, air, spirit, life, spirit
• status, -ūs, m., position, static, station

• Ecclesia, -ae, f. the Church, Ecclesiastical
• exsultatio, -onis, exultation, joy, exultation
• fides, fidei, f. (fifth declension), faith, ??
• peccatum, -i, n., sin, mistake, peccadillo

• jubilō, jubilare, jubilavi, jubilatum, shout joyfully, jubilation
• plaudō, plaudere, plausī, plausum, clap, applaud
• respicio, respicere, respexi, respectum, look back at, gaze at, respect