Lesson 8: The Dative Case; Adjectives Ending in -er

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All the first- and second-declension adjectives we learned earlier ended in -us, -a, -um in the nominative singular. There are also some adjectives which end in -er in the masculine nominative singular. Recall that with nouns ending in -er, some retain the 'e' when declined through the other cases and some lose it:

And so on. Adjectives ending in -er work the same way, except that the 'e' is also lost or retained in the feminine and neuter nominative singular forms as well. Vocabularies will always show the nominative singular of all three genders, so it will be obvious which type each word is. For example:

• liber, libera, liberum, free (keeps the 'e')

• sacer, sacra, sacrum, sacred, holy (loses the 'e')

There's not much new to learn here; all the endings except for the masculine singular are the same as other nouns and adjectives of the first and second declensions. The key is to memorize the words in all three genders, just as we memorize the nominative and genitive of nouns, so you can tell what the stem is by looking at the feminine and neuter forms:

• liber, libera, liberum - stem is liber-
• sacer, sacra, sacrum - stem is sacr-

Often, thinking of a related English word will help:

• liber → liberal = stem retains the 'e'
• sacer → sacred = stem drops the 'e'

We use the dative case to show someone or something that is being indirectly affected by the action in the sentence. Often this shows for whom something is being done, or to whom it is being given or said:

• Donum puero dabo. - I shall give the boy a gift.
• Legatus bellum feminae nuntiat. - The lieutenant is announcing the war to the woman.
• Frumentum feris equis parabant. - They were preparing grain for the wild horses.

The dative doesn't take a preposition, so the word for or to in English isn't translated directly; the dative includes it. Note that in the third example, the adjective is also in the dative masculine plural, since an adjective always agrees with the noun it modifies in case, number, and gender.

Hint: Don't assume that “to something” is always translated by the dative. If it implies motion toward something, that is translated with ad and the accusative, as we learned earlier. The dative doesn't show motion; it shows an indirect object of the action.

• Frumentum equo dabo. - I will give grain to the horse. (dative)
• Frumentum ad equum portabo. - I will carry grain to the horse. (accusative, motion towards)

• līber, lībera, līberum - free
• miser, misera, miserum - wretched, unhappy
• noster, nostra, nostrum - our, ours
• pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum - beautiful, handsome
• sacer, sacra, sacrum - sacred, holy
• vester, vestra, vestrum - your, yours (when speaking to more than one person)

• ante (preposition with accusative) - before, in front of
• contrā (prep. with acc.) - against
• inter (prep. with acc.) - between, among
• ob (prep. with acc.) - because of; in front of
• per (prep. with acc.) - through
• post (prep. with acc.) - after, behind
• propter (prep. with acc.) - because of, for the sake of
• trāns (prep. with acc.) - across, over

• noster and vester - Like meus and tuus that we learned earlier, these are adjectives in Latin rather than the pronouns we use in English, so they agree with the noun they modify. When translating your or yours, tuus is when speaking to a single person and vester is for speaking to multiple people.
  • Puer, tuum equum specto. - Boy, I am watching your horse.
  • Pueri, vestrum equum specto. - Boys, I am watching your horse.
• Remember that Latin often uses adjectives as nouns when the noun can be implied. The context will usually help you narrow down the exact meaning.
  • nostri - our men, our people
  • vestri - your men, your people
  • tui - your people, your family
• In Latin, when multi (many) is combined with another adjective, they are nearly always joined with et, as if to say “many and …”:
  • Sunt multi et pulchri equi. - There are many beautiful horses.
• In other cases where multiple adjectives are used, a conjunction generally is used when it makes sense in English:
  • Caelum latum pulchrum spectabam. - I was looking at the wide, beautiful sky.
  • Caelum est latum et pulchrum. - The sky is wide and beautiful.

a. Decline the following:

1. poeta liber
2. femina pulchra
3. oppidum vestrum

b. Translate:

