Latin has two major categories of adjectives. You are already quite familiar with those having first and second declension forms like magnus, -a, -um (Ch. 4) and the small sub-category of first/second declension adjectives that have -īus in the genitive singular and -ī in the dative singular (Ch. 9).
Adjectives of the second major group generally have third declension i-stem forms and are declined exactly like i-stem nouns of the third declension, except that the ablative singular of all genders (not just the neuter) ends with -ī.
Adjectives of this group fall into three categories that differ from each other in simply one respect. Some, called “adjectives of three endings,” have distinct forms of the nominative singular that differentiate each of the three genders, just as magnus, magna, and magnum do (e.g., ācer M., ācris F., and ācre N.); those of “two endings” (the largest category of third declension adjectives) have a single nominative form for both masculine and feminine, and another for the neuter (e.g., fortis M. and F., forte N.); and those of “one ending” do not differentiate the genders at all in the nominative singular (e.g., potēns is the M., F., and N. nom. sg. form). In all other respects the adjectives of all three categories are the same, with the masculine and feminine endings differing from the neuters only in the accusative singular and the nominative (= vocative) and accusative plural.
Paradigms are given below, with the distinctive i-stem endings in bold; the nouns cīvis and mare are provided for comparison (review Ch. 14, if necessary) and to show that there is very little new to be learned in order to master third declension adjectives.
Note carefully the places in which the characteristic i appears,2 as indicated in the paradigms:
(1)-ī in the ablative singular of all genders.
(2)-ium in the genitive plural of all genders.
(3)-ia in the nominative and accusative plural of the neuter.
Note also that an adjective of the third declension can be used with a noun of any declension just as an adjective of the first and the second declensions can. In the following illustrations omnis, -e, every, all, is used as the example of an adjective of two endings.
| omnis amīcus or homō | ācer amīcus/homō | potēns amīcus/homō |
| omnis rēgīna or māter | ācris rēgīna/māter | potēns rēgīna/māter |
| omne bellum or animal | ācre bellum/animal | potēns bellum/animal |
For the sake of practice, study and analyze the forms in the following phrases:
| omnī formae | in omnī fōrmā | omnium formārum |
| omnī animō | in omnī animō | omnium animōrum |
| omnī hominī | in omnī homine | omnium hominum |
| omnī urbī | in omnī urbe | omnium urbium |
| omnī marī | in omnī marī | omnium marium |
The vocabulary entries for adjectives of three endings (-er words like ācer, some of which retain the -e- in the base, some of which drop it) and two endings (of the -is/-e variety) list the different nominative endings; the base can be determined from the feminine or neuter form. For adjectives of one ending (many of these end in -ns or -x) the genitive is provided so that you can determine the base (by dropping the -is ending, e.g., potēns, potent-is).
Third declension adjectives function in the same ways as other adjectives: they modify nouns (omnēs agricolae, all the farmers, sometimes called the “attributive” use); they can serve as “predicate nominatives” (virī erant ācrēs, the men were fierce) or “objective complements” (virtūs fēcit virōs fortēs, virtue made the men brave); they can take the place of nouns (fortūnafortēs adiuvat, fortune helps the brave, sometimes called the “substantive” use). Remember, too, that attributive adjectives usually follow the nouns they modify, except those that denote size or quantity, demonstratives, and any that are meant to be emphasized.
aétās, aet
tis, f., period of life, life, age, an age, time (eternal, eternity) audtor, audīt
ris, m., hearer, listener, member of an audience (auditor, auditory, auditorium; cp. audiō)
clēméntia, -ae, f., mildness, gentleness, mercy (clement, clemency, inclement, Clement, Clementine)
mēns, méntis, f., mind, thought, intention (mental, mentality, mention, demented; Minerva [?]; cp. mind)
sátura, -ae, f., satire (satirist, satirical, satirize)
cer, cris, cre, sharp, keen, eager; severe, fierce (acrid, acrimony, acrimonious, eager, vinegar)
brévis, bréve, short, small, brief (brevity, breviary, abbreviate, abridge)
céler, céleris, célere, swift, quick, rapid (celerity, accelerate)
diffícilis, diffícile, hard, difficult, troublesome (difficulty)
dúlcis, dúlce, sweet; pleasant, agreeable (dulcify, dulcet, dulcimer)
fácilis, fácile, easy, agreeable (facile, facility, facilitate; cp. faciō)
fórtis, fórte, strong, brave (fort, forte, fortify, fortitude, force, comfort)
íngēns, gen. ingéntis, huge
iūcúndus, -a, -um, pleasant, delightful, agreeable, pleasing (jocund)
lóngus, -a, -um, long (longitude, longevity, elongate, oblong, prolong; Eng. “long” is cognate.)
ómnis, ómne, every, all (omnibus, bus, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, omnivorous; cp. omnīnō, Ch. 40)
pótēns, gen. poténtis, pres. part. of possum as an adj., able, powerful, mighty, strong (potent, impotent, omnipotent, potentate, potential)
sénex, gen. sénis, adj. and noun, old, aged; old man (senate, senator, senescent, senile, senior, seniority, sir, sire)
quam, adv., how
régō, régere, r
xī, rctum, to rule, guide, direct (regent, regime, regiment, regular, regulate, correct, direction, rectitude; cp. rēx, rēgīna)
Fortēs virī et fēminae ante aetātem nostram vīvēbant.
Eōs centum senēs miserōs ab Italiā trāns maria difficilia herī mittēbat.
Illī duo virī omnēs cupiditātēs ex sē ēiēcērunt, nam nātūram corporis timuērunt.
