When you learn Latin, or any language it’s fairly uncommon to get excited about grammar, Latin grammar included.
There are people who know it and follow it, others who scorn it, and others who just don’t know it. Unfortunately, grammar is a necessary evil when it comes to learning languages and Latin is no exception.
Reading this article will help you out by pointing out some basic grammar tips for Latin. This will give you a good foundation to work from when you are starting out or even considering learning Latin.
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Table of Contents
1. There Is No Strict Word Order
Something that's very different from English and even Romance languages that Latin is related to, is that there is no real word order requirement.
For example, in English, the typical word order of a simple sentence is Subject + Verb + Object. So the sentence “the boy throws the ball” and the sentence “the ball throws the boy” are very different based on the order of the words.
There are some patterns that Latin sentences tend to follow that will be important for you to recognise:
- Latin main verbs will be found at the end of a sentence or the end of a clause.
- Puella bonum cibum in mensa edet. (The girl eats the good food on the table.)
- Adjectives will be found with the noun they modify.
- Puella bonum cibum in mensa edet.
- Prepositions will come before the noun it pairs with in the prepositional phrase.
- Puella bonum cibum in mensa edet.
- Subjects and direct objects can be in any order. Both of the following sentences mean the same thing:
- Puella bonum cibum in mensa edet.
- Bonum cibum puella in mensa edet.
2. Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives, And Pronouns Change Their Endings
Because Latin doesn't have any real word order beyond loose patterns, that means Latin words change their endings to indicate how they are being used in the sentences. This is what makes Latin what is called an inflected language.
This means when a noun or a pronoun is used as a subject it has a different ending than when it is being used as a direct object in a sentence. Similarly, adjectives will change their endings to match the noun it is modifying and that noun’s use in a sentence.
Verbs also change their endings to get across who is doing the action, when it's happening, and how many are doing the action.
Each of the unique endings, in addition to the word meaning themselves, are helpful in determining the part of speech the word is. Nouns and adjectives have distinctly different endings from verbs.
3. Latin Does Not Use Definite Or Indefinite Articles
Unlike many languages, Latin doesn't have definite or indefinite articles. This means there is no word for “a” or “the.” As a result, when you write “the girl” in Latin, there is no way to say “the” so you would only write “girl.”
Obviously it works the same in the opposite direction. When you see puella written out, you need to supply either an “a” or “the” to get “a girl” or “the girl” to correctly render it into English.
4. Latin Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives, And Pronouns Have Number
An example of these words’ endings changing is to indicate a change in number. This is simply the difference between singular and plural.
Verbs, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns all have singular and plural forms that will be used.
For example:
- Puella bonum cibum edet. (The girl eats good food.)
- Puellae bonum cibum edent. (The girls eat good food.)
5. Latin Nouns, Adjectives, And Pronouns Have Genders
One of the ways that endings will change for nouns, adjectives, and pronouns is due to the grammatical gender.
Many languages have the grammatical genders of masculine and feminine. Latin grammar has a third gender of “neuter.”
These different grammatical genders will have some endings that are unique to them and you need to be able recognise them when you're using Latin.
6. Latin Has 5 Main Cases
There are five cases that are used to show how nouns, adjectives, and pronouns are being used in sentences. This is the final way that these words will have their endings change. The cases are Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and Ablative.
- The Nominative case is used for the subjects of the sentence. The thing that is doing the action of the sentence.
- I throw the girl’s ball to you in the yard.
- The Genitive case is used to show possession of an object.
- I throw the girl’s ball to you in the yard.
- The Dative case is used to show the indirect object. The object is receiving the direct object
- I throw the girl’s ball to you in the yard.
- The Accusative case is used to show the direct object. The object that is receiving the action.
- I throw the girl’s ball to you in the yard.
- The Ablative case is used for nouns in some prepositional phrases and some specific ablative uses.
- I throw the girl’s ball to you in the yard.
7. Latin Verbs Have 3 Persons
When forming a Latin verb, you'll be able to decide between three persons as the subjects for the verb.
Simply enough, these persons are referred to as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person. All of these may be familiar when talking about literature and points of view.
If a piece of writing is written in 1st person, you will see it written from the point of view of “I” and “we.” If it's in 3rd person, it will be written from the point of view of “she,” “he,” and “they.” This will help with understanding person in Latin.
Although there are three persons, there are technically six options for persons based on being singular or plural. See the chart below to see how the six options are presented typically in Latin grammar:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st Person | I | We |
| 2nd Person | You | You all |
| 3rd Person | S/He/It | They |
3rd person in Latin can also be paired with expressed nouns, such as “the girl.” If the girl (or many girls) is doing the action, the verb would be working in 3rd person.
