ECA
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Study Notes

Unit 1: The Latin Case System

What Are Cases?

Latin does not rely on word order to show meaning — instead, nouns change their endings (called "cases") to show their role in the sentence. There are 6 cases in Latin. Knowing a word's case tells you exactly what it is doing in the sentence.

The Six Cases — Names and Functions

Latin has six cases, each signaling a specific grammatical role. They are presented here in traditional order.

  • Nominative — the subject of the sentence; who or what is doing the action. Also used for predicate nouns (nouns after a linking verb). Example: Servus laborat. (The slave works.)
  • Genitive — shows possession or relationship; translates as "of ___" or with an apostrophe-s. Example: Villa Domini (the master's villa / the villa of the master)
  • Dative — the indirect object; translates as "to ___" or "for ___"; the recipient of an action. Example: Dominus servo pecuniam dat. (The master gives money to the slave.)
  • Accusative — the direct object; who or what directly receives the action. Also used with many prepositions indicating motion toward. Example: Dominus servum videt. (The master sees the slave.)
  • Ablative — a versatile case; shows means ("by"), manner ("with"), accompaniment ("with"), separation ("from"), place ("in/on"), and time. Also used with many prepositions. Example: Servus cum domino ambulat. (The slave walks with the master.)
  • Vocative — used for direct address; calling out to someone. Usually identical to the nominative except in 2nd declension -us nouns (which end in -e). Example: Marce, veni huc! (Marcus, come here!)

Order of Cases

The traditional order (used in declension tables) is: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Ablative, Vocative. In Lingua Latina, cases are sometimes listed in a different order — know both.

Quick Reference — Case Uses

A summary of every case with its signal words and the question to ask when identifying it.

  • Nominative: Subject or predicate noun. Ask: Who/what is doing the action? (or: what comes after est as a noun?)
  • Genitive: Possession or relationship. Ask: Of whom? Whose? Signal words: "of", apostrophe-s.
  • Dative: Indirect object. Ask: To whom? For whom? Signal words: "to", "for".
  • Accusative: Direct object or object of accusative prepositions. Ask: Whom/what does the subject act upon? Motion toward.
  • Ablative: Means, manner, accompaniment, separation, location, time. Signal words: "by", "with", "from", "in", "on", "at".
  • Vocative: Direct address. Ask: Is someone being called or spoken to directly? Looks like nominative except 2nd decl. -us → -e.
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