There are several foundational aspects of Latin grammar, such as declensions, that you have to get to grips with as a Latin learner.
Declensions are a part of most languages that are considered “inflected.” Inflected languages are languages in which words change their form based on how they are used in the sentence.
If you want to be successful in learning Latin, understanding Latin declensions early on will be an immense benefit.
So here's a complete guide to what they are, and how to use and learn them!
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Table of Contents
What Is A Declension?
Consider the following two English sentences:
- The girl eats the dog.
- The dog eats the girl.
Based on the word order in the sentence, there are very distinct meanings. Rather than relying on word order, Latin utilises different endings for nouns, adjectives, and verbs to get across a particular meaning; this is what makes it an inflected language.
For nouns and adjectives, there are several different patterns of endings that exist; five for nouns and three for adjectives. These patterns and grouping of endings are called declensions.
Each noun and adjective belong to a particular declension, which helps determine what group of possible endings it can use.
It's important to recognize the declension to which a noun or adjective belongs so that you can better understand how a noun or adjective is being used in the sentence.
What Are The Latin Declensions?
There are five Latin declensions that nouns use. This means there are five sets of ending patterns for nouns. Keep in mind, a noun can only belong to one declension and only use the endings from the declension they are in.
When you “decline” a noun, that means you are giving all of the endings of the noun that are possible. With this, you then run into “case” and “number.”
In language, the case refers to how the noun is being used in the sentence. The nouns can be a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, etc.
There are five major cases that you learn in Latin: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and Ablative. In English, there are no cases, so we aren't used to changing the ending based on how a noun is used in a sentence.
Number, when referring to nouns, is whether or not the noun is singular or plural. For example, the grammatical difference between “cat” and “cats” is that “cat” is a singular number, while “cats” is a plural number.
Since there are five cases and two numbers for each declension, that means each declension has 10 endings (with some exceptions). Then consider that there are five declensions, which means there are about 50 possible noun endings across all declensions. That is a lot!
First Declension
First declension is a fairly recognizable set of endings. Most endings contain the letter -a- within the ending. Additionally, most nouns in this declension are feminine, with some exceptions.
When looking in a dictionary, you can recognize the noun as being a first declension noun as the word will end in -a, -ae. See some examples below of dictionary forms of first declension nouns:
- puella, -ae F – girl
- villa, -ae F – country house
- poeta, -ae M – poet
Below is the table with all of the endings of the first declension as well as the noun puella, ae F fully declined.
| Feminine/Masculine | ||
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | -apuella | -aepuellae |
| Genitive | -aepuellae | -arumpuellarum |
| Dative | -aepuellae | -ispuellis |
| Accusative | -ampuellam | -aspuellas |
| Ablative | -āpuellā | -ispuellis |
Second Declension
The second declension mostly contains masculine or neuter nouns. With this declension, it will matter if the noun is masculine or neuter as some of the endings are different depending on the gender.
When looking in a dictionary, you can recognise the noun as being a second declension noun as the word will end in -us/r/er, -i. See some examples below of dictionary forms of first declension nouns:
- equus, i M – horse
- campus, i M – field
- verbum, i N – word
Below is the table with all of the endings of the second declension as well as the nouns equus, i M and verbum, i N fully declined.
| Masculine | Neuter | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | -usequus | -iequi | -umverbum | -averba |
| Genitive | -iequi | -orumequorum | -iverbi | -orumverborum |
| Dative | -oequo | -isequis | -overbo | -isverbis |
| Accusative | -umequum | -osequos | -umverbum | -averba |
| Ablative | -ō equō | -isequis | -ō verbō | -isverbis |
Third Declension
Nouns of all three genders fall within the third declension. Similar to the second declension, it will matter if the noun is masculine/feminine or neuter as some of the endings are different depending on the gender.
When looking in a dictionary, you can recognize the noun as being a third declension noun as the word will end in –, -is. What makes the third declension interesting is that the first form, also known as the Nominative form, has no pattern.
Thus when you see the endings for the third declension with a dash for the Nominative Singular form. See some examples below of dictionary forms of third declension nouns:
- princeps, principis M – prince
- vox, vocis F – voice
- ius, iuris N – law
Below is the table with all of the endings of the third declension as well as the nouns vox, vocis F and ius, iuris N fully declined.
| Masculine/Feminine | Neuter | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | –vox | -esvoces | –ius | -aiura |
| Genitive | -isvocis | -umvocum | -isiuris | -umiurum |
| Dative | -ivoci | -ibusvocibus | -iiuri | -ibusiuribus |
| Accusative | -emvocem | -esvoces | –ius | -aiura |
| Ablative | -evoce | -ibusvocibus | -eiure | -ibusiuribus |
Fourth Declension
The fourth declension mostly contains masculine nouns. When looking in a dictionary, you can recognise the noun as being a fourth declension noun as the word will end in -us, -ūs.