Potēns rēgīna, quoniam sē dīlēxit, istōs trēs vītāvit et sē cum eīs numquam iūnxit.
Itaque inter eōs ibi stābam et signum cum animō fortī diū exspectābam.
Celer rūmor per ōra aurēsque omnium sine morā currēbat.
Vīs bellī acerbī autem vītam eius paucīs hōrīs mūtāvit.
Quīnque ex nautīs sē ex aquā trāxērunt sēque Caesarī potentī commīsērunt.
Caesar nōn poterat suās cōpiās cum celeribus cōpiīs rēgis iungere.
Themistoclēs omnēs cīvēs ōlim appellābat et nōmina eōrum ācrī memoriā tenēbat.
In caelō sunt multae nūbēs et animālia agricolae tempestāte malā nōn valent.
The father and mother often used to come to the city with their two sweet daughters.
The souls of brave men and women will never fear difficult times.
Does he now understand all the rights of these four men?
The doctor could not help the brave girl, for death was swift.
Quam dulcis est libertās! (Phaedrus.)
Labor omnia vīcit. (*Virgil.)
Fortūna fortēs adiuvat. (Terence.)
Quam celeris et ācris est mēns! (Cicero.)
Polyphēmus erat mōnstrum horrendum, īnforme, ingēns. (Virgil.—mōnstrum, -ī.—horrendus, -a, -um.—īnfōrmis, -e, formless, hideous.)
Varium et mūtābile semper fēmina. (*Virgil.—Order: femina semper [est] varium et mūtābile.—varius, -a, -um, varying, fickle.—mūtābilis, -e, changeable; the neuters varium and mūtābile are used to mean “a fickle and changeable thing.”)
Facile est epigrammata belle scrībere, sed librum scrībere difficile est. (*Martial.—epigramma, -matis, n., short poem, epigram.—belle, adv. from bellus, -a, -um.)
Īra furor brevis est; animum rege. (*Horace.—furor, -rōris, madness.)
Ars poētica est nōn omnia dīcere. (*Servius.—poēticus, -a, -um.)
Nihil est ab omnī parte beātum. (*Horace.)
Liber meus hominēs prūdentī cōnsiliō alit. (Phaedrus.—prūdēns, gen. prūdentis.)
Māter omnium bonārum artium sapientia est. (*Cicero.)
Clēmentia rēgem salvum facit; nam amor omnium cīvium est inexpugnābile mūnīmentum rēgis. (Seneca.—inexpugnābilis, -e, impregnable.—mūnīmentum, -ī, fortification, defense.)
Vīta est brevis; ars, longa. (Hippocrates, quoted by Seneca.)
Breve tempus aetātis autem satis longum est ad bene vīvendum. (Cicero.—vīvendum, living, verbal noun obj. of ad, for.)
Vīvit et vīvet per omnium saeculōrum memoriam. (*Velleius Paterculus.—saeculum, -ī, century, age.)
Semper ego audītor erō? Est turba poētārum in hāc urbe—ego igitur erō poēta! Sunt mīlia vitiōrum in urbe—dē istīs vitiīs scrībam! Difficile est saturam nōn scrībere. Sī nātūra mē adiuvāre nōn potest, facit indignātiō versum. In librō meō erunt omnia facta hominum—timor, īra, voluptās, culpa, cupiditās, īnsidiae. Nunc est plēna cōpia vitiōrum in hāc miserā urbe Rōmae!
(Juvenal, Saturae 1.1ff; prose adaptation from the opening of Juvenal’s programmatic first satire.—indignātiō,-ōnis.—versus, verse, poetry.)
Difficilis facilis, iūcundus acerbus—es īdem:
nec tēcum possum vīvere nec sine tē.
(*Martial, 12.46; meter: elegiac couplet.)
5. monstrous.—horrendous.—informal, inform (adj. with neg. prefix in-) 6. variety, variegated, vary, unvaried, invariable. 8. furor. 11. prūdēns, syncopated form of prōvidēns as seen in “providence,” “providential.” “Juvenal”: indignation, indignant.—verse, versify, versification.
Salvēte! Quid agitis? Quid hodiē est tempestās? Here are some possible answers, many of which you can again recognize from Eng. derivatives: frīgida (tempestās is fem., as you recall from Ch. 15, hence the fem. adj., from frigidus, -a, -um); calida (Eng. “scald” is a derivative); nimbōsa (from nimbus, which means the same as nībēs, + the common suffix -ōsus, -a, -um, full of, hence “cloudy”—cp. Eng. “cumulonimbus clouds”); ventōsa (an identical formation from ventus, wind); sōl lūcet, the sun is shining (cp. “solar,” “translucent”); pluit, it’s raining (“pluvial,” “pluviometer”); ningit, it’s snowing (Eng. “niveous” from Lat. niveus, -a, -um is related).
Well, enough of the weather. Here’s an omnibus of omni- words and phrases to delight you all: If you were “omnific” (from facere) and “omnipresent” (-sent from sum) and your appetite “omnivorous” (vorāre, to eat, cp. “carnivorous,” “herbivorous”) and your sight were “omnidirectional” (see regō in the Vocab. above), then you might potentially be “omnipotent” and even “omniscient” (scīre, to know). But as a proverbial saying from Virgil reminds us, nōn omnēs possumus omnia. (By the way regō, mentioned above, does NOT mean to go again nor should regit be translated leave, and this time I mean it!)
Valēte, omnēs amīcī et amīcae meae, et semper amāte Latīnam!