the neuter gender

As mentioned before, Latin has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. (English only has masculine and feminine, and they're rarely an issue except in pronoun use.) One key to declining and recognizing neuter nouns is that the accusative form is always the same as the nominative form, and in the plural both forms end in -a. This is true of neuter nouns (and adjectives, which we'll see later) in all declensions.

The neuter nouns of the second declension are simpler than the masculine ones with their varied endings in the nominative case. All neuter nouns of the second declension end in -um in the nominative singular. Otherwise, they have the same endings as the masculine forms except for the nominative and accusative plural:

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(You might be thinking, “If the nominative is always the same as the accusative, how can we tell the subjects and objects of sentences apart?” Fortunately, not that many words are neuter, so the context of the sentence and the presence of masculine and feminine words generally will make it obvious.)

So to decline a second declension neuter noun like bellum, belli (meaning “war”), we add these endings to the stem bell-, which should be old hat by now:

That's all there is to it.

We saw in the last lesson that the ablative with the preposition in is used to express location (in, at, on). The ablative is also used with other prepositions to express motion away from something. These three prepositions all carry the general meaning of “from”, but with somewhat different senses:

e or ex

from, out of

a or ab

from, away from

de

from, down from, concerning, about

For example:

• Pueri ab agro ambulant. - The boys are walking away from the field.
• Pueri ex agro ambulant. - The boys are walking out of the field.
• Pueri de agro ambulant. - The boys are walking down from the field.

The accusative is used with a variety of prepositions to express motion toward something. As with the ablative, they all express a slightly different sense of movement:

ad

to, toward, near

in

into, against

sub

up under, up to the foot up

For example:

• Pueri ad agrum ambulant. - The boys are walking toward the field.
• Pueri in agrum ambulant. - The boys are walking into the field.
• Pueri sub agrum ambulant. - The boys are walking up to the field.

As you can see, some prepositions have very different meanings depending on whether they're used with the ablative or accusative. Just remember that the accusative has a sense of “toward” and the ablative has a sense of “location” or “away” and that should help you keep them straight. Perhaps a table will help too:

The difference between a and ab is that a is used before a consonant and ab before a vowel, just as we say in English, “An owl ate a mouse.” The same is true of e and ex; choose the one that flows into the next word easily.

• a villa - away from the farmhouse
• ab agro - away from the field
• e villa - out of the farmhouse
• ex agro - out of the field

• bellum, -ī, n., war
• caelum, -ī, n, sky, heavens
• dōnum, -ī, n., gift
• frūmentum, -ī, n., grain
• oppidum, -ī, n., town
• perīculum, -ī, n., danger, risk
• proelium, -ī, n., battle
• rēgnum, -ī, n., kingdom, reign
• signum, -ī, n., sign, signal, military standard
• tēlum, -ī, n., weapon (offensive)
• verbum, -ī, n., word

a. Translate:

1. Legati regnum et oppida occupant.
2. Agricolae servi aquam in villam portant.
3. Dei dona virorum et feminarum amant.
4. Est periculum belli in Italia.
5. Nautae a Hispania ad insulas navigant.
6. Viri pueros e silva vocant.
7. Puellae verba nunti non amant.
8. Suntne filii legati in periculo?
9. Agricolae filiae frumentum ex agro ad viam portant.
10. Viri a provincia in Germania pugnant.

b. Translate, ignoring the implied words in parentheses:

1. Women do not love war.
2. We are carrying grain out of the fields to the farmhouse.
3. They are seizing the island and the towns.
4. Are the men watching girls in the road?
5. God carries (his) Son up to heaven.
6. The messenger's son calls (his) friend into the forest.
7. The envoys carry swords into the kingdom.
8. There is war in Europe.
9. The farmer's slaves praise grain.
10. You (plural) are sailing from Italy to the island.

c. Think of an English word derived from each word in the vocabulary.

Now we know the first two declensions (out of five total) and the most common prepositions. We also know the main uses of each case. Discuss here. Next lesson, something new: adjectives.

a. Translate:

1. Legati regnum et oppida occupant. - The envoys are seizing the kingdoms and the towns.
2. Agricolae servi aquam in villam portant. - The farmer's slaves are carrying water into the farmhouse.
3. Dei dona virorum et feminarum amant. - The gods love the gifts of men and women.
4. Est periculum belli in Italia. - There is the danger of war in Italy.
5. Nautae a Hispania ad insulas navigant. - The sailors are sailing from Spain to the islands.
6. Viri pueros e silva vocant. - The men are calling the boys out of the forest.
7. Puellae verba nunti non amant. - The girls do not love the words of the messenger.
8. Suntne filii legati in periculo? - Are the sons of the legate in danger?
9. Agricolae filiae frumentum ex agro ad viam portant. - The farmer's daughters are carrying grain out of the fields to the road.
10. Viri a provincia in Germania pugnant. - Men from the province are fighting in Germany.

b. Translate, ignoring the implied words in parentheses:

1. Women do not love war. - Feminae bellum non amant.
2. We are carrying grain out of the fields to the farmhouse. - Frumentum ex agris ad villam portamus.
3. They are seizing the island and the towns. - Insulam et oppida occupant.
4. Are the men watching girls in the road? - Virine puellas in via spectant?
5. God carries (his) Son up to heaven. - Deus Filium sub caelum portat.
6. The messenger's son calls (his) friend into the forest. - Nunti filius amicum in silvam vocat.
7. The envoys carry swords into the kingdom. - Legati gladios in regnum portant.
8. There is war in Europe. - Est bellum in Europa.
9. The farmer's slaves praise grain. - Agricolae servi frumentum laudant.
10. You (plural) are sailing from Italy to the island. - Navigatis ab Italia ad insulam.

c. Think of an English word derived from each word in the vocabulary.

• bellum, bellicose
• caelum, celestial
• dōnum, donate
• frūmentum, ??
• oppidum, ??
• perīculum, peril
• proelium, ??
• rēgnum, reign
• signum, signal
• tēlum, ??
• verbum, verbal