Glossary of Grammatical Terms

Term Definition English Examples Latin Examples Trivia

ablative the case used to indicate some adverbial function for a noun, usually translated into English with a preposition by the window
in the doghouse
with a knife
from Hell
at home

accusative the case used to indicate direct object, place to or toward which, or extent of space and time She threw the ball.
They ate my lunch.

active a verb voice, in which the subject performs the action of the verb (i.e., the subject is agent) She threw the ball.
They ate my lunch. "Agent" comes from the Latin verb ago, agere, egi, actus, which can mean to do or perform.

adjective a word used to describe, or limit the meaning of, a noun. Adjectives have three variables in Latin: number, gender, and case. They agree with nouns according to these variables. a big horse

adverb a word used to describe a verb, adjective, or another adverb She threw the ball far.
She threw the ball very far.
An extremely big horse

antecedent the noun for which a pronoun stands Marcus is here; I see him. "Antecedent" comes from two Latin word: ante and the verb cado, cadere, cecidi, casus. It literally means to fall before.

case a form of a noun (and any agreeing adjective) that indicates by its ending how the word functions grammatically in the sentence. Latin has six cases (see individual definitions): nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, and vocative. English has only two cases: nominative (used for the subject of a sentence) and objective (used for everything else).

conjugation a system of verb forms. A given verb belongs to one of the four conjugations. The conjugation can be recognized from the infinitive: -are (long a) = 1st conjugation; -ere (long e) = 2nd; -ere = 3rd; and -ire (long i) = 4th.

dative the case used to indicate indirect object; reference; after certain compound and other verbs She threw the ball to me.
They ate themselves a good lunch (colloq.).

declension a system of noun and adjective endings. A given noun belongs to one of the five declensions. An adjective may be of the first/second declension category, or of the third declension. The declension is recognized from the genitive singular ending: -ae = 1st declension; -i (long) = 2nd; -is = 3rd; -us (long u) = 4th; and -ei (long i) = 5th.

demonstrative a word that points out something that book

expletive a word which serves no grammatical function, but which fills up a sentence or gives emphasis There are five people in my class.
Wowee!

finite descriptive of a verb form that is limited according to person and number. Cf. infinitive

future perfect tense a verb tense that refers to an action or state of being completed in the future. Its translation into English requires the use of the auxiliary verbs will/shall have. We shall have praised.

future tense a verb tense that indicates action or state of being in the future. The future corresponds to two English tenses. I will praise.
I will be praising.

gender masculine (m.), feminine (f.), neuter (n.). A Latin noun has a given grammatical gender which may or may not correspond to its natural gender. An adjective takes on the gender of the noun that it modifies; this is called agreeing with its noun.

genitive the case used to indicate possession; partitive; objective; subjective. It is most often translated with the English preposition of. the dog of my uncle
a few of my students
love of country Hardly any English nouns decline, but the genitive case is indicated by the endings 's (belonging to one) and s' (belonging to more than one) in such phrases as the dog's bone, the cats' litter box.

idiom an expression that is peculiar to a language and cannot be translated literally

imperative a verb mood used to express direct command. In English, the implied subject "you" is never expressed. Do this.
Don't drop the ball.

imperfect tense a verb tense that refers to action in the past that is incomplete or ongoing. It is translated into English with the auxiliary was, were, or alternatively with other formulae. She was praising;
she used to praise;
often she would praise.

indicative a verb mood. The indicative mood indicates a fact (as opposed to an order or a condition contrary to fact). Latin is a good thing.

infinitive a verb form that is not limited (ergo, "infinite") in terms of person and number. The Latin infinitive is given as the second part of its dictionary entry. to praise laudare The English dictionary entry is simply praise, v.t.. The "v.t. (verb transitive) part is important, because it distinguishes the verb to praise from the noun praise, as in "I like lots of excessive praise."

intensive a word used to intensify a noun or pronun, translated into English with the suffix -self. myself
herself
themselves ipse

interjection a word or sound that expresses an emotion "Oh!"
"Ouch!"
"Phooey!" "heu!"
"eheu!"
"mehercule!";

intransitive refers to a verb that does not take a direct object; that is, to a verb that does not express an action which directly affects another person or thing They fall

macron a mark placed over a long vowel to mark quantity

mood the mode or manner in which the action of a verb is represented. Latin has three moods: imperative, indicative, and subjunctive.

