Lesson I

Roma et Italia

aqua, aquae (feminine)

water

īnsula, īnsulae (feminine)

island

silva, silvae (feminine)

forest, woods

via, viae (feminine)

road, way, street

est

is

sunt

are

nōn

not

et

and

sed

but

Roma est in Italia. Italia est in Europa. Britannia est in Europa. Britannia est insula. Italia non est insula. Italia paene (almost) est insula. Italia “paeninsula” est.

Sicilia et Sardinia sunt insulae. Insulae in aqua sunt. Australia insula est, sed Asia non est insula.

Sunt viae et silvae in paeninsula Italiae. Viae et silvae et paeninsulae in Europa sunt. Italia et Graecia et Hispania paeninsulae sunt. Roma nonin Graecia sed in Italia est. Est Graecia in Europa? Est aqua in Antarctica, sed non sunt silvae in Antarctica. Silvae in Germania sunt. Est America insula?

Using your vocabulary words and this passage on p. 15as a model, make up 3 additional Latin sentences.You may also use other –a words like Florida, Bermuda,India, Arabia, Virginia, Philadelphia, etc.

Nouns are the names of persons places or things.

Latin Nouns Have 4 Features

• Case---how a noun works in its sentence.• Number---whether a noun is singular or

plural (singular=one, plural=more than one)• Gender---whether a noun is masculine,

feminine, or neuter.• Declension---each noun belongs to one of

the 5 declensions (groups of nouns that share the same pattern of endings)

1st Declension Nouns

• 1st declension nouns end in –a in the vocabulary list.

• Most 1st declension nouns are feminine.• Let’s learn how to write a 1st declension noun on

its “declension chart.”• A declension chart shows the noun in all its cases

(spellings).• We’ll learn about how cases work later. For now,

let’s just learn how to make the declension chart.

In Latin, the endings indicate the case of the noun.

(Endings)Case Singular Plural

Nominative a aeGenitive ae arumDative ae isAccusative am asAblative a is

Example: insularum = plural genitive

Step 1 – Find the noun stemThe noun stem is found by dropping the genitive singular ending from the noun.

Dictionary entry of a noun:

Puella puellae, f. girl

Nominativesingular

Genitive singular

GenderMeaning

Puellae – ae = puell

Noun Stem

Finding noun stems

• aqua, aquae (f.)• aqu-• insula, insulae (f.)• insul-• silva, silvae (f.)• silv-• via, viae (f.)• vi-

Step 2: Add the case endings to the noun stem.

Nominative

Genitive

Dative

Accusative

Ablative

Singular Plural

Pick any 2 other nouns from your vocabularywords and decline them on a chart like this.

aqua, aquae (feminine)

water

īnsula, īnsulae (feminine)

island

silva, silvae (feminine)

forest, woods

via, viae (feminine)

road, way, street

est

is

sunt

are

nōn

not

et

and

sed

but

Sentences: Subject and Predicate

“Sentence” comes from the Latin word “sententia” which means “thought.”

Sentences are words grouped together to form thoughts!

Every sentence has 2 parts: the SUBJECT and the PREDICATE.

Italy is a peninsula. Italia paeninsula est.The girls carry water. Puellae aquam portant.

Subjects and Predicates

• In Latin, the subject is always in the NOMINATIVE case. (-a or –ae on the 1st declension chart)

• Puellae aquam portant. The girls carry water.• Italia est paeninsula. Italy is a peninsula.

Subjects and Predicates

• The nominative case is also used for something called a PREDICATE NOMINATIVE.

• PREDICATE NOMINATIVE is a fancy term for a noun that follows a linking verb.

• A linking verb works like an “=“ sign:• is, are, seem…

Predicate Nominatives

• John is a student. • John=student. • The teacher is Mrs. Sellers. • Teacher=Mrs. Sellers. • Brittania est insula. • A=B Britain is an island. Britain=island.

Time to practice!

• Workbook page 3 even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

aqua, aquae (feminine)

water

īnsula, īnsulae (feminine)

island

silva, silvae (feminine)

forest, woods

via, viae (feminine)

road, way, street

est

is

sunt

are

nōn

not

et

and

sed

but

Singular Plural

Nominative puella (girl) puellae (girls)

Genitive puellae (of the girl, girl’s) puellarum (girls’, of the girls)

Dative puellae (to/for the girl) puellis (to/for the girls)

Accusative puellam (girl) puellas (girls)

Ablative puella (girl) puellis (girls)

Declining a noun in Latin and English!

Pick any 2 other nouns from your vocabularywords and decline them in Latin and English.

In Latin, the use of the noun is determined by its case ending, not its

place in the sentence.

There are five cases:

• Nominative - subject and predicate nominative

• Genitive – possession

• Dative - indirect object

• Accusative - direct object

• Ablative - the preposition