1/08/93



                             CHAPTER 16

"Adjectives of the Third Declension"

Wheelock assures you that there isn't much new material to learn in
this chapter, and in a way he's right. You know what adjectives
are, and you know the case endings of the third declension.  In
this chapter, you going to see that a class of adjectives uses the
third declension endings to form the different numbers, genders,
and cases.  Even though these adjectives use the third declension
endings, they may modify nouns of all the declension; i.e., third
declension adjectives are not restricted to modifying only third
declension nouns.  But that's nothing conceptually new: you've seen
adjectives of the first and second declensions modifying nouns of
the third declension.  So, as you can see, Wheelock is right to say
that this chapter doesn't really confront you will a mass of new
material to memorize.

     On the other hand, people tend to confuse things which are
similar more often than things which are quite distinct from one
another.  Third declension adjectives work like adjectives of the
first and second declensions, but there are some important
differences which you must keep straight.  Additionally, the
endings used by these adjectives are almost identical to the
endings which nouns of the third declension use, but only almost.
I'm trying to warn you that this isn't going to be an easy chapter.
You're going to have grip the book firmly and keep a sharpened
pencil nearby. Let's start.


ADJECTIVES

First let's take stock of what you know.  You know that adjectives
are words which modify nouns, and that they "agree" in number,
gender, and case with they are modifying.  To agree with nouns,
which may be in all the possible cases, numbers and genders,
adjectives must be able to decline.  The adjectives you're familiar
with decline in the first and second declensions: they use first
declension case endings to modify nouns which are feminine, second
declension endings to modify nouns which are masculine and neuter.
The dictionary entry for such adjectives look like this:

           magnus, -a, -um           miser, -a, -um
           bonus, -a, -um            pulcher, -chra, -chrum
           bellus, -a, -um           noster, -tra, -trum

Things to notice are:

     (1)   adjectives have no inherent gender fixed in the stem, so
           the dictionary doesn't list a gender for adjectives;
     (2)   sometimes the true stem of the adjective is not identical
           with the masculine, nominative singular, so you must scan
           the other listings for stem changes (e.g. the "-e-" of
           "pulcher" and "noster" is not a part of the true stem);
     (3)   first and second adjectives can modify nouns of any of
           the other declensions, not just those of the first and
           second declensions.


ADJECTIVES OF THE THIRD DECLENSION

The name speaks for itself.  Some adjectives get their case endings
from the third declension.  So you have two things to consider:

     (1)   what are the case endings;
     (2)   how does the dictionary distinguish between a third
           declension adjective from one of the first and second
           declension: i.e., how can you tell where the adjective is
           going to get its case endings simply by looking at the
           dictionary entries.

Let's take up the first point by reviewing the third declension
endings for nouns.  Decline the following third declension nouns,
and don't forget to check whether the nouns are i-stems: "homo,
-inis (m)"; "tempus, -oris (n)"; "virtus, -tutis (f)"; "mare, -ris
(n)". (If you're unsure of the third declension endings, you should
stop right now and review them.)

          man           time           virtue            sea

N/V.  __________     __________      __________      __________

Gen.  __________     __________      __________      __________

Dat.  __________     __________      __________      __________

Acc.  __________     __________      __________      __________

Abl.  __________     __________      __________      __________


N/V.  __________     __________      __________      __________

Gen.  __________     __________      __________      __________

Dat.  __________     __________      __________      __________

Acc.  __________     __________      __________      __________

Abl.  __________     __________      __________      __________

Here are the things to remember about the third declension case
endings:

     (1)   the third declension endings are divided into two groups:
           the non-i-stem endings and the i-stem endings;
     (2)   the nominative singular has many different appearances;
     (3)   basically the case endings are the same for non-i-stem
           nouns of all three genders.  The apparent exception is
           with the neuter nouns, where the neuter nouns are
           following their own peculiar set of laws: nominative and
           accusative cases are always the same, and the nominative
           (hence accusative also) plural ending is short "-a"
     (4)   With i-stem nouns, however, the endings used by masculine
           and feminine nouns are slightly different from those used
           by neuter nouns.

     So what endings does a third declension adjectives use?  An
adjective is going to have to able to modify nouns of all three
genders, so a third declension adjective will have to be able to
masculine, feminine, and neuter.  To do this, a third declension
adjective uses the pattern of the i-stem endings, with one further
refinement: the ablative singular of the masculine and feminine is
long "-i", not short "-e".  Cover up the two columns of endings on
the right and try to write down the endings third declension
adjectives are going to use.  Check your work against the answers
given in the two right columns.