nominative the case used to indicate the subject of a finite verb I did it.
Are you coming?
"He's a few beans short of a burrito," she said.
We can't be sure.
They never knew what hit them. The nominative is one of the two cases that English has (see above). Differences in case appear only in pronouns, and then not always (you and it can be either nominative or objective).

noun a word used to express the name of a person, place, or thing. See also number, gender, case. A noun has two variables: number and case (gender is given). Bubba
Bastrop
bluebonnet English further subdivides nouns into common nouns (dog) and proper nouns (Lassie, Benji).;

number singular (one) or plural (two or more)

paradigm a model or pattern which contains all inflectional variations of a given word

part of speech noun, pronoun, verb, preposition, adjective, adverb, participle, gerund, gerundive, expletive, interjection, conjunction, etc.

participle a verbal adjective. Participles have five variables: as an adjective, they have number, gender, and case; as a verb, they have tense and voice. The screaming person drove us crazy.

passive a verb voice, in which the subject is the recipient of the action of the verb. The agent (if a person) or instrument (if a thing) appears in the predicate. The ball was thrown by her.
My lunch was eaten by them.
The letter was destroyed by the copy machine.

perfect tense a verb tense that refers to completed action in the past. It corresponds to three English tenses. She praised;
she did praise;
she was praising. The word "perfect" comes from the Latin verb perficio, meaning to complete or to carry through to the end.;

person first, second, or third, indicated in Latin by a verb ending I
you
he/she/it
we
you
they

pluperfect tense a verb tense taht refers to action or state of being completed before some other event in the past. Its translation into English requres the use of the auxiliariy verb had. They had praised.

predicate the verb and the part of the sentence that comes after the verb

predicate adjective an adjective that follows a linking verb (e.g. is, seems), and which agrees with the subject in number, gender, and case The man is tall.

predicate (pro)noun a noun or pronoun which follows a linking verb and which is the same as the subject Quintus is a farmer.

preposition a word placed before a noun or pronoun which is used to indicate position, direction, time, or some other abstract relation into the woods
down from the roof
at six o'clock

present tense a verb tense that indicates action or state of being in the present. The Latin present tense corresponds to three English tenses. He praises;
he does praise
he is praising Speakers of languages which don't distinguish between "he praises" and "he is praising" have a lot of difficulty when they tackle English. You are not alone in your pain.

pronoun a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number, gender, and case. A pronoun has three variables: number, gender, and case. he
she
it
they
them

reflexive adjective an adjective that refers to the subject of the sentence The groundhog saw his own shadow. meus
tuus
suus
noster
vester

reflexive pronoun a pronoun that refers to he subject of the sentence, translated into English with the suffix -self, -selves mei
tui
sui
nostri
vestri

relative pronoun a pronoun which introduces a relative clause. The relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number and gender, while its case comes from its use in its own clause. The man whom we saw is tall. qui
quae
quod

subject the noun or pronoun that, with all of its modifiers, immediately precedes the verb

subjunctive a verb mood that suggests possibility, wish, contrary-to-fact condition, etc. (as opposed to a fact or an order). There is no standard translation into English; the translation will depend upon the construction with which the verb is associated. Thy will be done.
Long live the king.
Let them eat cake. The subjunctive is very common in Latin, but has almost disappeared from English, with the exception of a few set phrases.

substantive adjective an adjective that modifies an implied, but not expressed, noun. When translating such an adjective into English, you must supply the missing noun.

syntax the relationship of words to each other in a sentence English syntax is almost wholly determined by word order, whereas in Latin word order is much less important in determing who did what to whom.

tense the tim of action represented by a verb. Finite verbs have six tenses: present, future, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect; the first three tenses belong to the present system, the last three to the perfect system. Infinitives have three tenses: present, future, and perfect. Participles have three tenses: present, future, and perfect.

transitive a verb which takes a direct object; that is, a verb that expresses an action which directly affects another person or thing The man has a horse.

verb a word used to express an action or state of being. Finite verbs have five variables: person, number, tense, mood, and voice.

vocative the case used to indicate direct address You're a good man, Charlie Brown.

voice active or passive, q.v.

