Latin often seems more complicated at first than it actually is. One reason for this is that word order in Latin is more flexible than in English. Therefore, we cannot simply assume that the first word is the subject and the next word is the object.

Instead, we look at the forms of the words. The endings are particularly important.

In this first Latin lesson, we will learn how to analyse a simple Latin sentence systematically.

1. First, we look for the predicate

Let us start with a simple sentence:

Marcus amicum videt.

Marcus sees the friend.

The predicate is:

videt = he/she/it sees

The infinitive of the verb is:

vidēre = to see

We remove the infinitive ending -re:

vidēre → vidē-

What remains is the present stem.

Now we add the personal ending -t:

vidē- + t → videt

The ending -t tells us:

3rd person singular, present tense, active voice, indicative mood

So we know: someone sees.

Now we need to find out who sees.

2. The subject is in the nominative

Marcus amicum videt.

We ask:

Who or what sees?

Marcus.

Marcus is the subject and is in the nominative singular.

Marcus belongs to the o-declension and is masculine. The ending -us can indicate the nominative singular of a masculine noun of the o-declension.

Marcus = nominative singular

So far, we have:

Marcus sees …

Now we still need the object.

3. The accusative object

We ask:

Whom or what does Marcus see?

amicum = the/a friend

amicum is in the accusative singular. Here, we can recognise this by the ending -um.

amicus → nominative singular
amicum → accusative singular

The whole sentence has now been analysed:

Marcus = subject
amicum = accusative object
videt = predicate

Marcus amicum videt.

Marcus sees the/a friend.

Latin has neither definite nor indefinite articles. Therefore, depending on the context, amicum can mean either “the friend” or “a friend”.

4. Why endings are so important

Let us look at a similar sentence:

Amicus Marcum videt.

Now the sentence means:

The friend sees Marcus.

Why?

amicus ends in -us and is in the nominative singular here.

Marcum ends in -um and is in the accusative singular.

videt once again means “he/she/it sees”.

So we can recognise from the forms:

amicus = subject
Marcum = accusative object
videt = predicate

The endings help us recognise the function a word has in the sentence.

5. The a-declension

Now we add a second declension:

Puella Marcum amat.

The girl loves Marcus.

puella belongs to the a-declension.

puella = nominative singular, feminine

It is the subject.

amat is the predicate.

The infinitive is:

amare = to love

We remove -re:

amare → ama-

ama- is the present stem.

Now we add the personal ending -t for the 3rd person singular:

ama- + t → amat

amat = he/she/it loves

Marcum is again in the accusative singular and is the accusative object.

We ask:

Whom or what does the girl love?

Marcus.

6. Singular and plural

Now let us change the sentence:

Puellae Marcum amant.

The girls love Marcus.

What has changed?

puella → the girl
puellae → the girls

puellae is in the nominative plural here.

The verb changes too:

amat → he/she/it loves
amant → they love

The ending -nt indicates the 3rd person plural here.

amare → ama- → ama- + nt → amant

Subject and predicate agree in number:

puella amat = the girl loves

puellae amant = the girls love

This is a very important clue when analysing a sentence.

7. A verb with two objects

Now let us expand the sentence:

Marcus puellae rosam dat.

Marcus gives the girl a/the rose.

The verb dat comes from:

dare = to give

dare → da- + t → dat

dat = he/she/it gives

Now we ask our questions systematically again.

Who or what gives?

Marcus.

Marcus is the subject and is in the nominative singular.

To whom does Marcus give something?

puellae = to the girl

puellae is in the dative singular here.

The dative answers, among other things, the question:

To whom?

What does Marcus give the girl?

rosam = a/the rose

rosam is in the accusative singular. The ending -am indicates the accusative singular in the a-declension.

So we have:

Marcus = subject, nominative singular
puellae = dative object, dative singular
rosam = accusative object, accusative singular
dat = predicate, 3rd person singular, present active indicative

8. One ending can have several meanings

Now we come across an important feature of Latin.

The form puellae can have several grammatical functions.

puellae can be:

genitive singular = of the girl
dative singular = to/for the girl
nominative plural = the girls

This is nothing unusual. In English, too, identical forms can have different grammatical functions.

Think, for example, of you:

You are here.

This can refer to one person or several people. Only the context tells us exactly what is meant.

