Cases: what does a word do in the sentence?
In Latin the ending gives away what a word does: subject, owner, receiver, direct object or means. These are the cases, from nominative to ablative.
You can start here straight away: you need nothing before this.
Why
You read Rosam puella agricolae dat. The rose comes first. So is the rose giving the girl something?
In English, word order tells who does what: the girl gives the farmer a rose. Swap the words and the meaning changes. In Latin the order can move freely, because the end of each word says which job it has.
Rosam ends in -am: it is the direct object, the thing given. Puella is the subject, agricolae receives the rose. If you know the cases, you read every Latin sentence without guessing, even in a test where the words are mixed up on purpose.
See it
Tap a function in the sentence: subject, possession, indirect object, direct object, means and place, or address. The case and its ending light up in the table of rosa and dominus.
Dominus puellam videt.
Description of the picture
At the top six buttons with the functions in the sentence: subject, possession, indirect object, direct object, means, place or time, and address. Below them a table with the six cases of rosa and dominus: nominative rosa and dominus, genitive rosae and domini, dative rosae and domino, accusative rosam and dominum, ablative rosa with a long a and domino, vocative rosa and domine. When you tap a function, the row of that case lights up and the ending gets a colour. Under the table a short Latin sentence in which the word with that job is marked. For the direct object, for example, the accusative row lights up with the endings am and um, and the sentence is Dominus puellam videt, with puellam marked.
Get it
A Latin noun has a stem and an ending. The stem carries the meaning (ros-, rose), the ending the job in the sentence. Every job has its own case, and every case its own ending.
The nominative is the subject: who does it? Puella cantat, the girl sings. The genitive is the owner: whose? villa dominī, the master's country house. The dative is the indirect object: to or for whom? agricolae dat, she gives to the farmer.
The accusative is the direct object: who or what undergoes the action? rosam videt, she sees the rose. The ablative says with what, by what, where or when: rosā, with a rose; in silvā, in the forest.
There is a sixth: the vocative, for calling someone. Mostly it is the same as the nominative. Only words in -us take -e: Domine, master.
Careful: one ending can be more than one case. Rosae is genitive or dative singular, or nominative plural. Then the rest of the sentence decides.
Nominative subject, genitive possession (whose), dative indirect object (to or for whom), accusative direct object (who or what), ablative means, place or time. The vocative calls someone.
Examples
Puella cantat.
Nominative: the girl is the subject, she sings.
Villa dominī magna est.
Genitive: the country house of the master is big.
Puella agricolae rosam dat.
Dative: the girl gives a rose to the farmer.
Dominus servum vocat.
Accusative: the master calls the slave. The slave undergoes the calling.
Puella in silvā ambulat.
Ablative after in: the girl walks in the forest.
Domine, venī.
Vocative: Master, come. Words in -us take -e.
Worked example
Who gives what to whom in Rosam agricolae puella dat?
First find the verb: dat, he or she gives.
Puella ends in -a and is the nominative: the girl is the subject.
Rosam ends in -am: accusative, the direct object. The rose is given.
Agricolae can be genitive or dative. With giving, the dative fits: to the farmer.
- Answer
The girl gives the farmer a rose.
Do it
Choose a level. You get a new exercise each time, checked straight away.
Pitfalls
Wrong: Rosam puella videt: the rose sees the girl.
The first word is not automatically the subject. Rosam is an accusative, so it is the direct object.
Right: The girl sees the rose.
Wrong: Rosae is always plural.
-ae is also the genitive and dative singular. Look at the verb and the other words.
Right: Puella agricolae rosās dat: here agricolae is a dative singular.
Wrong: In silvam ambulat and in silvā ambulat mean the same.
After in the case decides: the accusative is a movement into, the ablative a place.
Right: In silvam ambulat: she walks into the forest. In silvā ambulat: she walks in the forest.
In real life
- German still has four cases: der Hund, den Hund, dem Hund, des Hundes. If you know Latin, you recognise the system at once.
- English keeps traces of cases too: he and him, who and whom, and the 's of the owner.
- On some churches and chapels you can read a genitive: Domus Deī, the house of God.
At the table
Play Case Calling. Someone says a sentence, like Mum gives the dog a biscuit. Whoever is first to call out the case of each word (Mum nominative, dog dative, biscuit accusative) gets a point.
Something to do or talk about together, for parents and children. Mistakes are welcome.