Term	Definition	English Examples	Latin Examples	Trivia
ablative	the case used to indicate some adverbial function for a noun, usually translated into English with a preposition	by the window in the doghouse with a knife from Hell at home
accusative	the case used to indicate direct object, place to or toward which, or extent of space and time	She threw the ball. They ate my lunch.
active	a verb voice, in which the subject performs the action of the verb (i.e., the subject is agent)	She threw the ball. They ate my lunch.		"Agent" comes from the Latin verb ago, agere, egi, actus, which can mean to do or perform.
adjective	a word used to describe, or limit the meaning of, a noun. Adjectives have three variables in Latin: number, gender, and case. They agree with nouns according to these variables.	a big horse
adverb	a word used to describe a verb, adjective, or another adverb	She threw the ball far. She threw the ball very far. An extremely big horse
antecedent	the noun for which a pronoun stands	Marcus is here; I see him.		"Antecedent" comes from two Latin word: ante and the verb cado, cadere, cecidi, casus. It literally means to fall before.
case	a form of a noun (and any agreeing adjective) that indicates by its ending how the word functions grammatically in the sentence. Latin has six cases (see individual definitions): nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, and vocative.			English has only two cases: nominative (used for the subject of a sentence) and objective (used for everything else).
conjugation	a system of verb forms. A given verb belongs to one of the four conjugations. The conjugation can be recognized from the infinitive: -are (long a) = 1st conjugation; -ere (long e) = 2nd; -ere = 3rd; and -ire (long i) = 4th.
dative	the case used to indicate indirect object; reference; after certain compound and other verbs	She threw the ball to me. They ate themselves a good lunch (colloq.).
declension	a system of noun and adjective endings. A given noun belongs to one of the five declensions. An adjective may be of the first/second declension category, or of the third declension. The declension is recognized from the genitive singular ending: -ae = 1st declension; -i (long) = 2nd; -is = 3rd; -us (long u) = 4th; and -ei (long i) = 5th.
demonstrative	a word that points out something	that book
expletive	a word which serves no grammatical function, but which fills up a sentence or gives emphasis	There are five people in my class. Wowee!
finite	descriptive of a verb form that is limited according to person and number. Cf. infinitive
future perfect tense	a verb tense that refers to an action or state of being completed in the future. Its translation into English requires the use of the auxiliary verbs will/shall have.	We shall have praised.
future tense	a verb tense that indicates action or state of being in the future. The future corresponds to two English tenses.	I will praise. I will be praising.
gender	masculine (m.), feminine (f.), neuter (n.). A Latin noun has a given grammatical gender which may or may not correspond to its natural gender. An adjective takes on the gender of the noun that it modifies; this is called agreeing with its noun.
genitive	the case used to indicate possession; partitive; objective; subjective. It is most often translated with the English preposition of.	the dog of my uncle a few of my students love of country		Hardly any English nouns decline, but the genitive case is indicated by the endings 's (belonging to one) and s' (belonging to more than one) in such phrases as the dog's bone, the cats' litter box.
idiom	an expression that is peculiar to a language and cannot be translated literally
imperative	a verb mood used to express direct command. In English, the implied subject "you" is never expressed.	Do this. Don't drop the ball.
imperfect tense	a verb tense that refers to action in the past that is incomplete or ongoing. It is translated into English with the auxiliary was, were, or alternatively with other formulae.	She was praising; she used to praise; often she would praise.
indicative	a verb mood. The indicative mood indicates a fact (as opposed to an order or a condition contrary to fact).	Latin is a good thing.
infinitive	a verb form that is not limited (ergo, "infinite") in terms of person and number. The Latin infinitive is given as the second part of its dictionary entry.	to praise	laudare	The English dictionary entry is simply praise, v.t.. The "v.t. (verb transitive) part is important, because it distinguishes the verb to praise from the noun praise, as in "I like lots of excessive praise."
intensive	a word used to intensify a noun or pronun, translated into English with the suffix -self.	myself herself themselves	ipse
interjection	a word or sound that expresses an emotion	"Oh!" "Ouch!" "Phooey!"	"heu!" "eheu!" "mehercule!";
intransitive	refers to a verb that does not take a direct object; that is, to a verb that does not express an action which directly affects another person or thing	They fall
macron	a mark placed over a long vowel to mark quantity
mood	the mode or manner in which the action of a verb is represented. Latin has three moods: imperative, indicative, and subjunctive.
nominative	the case used to indicate the subject of a finite verb	I did it. Are you coming? "He's a few beans short of a burrito," she said. We can't be sure. They never knew what hit them.		The nominative is one of the two cases that English has (see above). Differences in case appear only in pronouns, and then not always (you and it can be either nominative or objective).