8. Latin Subjects Don’t Need To Be Expressed
Unlike most languages, Latin subjects don't need to be expressed in sentences. Often that ending of the verb will tell you who is doing the action.
For example, if I want to say “I run” I could write Ego curro or just curro. The –o ending in the verb curro indicates that the subject is “I.”
You can keep the subject such as “I,” “you,” “she,” “he,” “it,” “we,” “you all,” and “they” to give emphasis to a verb, but it's not required in a sentence. Technically you can form a sentence with just one verb, such as curro.
9. Latin Has 6 Verb Tenses
In Latin grammar there are six different verb tenses to indicate when the action is taking place.
The tenses are present tense, imperfect tense, future tense, perfect tense, pluperfect tense, and future perfect tense.
- Present tense – an action is currently happening
- I run.
- Imperfect tense – an action is repeatedly or currently happening in the past
- I was running.
- Future tense – an action that will happen at a future point in time.
- I will run.
- Perfect tense – an action that has been completed.
- I ran.
- Pluperfect tense – an action that has been completed at a time in the past.
- I had run.
- Future perfect tense – an action that will be completed at some point in the future.
- I will have run.
10. Latin Has Active And Passive Voice
Latin verbs also have two types of voice. The active voice indicates that the subject is completing the action, while the passive voice indicates that the subject is having the action done to it.
For example:
- Active voice – I pet the dog.
- Passive voice – The dog is pet.
In the active voice “I” as the subject is doing the action of petting. In the passive voice, “the dog” as the subject is passively receiving the action of being pet.
11. There Are Always Exceptions In Latin Grammar
While Latin is no exception to having grammar rules, there are several exceptions to Latin grammar.
As you continue to learn Latin grammar, there will certainly be things that may challenge the tips above.
There are irregular verbs that don't form the same way as your typical verbs. There are verbs that look passive but actually act like active verbs. The list goes on!
So keep in mind that these tips are not rules that are cemented and unchanging, there will always be exceptions. Embrace these exceptions and don't let Latin grammar (and the grammar villain) get you down!
FAQs About Latin Grammar
How difficult is Latin grammar?
Latin grammar is quite difficult. It has a complex system of noun cases, verb conjugations, and other grammatical structures that can be challenging to master, especially if your native language isn't an inflected language.
What are the 5 tenses of Latin?
In Latin grammar there are six different verb tenses to indicate when the action is taking place.
The tenses are present tense, imperfect tense, future tense, perfect tense, pluperfect tense, and future perfect tense.
1. Present tense – an action is currently happening – I run.
2. Imperfect tense – an action is repeatedly or currently happening in the past – I was running.
3. Future tense – an action that will happen at a future point in time – I will run.
4. Perfect tense – an action that has been completed – I ran.
5. Pluperfect tense – an action that has been completed before another time in the past – I had run.
6. Future perfect tense – an action that will have been completed before another point in the future – I will have run.
How do you structure a Latin sentence?
Something that's very different from English and even Romance languages that Latin is related to, is that there is no real word order requirement.
For example, in English, the typical word order of a simple sentence is Subject + Verb + Object. So the sentence “the boy throws the ball” and the sentence “the ball throws the boy” are very different based on the order of the words.
There are some patterns that Latin sentences tend to follow that will be important to recognise:
– Latin main verbs will be found at the end of a sentence or the end of a clause. Puella bonum cibum in mensa edet. (The girl eats the good food on the table.)
– Adjectives will be found with the noun they modify. Puella bonum cibum in mensa edet.
– Prepositions will come before the noun it pairs with in the prepositional phrase. Puella bonum cibum in mensa edet.
– Subjects and direct objects can be in any order. Both of the following sentences mean the same thing:
Puellabonum cibum in mensa edet.
Bonum cibumpuella in mensa edet.
Is Latin grammar logical?
Latin grammar is logical in its structure and consistency, especially in the use of inflections, cases, and verb conjugations.
It’s highly organised, but because it’s more complex than many modern languages, it can require a lot of practice to master the logic behind it.
Once you grasp the rules, however, the system works predictably and efficiently.
Basic Latin Grammar Tips To Get Started
While this is a helpful place to begin, keep in mind this is not an exhaustive list of Latin grammar tips.
There are many more aspects to Latin grammar and syntax that you have yet to unlock.
Take these insights to start your Latin journey and from here you have a solid foundational understanding of Latin grammar!
And if you're looking for a more natural way to learn Latin grammar, without memorising rules, then follow the rules of StoryLearning® and read Latin books.
Before you know it, you'll have internalised these Latin grammar rules and you'll be reading and using grammar like an ancient Roman!
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.