CASE ENDINGS FOR THIRD DECLENSION ADJECTIVES

      MASC./FEM.       NEUTER        MASC./FEM.        NEUTER

N/V.  ----------     ----------        -------         -------

Gen.  __________     __________          -is             -is

Dat.  __________     __________          -i              -i

Acc.  __________     __________          -em           -------

Abl.  __________     __________          -i              -i


N/V.  __________     __________          -es             -ia

Gen.  __________     __________         -ium            -ium

Dat.  __________     __________         -ibus           -ibus

Acc.  __________     __________          -es             -ia

Abl.  __________     __________         -ibus           -ibus

So these are the variable case endings which are going to be
attached to the stem of third declension adjectives.  The endings
are almost identical to those of the third declension nouns; so, as
Wheelock puts it, there's nothing much new to be learned.

STEMS OF THIRD DECLENSION ADJECTIVES

So you've seen that adjectives of the third declension follow the
analogy of first and second declension adjectives: stem + case
endings.  And you've studied their case endings.  Now let's look at
the stems of these adjectives and see how they're going to be
listed in the dictionary.

     First, here's a last look at a good old fashioned adjective of
the first and second declensions:

                    bellus, -a, -um
                    vester, -tra, -trum

The entry tells you (1) which case endings the adjective uses for
the different genders, cases, and numbers, and (2) whether the stem
is the not what it appears to be in the masculine nominative
singular.  Remember that an adjective listing in the dictionary
does not start to decline the adjective, as it does for a noun.
Instead it gives you the nominative forms, from which you deduce
the declension and any stem changes.  These are the things an entry
for any adjective must tell you.  So how does this work with third
declension adjectives?

     But before I show you that -- do you get the feeling I'm
trying to put this off -- let me give you some good news.  There
are only two kind of adjectives in the Latin language: those of the
first and second declensions, and those of the third.  There are no
other possibilities.  Either an adjective uses the "-us (-er), -a,
-um" endings or those of the third declension.  So if you see an
adjective in the dictionary and the adjective is not of the first
and second declensions, then it must be a third declension
adjective.  There are no adjectives of the fourth and fifth
declensions.  That's the good news.

     Now the bad news.  There are three different types of
adjectives of the third declension, but the difference is only in
the nominative singular.  All three adjectival types of the third
declension use the case endings you studied above for all the case
except the nominative singular.  We need to focus now on the
nominative singulars of these three types of adjectives.  The
different class are:

     (1)   adjectives of two terminations
     (2)   adjectives of one termination
     (3)   adjectives of three terminations

The distinguishing feature among these declensions is how many
different endings are possible in the nominative singular.  Type
(1) adjectives have one ending in the nominative singular for the
masculine and feminine genders, and one ending for the neuter
gender; that makes two endings, hence "adjective of two
terminations".  Type (2) has only one ending in the nominative
singular for all three genders: hence "adjective of one
termination".  Finally, obviously, type (3) has one ending in the
nominative singular for the masculine gender, one for the feminine,
and another for the neuter; that makes endings, hence "adjective of
three terminations".   Now, before we zero in on these different
types, let me repeat: after the nominative singular, these
differences among the three types of adjectives disappear entirely.
All three types use the normal case endings you're already good
friends with.


ADJECTIVES OF TWO TERMINATIONS

Now, unlike nouns, an entry for an adjective (normally) lists only
the nominative case.  You know this: in "magnus, -a, -um" the "-us,
-a, -um" endings are only the nominatives.  Nouns, you remember,
list the genitive singular ending after the nominative, and that's
for a good reason.  You have to be told (1) what a noun's
declension is, and (2) whether there is a stem change.  For nouns,
because they can't change gender, the next possible form after the
nominative singular is the genitive singular.  So, in effect, the
dictionary must start declining the noun for you so that you can
get the information you need.  But adjectives, because they can
have different genders, need not be "declined" for you.  You can
get all the information you need about stem changes and case
endings by simply looking at the noun in a gender different form
the first gender -- the masculine.  The entry, therefore, of
adjectives typically does not include the genitive singular; it
instead moves across the genders in the nominative case.  So what
does this mean for our third declension adjectives?

     All adjectives of two terminations look like this:  "stemis,
-e".  E.gg.

               omnis, -e          "all; each, every"
               fortis, -e         "strong"
               dulcis, -e         "sweet"
               difficilis, -e     "difficult"
               brevis, -e         "short [in time]; swift"

Now think.  I told you that adjectives typically will move across
the genders in the nominative case, and here you have only two
different forms indicated.  This means that two of the genders will
have identical forms in the nominative.  For adjectives listed like
this, the "-is" ending is used both for the masculine and feminine
genders; the "-e" is used for the neuter in the nominative
singular.  And, as you can see, the stem does not change.  It's
evident in the nominative singular of the masculine and feminine
genders.  You just drop off the "-is".  Decline the following
expressions:

   every      boy        every     girl        every       war

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________


_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________


ADJECTIVES OF ONE TERMINATION

These adjectives have only one form in the nominative singular for
all three genders.  This creates an interesting problem.  What will
its dictionary entry look like?  Most adjectives, remember, simply
move across the nominative entries.  But an adjective of only one
termination in the nominative singular has only one form in the
nominative singular.  It must give you the information you need
about it -- stem changes and declension -- by beginning its
declension.  Just like a noun, the second entry for an adjective of
one termination is the genitive singular.  You drop off the
genitive singular ending "-is" to find the stem.

