A Practical Grammar of the Latin Language/Lesson 7

by G. J. Adler

Of the Fourth Declension.

• A. The fourth declension comprises all substantives which form their genitive in ūs. The nominative singular has two terminations, viz. us for masculine and feminine nouns, and ū for neuters. Examples:—

	Fructus, m., fruit.	Cornū, n., the corn.	Domus, f., the hourse
Nom.	fructus	cornū	domus
Gen.	fructūs	cornūs	domūs or domī1
Dat.	fuctuī	cornū (cornuī)	domuī or domō
Acc.	fructum	cornū	domum
Voc.	fructus	cornū	domus
Abl.	fuctū.	cornū.	domō.

Like fructus decline aditus, access; cantus, a song; currus, a chariot; ictus, a stroke; mōtus, motion; rīsus, laughter; senātus, the senate; sumptus, expense; vīctus, living. Also the feminines acus, a needle; manus, a hand; tribus, a tribe, &c.—Like cornū decline gelū, ice; genū, the knee; verū, a spear; tonitrū, thunder.

Remark.—The final u of Latin words generally is long.

Have you my coat or the tailor's?	Estne tibi toga mea an sartōris? Utrum habēs togam meam an sartōris?
I have yours.	Est mihi tua. Tuam habeō.

		Masc	Fem	Neut
Mine.	Nom. Acc.	meus meum	mea meam	meum. meum.
Yours.	Nom. Acc.	tuus tuum	tua tuam	tuum. tuum.

• B. Obs. The possessive pronouns meus, tuus, suus, &c. may either be joined to nouns in the sense of the conjunctive my, your (thy), his, &c., or they may stand absolutely, like the English mine, yours (thine), his, &c. They are inflected like bonus, a, um. (Cf. Lesson V.)

		Masc	Fem	Neut
This.	Nom. Acc.	hic hunc	haec hanc	hoc hoc.

Is this your hat?	Estne hic pilleus tuus?
No, Sir, it is not mine, but yours.	Minimē, domine, nōn est meus, sed tuus.
Is this my ribbon?	Num haec est taenia tua?
No, it is not yours but mine.	Nōn est tua, sed mea.
Is this your sugar?	An hoc est saccharum tuum?
It is not mine, but that of my brother.	Nōn est meum, sed meī frātris.

The man.	Vir2, gen. virī, m. Homō, inis, m. & f.
The stick, cane.	Bāculum, i, n. Scīpiō, ōnis, m.
My brother.	Frāter meus, gen. frātris meī.
The shoemaker.	Sūtor, sutōris, m.
The merchant.	Mercātor, ōris, m.
The friend.	Amīcus. Familiāris, is, m.
Neither—nor.	Nec—nec. Neque—neque. Neque—nec.

• C. Obs. The disjunctive conjunctions nec and neque are used in the same sense, except that the former more frequently stands before consonants and the latter before vowels.

Have you the merchant's stick or yours?	Tenēsne3 bāculum mercātōris an tuum?
I have neither the merchant's stick nor yours.	Nec mercātōris bāculum nec tuum teneō.
Are you hungry or thirsty?	Utrum ēsurīs an sitīs?
I am neither hungry nor thirsty.	Egō neque ēsuriō, nec sitiō.

Exercise 6.

See the answers here.

1. Have you your cloth or mine? — I have neither yours nor mine.
2. I have neither my bread nor the tailor's.
3. Have you my stick or yours? — I have mine.
4. Have you the shoemaker's shoe or the merchant's? — I have neither the shoemaker's nor the merchant's.
5. Have you my brother's coat? — I have it not.
6. Which paper have you? — I have your friend's.
7. Have you my dog or my friend's? — I have your friend's.
8. Have you my thread stocking or my brother's? — I have neither yours nor your brother's.
9. Have you my good baker's good bread or that of my friend? — I have neither your good baker's nor that of your friend.
10. Which bread have you? — I have mine.
11. Which ribbon have you? — I have yours.
12. Have you the good or the bad cheese? — I have neither the good nor the bad.
13. Have you anything? — I have nothing.
14. Have you my pretty or my ugly dog? — I have neither your pretty nor your ugly dog.
15. Have you my friend's stick? — I have it not.
16. Are you sleepy or hungry? — I am neither sleepy nor hungry.
17. Have you the good or the bad salt? — I have neither the good nor the bad.
18. Have you my horse or the man's? — I have neither yours nor the man's.
19. What have you? — I have nothing fine.
20. Are you tired? — I am not tired.

Footnotes.

¹ The genitive domī is only used in the sense at home. The dative domuī is the more usual form; but the ablative of this irregular noun is always domō.
² Vir is used with reference to the sex, and homō with reference to the species.
³ Teneō is properly to hold, and may be used in these exercises for variety, especially where to have may signify to hold in one's hand, or to retain, keep.