A Practical Grammar of the Latin Language/Lesson 8

by G. J. Adler

Of the Fifth Declension.

• A. Nouns of the fifth declension have their genitive in eī and the nominative in ēs. The fifth declension differs but slightly from the third, and is a mere modification of it. Diēs, m. & f., the day, rēs, f., a thing, and speciēs, f., the appearance, are thus inflected:—

Nom.	diēs	rēs	speciēs
Gen.	diēī	reī1	speciēī
Dat.	diēī	reī	speciēī
Acc.	diem	rem	speciem
Voc.	diēs	rē	speciēs
Abl.	diē.	rē.	speciē.

So decline aciēs, f., the edge or point; faciēs, f., the face; effigiēs, f., the image, effigy; merīdiēs, m., midday, noon; spēs, f., hope; seriēs, f., the series.

Remark.—The e of the ablative of the fifth declension is always long.

• B. Obs. Nouns of this declension are feminine, with the exception of diēs, which in the singular is generally masculine and sometimes feminine,² but in the plural always masculine. Its compound, merīdiēs, is masculine, and used in the singular only.

The cork.	*Embolus, ī, m.
The corkscrew.	*Instrumentum3 (ī, n.) embolis extrahendis.
The umbrella.	*Mūnimentum (ī, n.) capitis pluviāle; umbrāculum,4 ī, n.
The boy.	Puer, erī, m.
The Frenchman.	*Francogallus, ī, m.
The carpenter.	Faber (rī, m.) tignārius.
The hammer.	Malleus, ī, m.
The iron.	Ferrum, ī, n.
Of iron, iron.	Ferreus, a, um.
The nail.	Clāvus, ī, m.
The pencil.	*Stilus cerussātus, ī, m.
The thimble.	Mūnimentum (ī, n.) digitī.
The coffee.	Coffēa, ae, f.
The honey.	Mel, gen. mellis, n.
The (sea) biscuit.	Pānis nauticus (castrēnsis).
The sweet biscuit.	Pānis dulciārius, m.
	Buccellātum, ī, n.

Have I?	Habeōne? Ecquid ego habeō?
	An (ego) habeō? Estne mihi?
You have.	Habēs. Tenēs. Tibi est.
What have I?	Quid (ego) habeō (teneō)?
	Quid est mihi?
You have the carpenter's hammer.	Malleum fabrī tignāriī habēs (tenēs).
	Est tibi malleus fabrī tignāriī.
Have I the nail?	Habeōne clāvum?
	Estne mihi clāvus?
You have it.	Habēs. Est.
Have I (the) biscuit?	An ego habeō pānem castrēnsem (nauticum)?
	Estne mihi pānis (ille) castrēnsis?
You have it.	Habēs. Tibi est.

I am right (correct).	Vērē (rēctē) loquor.
I am wrong (incorrect).	Errō.
You are correct, wrong.	Rēctē loqueris, errās.
I am right (i.e. morally in doing so).	Est mihi fās.
I am wrong (morally in doing so).	Est mihi nefās.5
Am I right (i.e. correct) or wrong?	Rēctēne loquor an errō?
You are neither right nor wrong.	Neque rēctē loqueris, neque errās.
Am I right (correct)?	Loquorne rēctē?
You are correct.	Vērē (rēctē) loqueris.
Am I right (correct)?	Num loquor vērē?
No, you are wrong.	Immo vērō6 errās.
Am I right (morally)?	Estne mihi fās?
Is it right for me?
It is wrong.	Est tibi nefās.
Which biscuit have I?	Quod buccellātum habeō?
You have that of my brother.	Frātris meī buccellātum habēs.

Exercise 7.

See the answers here.

1. Which dog have you? — I have neither the baker's dog nor that of my friend.
2. Are you sleepy? — I am not sleepy.
3. I am hungry. — You are not hungry.
4. Am I thirsty? — You are not thirsty.
5. Have I the cork? — No, sir, you have it not.
6. Have I the carpenter's wood? — You have it not.
7. Have I the Frenchman's good umbrella? — You have it.
8. Have I the carpenter's iron nails or yours? — You have mine. — You have neither the carpenter's nor mine.
9. Which pencil have I? — You have that of the Frenchman.
10. Have I your thimble or that of the tailor? — You have neither mine nor that of the tailor.
11. Which umbrella have I? — You have my good umbrella.
12. Have I the Frenchman's good honey? — You have it not.
13. Which biscuit have I? — You have that of my good neighbor.
14. Have you my coffee or that of my boy? — I have that of your good boy.
15. Have you your cork or mine? — I have neither yours nor mine.
16. What have you? — I have my good brother's good pencil.
17. Am I right (correct)? — You are right (correct).
18. Am I wrong (morally)? — You are wrong. — You are not wrong.
19. Am I right or wrong? — You are neither right nor wrong.
20. Am I hungry? — You are hungry.
21. You are not sleepy. — You are neither hungry nor thirsty.
22. What have I good? — You have neither the good coffee nor the good sugar.
23. What have I? — You have nothing.
24. What have you? — I have something beautiful.

Footnotes.

¹ The e of the genitive and dative is long when a vowel precedes, but short after a consonant, e.g. aciēī, faciēī, &c., but speī, reī, fideī, &c.
² It is feminine when it denotes, 1) duration of time, e.g. diem perexiguam, integram, (for) a very short day, an entire day; 2) an appointed day, e.g. certā (cōnstitūtā, dictā, &c.) diē, on the appointed day.
³ The Ancients having no term for such an instrument, it must be expressed by circumlocution. On the dative embolīs extrahendīs, "for extracting corks," compare Lesson XXV., Obs.—The same remark applies to mūnimentum capitis pluviāle (where pluviāle is an adjective in e), to mūnimentum digitī, and to a host of other names of modern objects. In all the cases, we can only approximate by description.
⁴ The word umbrāculum (from umbra, shade) was used by the Ancients in the sense of our "parasol."
⁵ The expressions vērē or rēctē loquor and errō have reference to language or opinions simply; whereas fās and nefās involve the moral distinction of right and wrong in action or in speech. The latter phrases are often followed by an infinitive, as, Estne mihi fās (or licetne mihi) hoc facere? Is it right for me to do so? Am I right in doing so? Illud dīcēre tibi nefās est, It is wrong for you to say so, You are wrong in saying so. Fās and nefās are both indeclinable, like nihil.
⁶ Immo vērō corresponds to the English "nay, rather," "nay, on the contrary."