Latin Reference

Latin Declensions Chart

All 5 Latin declensions with every case ending in singular and plural. Built for classical homeschool families using Classical Conversations, Memoria Press First Form, Henle Latin, or any classical Latin curriculum.

How to read a declension chart

Each row is a case (Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Ablative, Vocative). Each column is a number (singular or plural). The intersection shows the ending you add to the stem of the word.

Example: to say “of the girl” (the genitive singular of puella), you take the stem puell- and add the first-declension genitive singular ending -ae, giving you puellae.

First Declension

Gender: Mostly feminine (a few masculine like nauta, poeta, agricola)

Example: puella (girl) — stem: puell-

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-a	-ae
Genitive	-ae	-arum
Dative	-ae	-is
Accusative	-am	-as
Ablative	-a (long)	-is
Vocative	-a	-ae

Notes

·The stem is usually the nominative singular minus the -a.
·The dative and ablative plural are identical (-is) — context tells you which.
·Most first-declension nouns are feminine, but a few naturally-masculine nouns (nauta, poeta, agricola, pirata) follow the same endings.
·Classical Conversations introduces first declension in Cycle 1, Weeks 3-4.

Second Declension — Masculine (-us)

Gender: Masculine

Example: servus (slave) — stem: serv-

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-us	-i
Genitive	-i	-orum
Dative	-o	-is
Accusative	-um	-os
Ablative	-o	-is
Vocative	-e	-i

Notes

·The vocative singular ends in -e (e.g. serve, amice). This is one of the only places the vocative differs from the nominative.
·Proper names in -ius take vocative -i instead of -ie: Tulli, not Tullie.
·The dative and ablative plural are -is (same as first declension).

Second Declension — Masculine (-er)

Gender: Masculine

Example: puer (boy) — stem: puer-

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-er	-i
Genitive	-i	-orum
Dative	-o	-is
Accusative	-um	-os
Ablative	-o	-is
Vocative	-er	-i

Notes

·Some -er nouns keep the 'e' in all forms (puer, pueri) — these are called 'stem-e' nouns.
·Others drop the 'e' in all cases except the nominative/vocative singular (ager, agri, agro).
·Vocative singular = nominative singular (unlike the -us pattern).

Second Declension — Neuter

Gender: Neuter

Example: bellum (war) — stem: bell-

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-um	-a
Genitive	-i	-orum
Dative	-o	-is
Accusative	-um	-a
Ablative	-o	-is
Vocative	-um	-a

Notes

·Neuter rule: the nominative, accusative, and vocative are ALWAYS identical in both singular and plural.
·Plural neuter nominative and accusative always end in -a (regardless of declension).
·Classic examples: bellum (war), verbum (word), templum (temple), donum (gift).

Third Declension

Gender: All three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter)

Example: rex, regis (king) — stem: reg-

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	varies	-es
Genitive	-is	-um (or -ium)
Dative	-i	-ibus
Accusative	-em	-es
Ablative	-e	-ibus
Vocative	= Nom.	-es

Notes

·Third declension is the biggest and hardest — you MUST memorize both the nominative and genitive for every noun because the nominative is unpredictable.
·Neuter third-declension nouns follow neuter rules: nom/acc/voc are identical, and plural nom/acc ends in -a (or -ia for i-stems).
·i-stem nouns (ending in -is or -es with genitive also in -is) take -ium in genitive plural and -i in ablative singular.
·Classic examples: rex regis (king), civis civis (citizen), nomen nominis (name), corpus corporis (body).
·Henle Latin and Memoria Press both spend significant time on third declension.

Fourth Declension

Gender: Mostly masculine (with some feminine like manus, domus)

Example: manus (hand) — stem: man-

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-us	-us
Genitive	-us (long)	-uum
Dative	-ui	-ibus
Accusative	-um	-us
Ablative	-u	-ibus
Vocative	-us	-us

Notes

·Nominative singular (-us) and genitive singular (-us with long mark) look identical — you tell them apart by quantity and context.
·manus (hand) is feminine despite the -us ending. domus (home) is also usually feminine. These are exceptions worth memorizing.
·Smaller declension — fewer nouns but they're common.
·Examples: exercitus (army), manus (hand), domus (home), senatus (senate), spiritus (spirit).

Fifth Declension

Gender: Mostly feminine (dies and meridies are masculine)

Example: res (thing, affair) — stem: r-

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-es	-es
Genitive	-ei	-erum
Dative	-ei	-ebus
Accusative	-em	-es
Ablative	-e	-ebus
Vocative	-es	-es

Notes

·The smallest declension — only two really common nouns: res (thing) and dies (day).
·dies is the exception to the 'all feminine' rule — it's usually masculine but can be feminine when it refers to a specific date.
·res is one of the most useful nouns in Latin, appearing in thousands of phrases. Its English descendant 'real' comes from this root.
·Classic phrases: res publica (public thing → republic), res gestae (things done → achievements), in medias res (into the middle of things).

Practice these declensions interactively

Via Latina has spaced-repetition drills for every declension pattern on this page. The Declension Dash, Declension Fill, and Declension Match games practice ending recognition in different formats.

Try Free →Declension Dash Printable Cheat Sheet

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