Similar to the first declension, fourth declension endings are easily recognizable by the -u- throughout the declension endings. See some examples below of dictionary forms of fourth declension nouns:
- lacus, ūs M – lake
- cornu, ūs N – horn
- domus, ūs F – house
Below is the table with all of the endings of the fourth declension as well as the nouns lacus, ūs M and cornu, ūs N fully declined.
| Masculine/Feminine | Neuter | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | -uslacus | -ūslacūs | -ūcornū | -acorna |
| Genitive | -ūslacūs | -uumlacuum | -ūscornūs | -uumcornuum |
| Dative | -ui lacui | -ibuslacibus | -ui cornui | -ibuscornibus |
| Accusative | -umlacum | -ūslacūs | -ūcornū | -acorna |
| Ablative | -ūlacū | -ibuslacibus | -ūcornū | -ibuscornibus |
Fifth Declension
The fifth declension mostly contains feminine nouns. When looking in a dictionary, you can recognise the noun as being a fifth declension noun as the word will end in -es, ei. See some examples below of dictionary forms of first declension nouns:
- res, i F – thing
- facies, i F – form
- spes, i F – hope
Below is the table with all of the endings of the fifth declension as well as the noun res, i F fully declined.
| Feminine | ||
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | -esres | -esres |
| Genitive | -eirei | -erumrerum |
| Dative | -eirei | -ebusrebus |
| Accusative | -emrem | -esres |
| Ablative | -e rem | -ebusrebus |
Nouns Vs Adjectives
Keep in mind, while there are five declensions for nouns, adjectives only use the first three declensions. This means that Latin adjectives have their own declension.
However, since the first declension is mostly used for the feminine gender, adjectives that use the first declension must use the second declension to account for when adjectives are modifying masculine or neuter nouns.
Thus Latin adjectives can only be either first and second declension or third declension. Regardless, the declension endings will be the same for adjectives.
How Best To Learn Latin Declensions
As you can see, there are A LOT of endings within the five Latin declensions. The first way to help you remember the endings is to look at the declensions and begin to recognise patterns.
Where do you see endings being similar or different when looking at cases, genders, and numbers across the declensions? What patterns do you see within the declensions as well that set them apart from the others?
Recognising these patterns will aid in your long-term memory of these declensions. You can also help yourself by creating mnemonic devices, such as sayings, acronyms, or even songs to remember the declension endings.
If you don't know where to start, there are numerous websites to learn Latin that have existing songs or similar mnemonic devices to remember Latin declension endings.
However, rote memorisation isn't always the best path and you want to know how to actually apply this knowledge.
One of the best ways to remember information such as Latin declensions is to see it in action. Start looking at books to learn Latin and when you come across a noun or adjective identify what declension it is.
You may find a Latin dictionary to be handy to help you recognize the declension, but you will notice in time that the patterns of which nouns belong to which declension start to become second nature.
Latin Declensions FAQ
What are the 5 declensions in Latin?
Latin has five declensions, which are groups of nouns that follow specific patterns of endings based on case, number, and gender.
The five declensions are:
– First Declension – Mostly feminine nouns ending in -a (e.g., puella (girl)).
– Second Declension – Masculine and neuter nouns, often ending in -us, -er (masculine) or -um (neuter) (e.g., amicus (friend)).
– Third Declension – Various endings, including both masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns (e.g., rex (king)).
– Fourth Declension – Mostly masculine nouns ending in -us and neuter nouns ending in -u (e.g., manus (hand)).
– Fifth Declension – Mostly feminine nouns ending in -es (e.g., dies (day)).
Each declension has unique endings for singular and plural forms in different grammatical cases.
What is 1st, 2nd, and 3rd declension in Latin?
– The 1st declension consists mainly of feminine nouns ending in -a (e.g., puella (girl)).
– The 2nd declension includes masculine nouns ending in -us or -er (e.g., amicus (friend)) and neuter nouns ending in -um (e.g., templum (temple)).
– The 3rd declension is more diverse, with masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns that have various endings (e.g., rex (king); corpus (body)).
What is the hardest Latin declension?
The 3rd declension is often considered the hardest because it has many irregular forms and unpredictable stem changes.
Unlike the 1st and 2nd declensions, which have more consistent endings, 3rd declension nouns vary in their nominative singular forms, making memorisation more challenging.
Is there a 6th declension in Latin?
No, Latin traditionally has only five declensions. However, some linguists argue that certain noun forms, such as irregular Greek loanwords, could be classified separately, but this is not considered an official 6th declension.
Mastering Latin Declensions
Latin declensions are undoubtedly a very daunting task. Just remember, don't worry about memorising tables! Instead, follow the rules of StoryLearning and practise recognising and using Latin declensions in actual Latin texts.
Reading Latin books will not only be more helpful but also improve the chances that you'll actually retain that knowledge. Plus reading is a lot more fun than trying to cram rules into your mind.
If you still need some help to get your head around Latin declensions, my course, Latin Uncovered will teach you them through story, not rules. Get your free 7-day trial of the course.
Olly Richards
Creator of the StoryLearning® Method
Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.
Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.
When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.
