Download Latin I Concept Building TRANSPARENCY

Nominative and Accusative Case
What is Case?
Inflection is the change in the form of a word to show how it
functions. “Case” is the way in which nouns, adjectives, pronouns
and proper nouns inflect. This inflection usually takes place in the
ending of the word; sometimes, however the entire word changes.
IN ENGLISH:
The order of words signals the functions of the nouns and therefore
shows the meaning of the whole sentence.
The girl loves the boy.
(The girl loves, the boy is loved)
The boy loves the girl.
(The boy loves, the girl is loved)
BUT IN LATIN:
The order of words rarely signals the function of nouns – the
different endings of the words (i.e. cases for nouns, personal
endings for verbs) signal the function of nouns.
puella puerum amat.
Girl
boy
loves
(“The girl loves the boy”)
puerum puella amat.
Boy
girl
loves
(“The girl loves the boy”)
puerum puella amat.
Boy
girl
loves
(“The girl loves the boy”)
*Notice how in all three of the above examples, the Latin word
order changed but the English translation remained the same. That
is because Latin word order does NOT, by itself, determine
meaning. The inflections of the nouns puella and puer and the
verb amō created the sentence’s meaning.
 Puella is nominative singular and the subject.
 puerum is accusative s. and the direct object
 amat is 3rd person s., hence “(she) loves” with puella.
i
Nominative and Accusative Case
Nominative Case is used for:
Subject – the person/thing that performs the action of the verb. In
other words, the “doer” or “actor” in a sentence.
*To find the subject of a sentence, find the verb first; then ask
who? or what? before the verb – this will identify the subject.
puella puerum amat. Who is the subject? Why?
puer puellam amat. Who is the subject?
puerum puella amat. Who is the subject?
Nominative Case is also used for:
Predicate – the word (noun, pronoun, adjective) that renames or
defines the subject of the sentence. The predicate is connected to
the subject by a linking verb (in English: "to be,” “to seem,” “to
become,” “to appear”).
*You might think of the linking verb “to be” as an equal sign.
“Marcus is my friend” >>>> “Marcus = my friend.”
Marcus est meus amīcus. Which word is the predicate?
Gallia est pōvincia. Which word is the predicate?
the subject?
Which
Marcus est poēta sed linguam nōn amat. Which word is
the subject? The direct object? What about the fact that there
are two nominative singular words?
ii
Nominative and Accusative Case
Accusative Case is used for:
Direct Object – the person/thing that receives the verb’s action
directly. In other words, the “receiver,” or the person/thing acted
upon by the subject.
NOTE: When a preposition (e.g. “to, for”) separates the verb from
the word receiving the verb’s action, the receiver is then called the
Indirect Object because this word receives the action indirectly.
*To find the direct object, find the verb first and ask the question
what? or whom? directly after the verb – this will identify the
direct object.
magister discipulōs et discipulās laudat. What words are
accusative? Why?
puellae nātūram amant. Where is the direct object here?
puellae fēmina nōn est. Is there a direct object here?
puellae aquam bibunt. Now what about this sentence?
Place to Which – the person/thing that is an object of certain
prepositions that indicate direction, such as “into, onto, against, to,
towards, etc.”
Ambulāmus ad vīllam magnam in īnsulā.
In vīllā magnā, fēminae multae aquam portant.
What words in the sentences above are accusative? Why?
puerī aquam ad vīllam portant. What is the difference
between the accusatives aquam and vīllam? Which one is
accusative because of the verb? Which one because of the
preposition ad?
iii
Nominative and Accusative Case
Practice Sentences:
1. agricola patriam laudat.
2. agricola et poēta patriam laudant.
3. fēminae poētam spectant.
4. fēminae poētam spectant sed poēta fēminās nōn amat.
5. puella ad silvam ambulat.
6. in Ītaliā vīta dūra est.
7. nautae ad īnsulam navigant.
8. nautae in īnsulā sunt.
9. īnsula prōvincia est.
10. sunt multae litterae in linguā.
iv