     Now wait a minute.  If an adjective of one termination is
listed in the dictionary just like a noun, with the genitive
singular as its second entry, how do you know whether the entry
you're looking at is telling you the word is a noun or an
adjective.  Look:

               potens, -ntis      "powerful"
               dens, dentis (m)   "tooth"

Here you see the nominative singular entry "potens" followed by the
genitive singular "potentis".  The stem of the word is "potent-",
but a noun of the third declension is list just like this.  Look at
the word for tooth.  How do you know, even before you see the
translation, that "potens" is an adjective and not a noun?  Right!
"Potens" has no gender listed; the noun "dens" does.  The form
"potens" can be masculine, feminine, or neuter.  It's an adjective
of one termination.  Except in the nominative singular, adjectives
of one termination operate just like all the other adjectives of
the third declension; they all use the same case endings and obey
the same laws.  HINT: don't forget the laws of the neuter!  Decline
the following:

 powerful    tooth     powerful    money     powerful     plan

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________


_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________


ADJECTIVES OF THREE TERMINATIONS

As the name tells you, these are third declension adjectives which
have three nominative singular endings, one ending for each gender.
But there is an added twist.  These adjectives end in "-er" in the
masculine singular, and you know what that means.  It means that
the "-e-" of the "-er" might not be part of the true stem.
Remember this problem with first and second declension adjectives
like "miser, -a, -um" and "noster, -tra, trum"?  Look at these two
entries for third declension adjectives of three terminations:

          celer, celeris, celere          "swift"
          acer, acris, acre               "keen; fierce"

Do you see what the dictionary is telling you?  The first listing
is the masculine nominative singular.  The second is the feminine
nominative singular, and it's here you need to look for stem
changes.  As you can see the stem of "celer" is "celer-"; the stem
of "acer", however, is "acr-".  So in all its forms except the
masculine, nominative singular, the root of "acer" to which the
case endings will be added is "acr-".  The final entry is the
neuter nominative singular.  Now, don't forget, the only place
where these adjectives have different forms for the three genders
is right here, in the nominative singular.  After the nominative
singular, these adjectives use the normal endings of third
declension adjectives.  Decline the following.

   swift     death       keen     memory      fierce       war

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________


_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________

_________  _________   _________ _________   _________  _________


DRILLS

The third declension adjectives can often help you out of some
problems.  As you'll see once you start reading is that one of the
main difficulties with Latin is that it has too few discrete case
endings, not too many.  The case endings overlap in so many places
that it's often difficult to tell what case a noun is in.  Having
yet another set of endings helps you identify the case of the nouns
of nouns these adjective are modifying.  For example, look at the
form "sapientiae".  What case is "sapientiae"?  Well, it could be
(1) genitive singular, (2) dative singular, or (3) nominative
plural.  The "-ae" ending in the first declension is used for three
different cases.  But suppose you see a third declension adjective
next to it with an ending "-es".  The "-es" ending in the third
declension can only be nominative or accusative plural.  "X"es must
be agreeing with "sapientiae", so "sapientiae" must be nominative
plural since that's the only number, gender, and case the two words
have in common.  What you've done is this:

The noun "sapientiae" can be

                          genitive singular
                          dative singular
                          nominative plural

The adjective "x"es must agree with "sapientiae" and its form can
be

                          nominative plural
                          accusative plural

Therefore "'x'es sapientiae" must be nominative plural, since it is
the only case and number where the case endings of the noun and
adjective overlap.

Write out the possible number(s) and case(s) of the following nouns
and adjectives.  Don't worry about the translations for now, just
focus on the endings.

                      Number(s)   Gender        Case(s)

1.  omnium puerorum  __________    _____ ____________________

2.  celerem puellam  __________    _____ ____________________

3.  potenti regi     __________    _____ ____________________

4.  potentibus viris __________    _____ ____________________

5.  fortes feminae   __________    _____ ____________________

6.  fortis feminae   __________    _____ ____________________

7.  forti feminae    __________    _____ ____________________

8.  acres mortes     __________    _____ ____________________

9.  acri memoria     __________    _____ ____________________

10. acri bello       __________    _____ ____________________


VOCABULARY PUZZLES

adiuvo           Despite its appearance, the verb is not a regular
                 first conjugation.  Look carefully at its
                 principal parts: "adiuvo, -are, -iuvi, -iutus".
                 (The "ad-" prefix only adds a little extra
                 emphasis, as with the difference in English
                 between "to help" and "to help out".)

quam             This adverb is used to emphasize an adjective.  It
                 doesn't mean "how" as in "in what way".  It's used
                 to modify adjectives and means "how" as in "How
                 sweet it is!" or "How tall that young man is!"