It is similar in Latin.

9. How do we find out what puellae means?

Let us compare two sentences:

Puellae rosam amant.

Marcus puellae rosam dat.

In the first sentence, we start with the predicate:

amant

The ending -nt tells us that it is the 3rd person plural.

So we need a plural subject.

rosam cannot be the subject. The ending -am clearly indicates the accusative singular here.

puellae, on the other hand, can be nominative plural.

Therefore:

puellae = the girls

Puellae rosam amant.

The girls love the/a rose.

10. The same form – a different function

Now let us look at:

Marcus puellae rosam dat.

The predicate is:

dat = he/she/it gives

It is in the 3rd person singular.

So we look for a singular subject.

Marcus is in the nominative singular and fits perfectly.

Now we consider which complements the verb dare requires.

Someone gives something to someone.

Who gives? → Marcus
To whom does Marcus give something? → to the girl
What does Marcus give? → a rose

Therefore, puellae is dative singular here:

puellae = to the girl

The context, the verb form, the possible case forms and the meaning of the verb all work together to help us find the correct solution.

11. The most important strategy for sentence analysis

We should not simply translate a Latin sentence word by word from left to right.

Instead, we proceed systematically.

1. Find the predicate.
2. Analyse the verb form:
   Person, number, tense, active or passive voice, and mood.
3. Find the subject:
   Who or what?

The subject is in the nominative.

4. Consider which complements the verb requires.

Whom or what? → Accusative

To whom? → Dative

5. Determine the endings of the nouns.
6. Check whether more than one grammatical analysis is possible.
7. Only then use grammar and context to decide which meaning makes sense in the sentence.

12. The most important points from the first Latin lesson

Today we have already learned some fundamental building blocks of Latin grammar:

Nominative → often the subject → Who or what?

Accusative → often the accusative object → Whom or what?

Dative → often the dative object → To whom?

We have also seen:

-us can indicate the nominative singular of masculine nouns of the o-declension.

-um indicates the accusative singular in this declension.

-a can indicate the nominative singular in the a-declension.

-am indicates the accusative singular.

-ae can, among other things, indicate the nominative plural or dative singular.

With verbs, -t indicates the 3rd person singular and -nt the 3rd person plural.

Most importantly, however, we have learned a method that will accompany us throughout many more Latin lessons:

Find the predicate – find the subject – identify the objects – check the forms – understand the sentence.

The more forms we learn, the more complex Latin sentences we will be able to decipher step by step in this way.

13. Forms for reference

Finally, let us look at the two declensions and the two verbs from this first Latin lesson in full. This allows us to see how the endings change depending on case and number.

amicus – friend: o-declension

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	amicus – the/a friend	amici – the friends
Genitive	amici – of the friend	amicorum – of the friends
Dative	amico – to/for the friend	amicis – to/for the friends
Accusative	amicum – the/a friend	amicos – the friends
Ablative	amico – by/with/from the friend	amicis – by/with/from the friends

puella – girl: a-declension

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	puella – the/a girl	puellae – the girls
Genitive	puellae – of the girl	puellarum – of the girls
Dative	puellae – to/for the girl	puellis – to/for the girls
Accusative	puellam – the/a girl	puellas – the girls
Ablative	puella – by/with/from the girl	puellis – by/with/from the girls

Here we can see particularly clearly why we should not look at just one ending when analysing a sentence. puellae, for example, can be genitive singular, dative singular or nominative plural. Only the context of the sentence tells us which form is meant.

amare – to love: present active indicative

The present stem is ama-.

Person	Latin	English
1st person singular	amo	I love
2nd person singular	amas	you love
3rd person singular	amat	he/she/it loves
1st person plural	amamus	we love
2nd person plural	amatis	you love
3rd person plural	amant	they love

In the 1st person singular, we see a small change: ama + o becomes amo.

videre – to see: present active indicative

The present stem is vide-.

Person	Latin	English
1st person singular	video	I see
2nd person singular	vides	you see
3rd person singular	videt	he/she/it sees
1st person plural	videmus	we see
2nd person plural	videtis	you see
3rd person plural	vident	they see

After our first Latin lesson, we therefore know not only individual forms such as amicum, puellae, amat or videt, but can already place them within the complete system of their declension or conjugation.

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