IRREGULAR NOUNS • GENDER
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LESSON XLIV
IRREGULAR NOUNS OF THE THIRD DECLENSION • GENDER IN THE THIRD DECLENSION
246.
PARADIGMS
vīs, f., force | iter, n., march | |
Stems | vī- and vīri- | iter- and itiner- |
---|---|---|
Bases | v- and vīr- | iter- and itiner- |
Singular |
||
Nom. | vīs | iter |
Gen. | vīs (rare) | itineris |
Dat. | vī (rare) | itinerī |
Acc. | vim | iter |
Abl. | vī | itinere |
Plural |
||
Nom. | vīrēs | itinera |
Gen. | vīrium | itinerum |
Dat. | vīribus | itineribus |
Acc. | vīrīs, or -ēs | itinera |
Abl. | vīribus | itineribus |
247. There are no rules for gender in the third declension that do not present numerous exceptions.[1] The following rules, however, are of great service, and should be thoroughly mastered:
- Masculine are nouns in -or, -ōs, -er, -ĕs (gen. -itis).
a. arbor, tree, is feminine; and iter, march, is neuter.
2. Feminine are nouns in -ō, -is, -x, and I. -s preceded by a consonant or by any long vowel but ō.
a. Masculine are collis (hill), lapis, mēnsis (month), ōrdō, pēs, and nouns in -nis and -guis—as ignis, sanguis (blood)—and the four monosyllables
dēns, a tooth |
3. Neuters are nouns in -e, -al, -ar, -n, -ur, -ŭs, and caput.
- ↑ Review § 60. Words denoting males are, of course, masculine, and those denoting females, feminine.