1. Equi vestri sunt magni et pulchri.
2. Verbum Dei sacrum sunt.
3. Propter periculum belli ab Italia ad Hispaniam navigabamus.
4. Tuamne aquam pueris dabitis?
5. Pugnabuntne nostri cum vestris in campo?
6. Tua filia pulchra campum ob periculum spectat.
7. Sunt inter agros multi et feri equi.
8. Viri feminis dona multa et pulchra dabunt.
9. Amici nostri sunt non liberi.
10. Nautae tuam villam parvam occupabant.

c. Translate:

1. Because of the war, our poor town is without water.
2. Is your homeland free?
3. Our men will be fighting in Germany.
4. You were watching the games with your sons.
5. We will carry water and grain across the fields.
6. Many horses are behind the farmhouse between the fields.
7. I was giving many beautiful gifts to your daughter.
8. We used to dwell among friends in Gaul.
9. Your daughters and sons were laboring in the fields with the slaves.
10. The boys will carry water through the forest to the farmhouse.

d. Think of an English word related to each word in the vocabulary.

Now we've learned the main use of each of the cases of nouns (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative). Next up: the imperfect and future tenses of sum, which aren't quite as irregular as the present tense. Discuss this lesson here.

a. Decline the following:

1. poeta liber (free poet)

(Remember that poeta is masculine, so even though it has first declension endings, which are most commonly found on feminine words, an adjective which modifies it will have the masculine endings from the second declension.)

1. femina pulchra (beautiful woman)

1. oppidum vestrum (your (plural) town)

b. Translate:

1. Equi vestri sunt magni et pulchri. - Your horses are many and beautiful.
2. Verbum Dei sacrum sunt. - The word of God is sacred.
3. Propter periculum belli ab Italia ad Hispaniam navigabamus. - Because of the danger of war, we were sailing from Italy to Spain.
4. Tuamne aquam pueris dabitis? - Will you give your water to the boys?
5. Pugnabuntne nostri cum vestris in campo? - Will our men fight with yours on the plain?
6. Tua filia pulchra campum ob periculum spectat. - Your pretty daughter is watching the plain because of the danger.
7. Sunt inter agros multi et feri equi. - Between the fields there are many wild horses.
8. Viri feminis dona multa et pulchra dabunt. - Men will give women many beautiful gifts.
9. Amici nostri sunt non liberi. - Our friends are not free.
10. Nautae tuam villam parvam occupabant. - The sailors were seizing your small farmhouse.

c. Translate:

1. Because of the war, our poor town is without water. - Propter bellum, oppidum nostrum parvum est sine aqua.
2. Is your homeland free? - Estne tua patria libera?
3. Our men will be fighting in Germany. - Nostri in Germania pugnabunt.
4. You were watching the games with your sons. - Ludos cum tuis filiis spectabas.
5. We will carry water and grain across the fields. - Aquam et frumentum trans agros portabimus.
6. Many horses are behind the farmhouse between the fields. - Multi equi sunt post villam inter agros.
7. I was giving many beautiful gifts to your daughter. - Multa et pulchra dona filiae tuae dabam.
8. We used to dwell among friends in Gaul. - Inter amicos in Gallia habitabamus.
9. Your daughters and sons were laboring in the fields with the slaves. - Tui filii et filiae in agris cum servis laborabant.
10. The boys will carry water through the forest to the farmhouse. - Pueri aquam per silvam ad villam portabunt.

d. Think of an English word related to each word in the vocabulary.

• līber, lībera, līberum - free - liberty
• miser, misera, miserum - wretched, unhappy - miserable
• noster, nostra, nostrum - our, ours - ??
• pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum - beautiful, handsome - pulchritude
• sacer, sacra, sacrum - sacred, holy - sacred
• vester, vestra, vestrum - your, yours (when speaking to more than one person) - ??

• ante (preposition with accusative) - before, in front of - ante, in poker
• contrā (prep. with acc.) - against - contrary
• inter (prep. with acc.) - between, among - interstate
• ob (prep. with acc.) - because of; in front of - obligation (because of law)
• per (prep. with acc.) - through - ??
• post (prep. with acc.) - after, behind - post-date
• propter (prep. with acc.) - because of, for the sake of - ??
• trāns (prep. with acc.) - across, over - transcontinental