noun	a word used to express the name of a person, place, or thing. See also number, gender, case. A noun has two variables: number and case (gender is given).	Bubba Bastrop bluebonnet		English further subdivides nouns into common nouns (dog) and proper nouns (Lassie, Benji).;
number	singular (one) or plural (two or more)
paradigm	a model or pattern which contains all inflectional variations of a given word
part of speech	noun, pronoun, verb, preposition, adjective, adverb, participle, gerund, gerundive, expletive, interjection, conjunction, etc.
participle	a verbal adjective. Participles have five variables: as an adjective, they have number, gender, and case; as a verb, they have tense and voice.	The screaming person drove us crazy.
passive	a verb voice, in which the subject is the recipient of the action of the verb. The agent (if a person) or instrument (if a thing) appears in the predicate.	The ball was thrown by her. My lunch was eaten by them. The letter was destroyed by the copy machine.
perfect tense	a verb tense that refers to completed action in the past. It corresponds to three English tenses.	She praised; she did praise; she was praising.		The word "perfect" comes from the Latin verb perficio, meaning to complete or to carry through to the end.;
person	first, second, or third, indicated in Latin by a verb ending	I you he/she/it we you they
pluperfect tense	a verb tense taht refers to action or state of being completed before some other event in the past. Its translation into English requres the use of the auxiliariy verb had.	They had praised.
predicate	the verb and the part of the sentence that comes after the verb
predicate adjective	an adjective that follows a linking verb (e.g. is, seems), and which agrees with the subject in number, gender, and case	The man is tall.
predicate (pro)noun	a noun or pronoun which follows a linking verb and which is the same as the subject	Quintus is a farmer.
preposition	a word placed before a noun or pronoun which is used to indicate position, direction, time, or some other abstract relation	into the woods down from the roof at six o'clock
present tense	a verb tense that indicates action or state of being in the present. The Latin present tense corresponds to three English tenses.	He praises; he does praise he is praising		Speakers of languages which don't distinguish between "he praises" and "he is praising" have a lot of difficulty when they tackle English. You are not alone in your pain.
pronoun	a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number, gender, and case. A pronoun has three variables: number, gender, and case.	he she it they them
reflexive adjective	an adjective that refers to the subject of the sentence	The groundhog saw his own shadow.	meus tuus suus noster vester
reflexive pronoun	a pronoun that refers to he subject of the sentence, translated into English with the suffix -self, -selves		mei tui sui nostri vestri
relative pronoun	a pronoun which introduces a relative clause. The relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number and gender, while its case comes from its use in its own clause.	The man whom we saw is tall.	qui quae quod
subject	the noun or pronoun that, with all of its modifiers, immediately precedes the verb
subjunctive	a verb mood that suggests possibility, wish, contrary-to-fact condition, etc. (as opposed to a fact or an order). There is no standard translation into English; the translation will depend upon the construction with which the verb is associated.	Thy will be done. Long live the king. Let them eat cake.		The subjunctive is very common in Latin, but has almost disappeared from English, with the exception of a few set phrases.
substantive adjective	an adjective that modifies an implied, but not expressed, noun. When translating such an adjective into English, you must supply the missing noun.
syntax	the relationship of words to each other in a sentence			English syntax is almost wholly determined by word order, whereas in Latin word order is much less important in determing who did what to whom.
tense	the tim of action represented by a verb. Finite verbs have six tenses: present, future, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect; the first three tenses belong to the present system, the last three to the perfect system. Infinitives have three tenses: present, future, and perfect. Participles have three tenses: present, future, and perfect.
transitive	a verb which takes a direct object; that is, a verb that expresses an action which directly affects another person or thing	The man has a horse.
verb	a word used to express an action or state of being. Finite verbs have five variables: person, number, tense, mood, and voice.
vocative	the case used to indicate direct address	You're a good man, Charlie Brown.
voice	active or passive, q.v.

Introduction

Software Available in the LLC

The Satyricon of Petronius

Fellini's Satyricon

Pompeii: Daily Life of the Ancient Romans

Chapters in Balme

Vocabulary

Dr. Haskell's Latin 113, Fall 1997 Syllabus

Paradigms

Bibliography

Introduction	Software Available in the LLC	The Satyricon of Petronius	Fellini's Satyricon	Pompeii: Daily Life of the Ancient Romans
Chapters in Balme	Vocabulary	Dr. Haskell's Latin 113, Fall 1997 Syllabus	Paradigms	Bibliography