It is the province of the part of Grammar called Accidence to tell us what are the Inflexions of a word. It is the province of the part called Syntax to tell us how and when to use them.
The different inflexions that a Noun can take are called its Declensions, and to give the inflexions of a Noun is to Decline it. The different inflexions that a Verb can take are called its Conjugations, and to give the inflexions of a Verb is to Conjugate it.
§ 13. Inflexion of Nouns.—Nouns belong to different Genders; and their inflexions denote differences of Number and Case.
§ 14. Number.—There are two Numbers, the Singular (Sing.) used in speaking of one, the Plural (Plur.) used in speaking of more than one.
§ 15. Gender.—Gender is the Class (gĕnŭs) to which a Noun belongs. There are three Genders—Masculine (Masc. or M.), Feminine (Fem. or F.), and Neuter (Neut. or N.). The names of male persons are Masculine, the names of female persons are Feminine, the names of things may be either Masculine, Feminine, or Neuter. Words which can be used both as Masculine and as Feminine are said to be Common.
The Gender of Nouns is shown by the Termination of the Adjectives which go with them. Thus in mōns altŭs a high mountain, the -ŭs in alt-ŭs shows us that mōns is masc. ; in dŏmŭs altă a high house, the -ă shows us dŏmŭs is fem.
§ 16. Cases.—Cases are used to show the relations of Nouns to other words in the sentence.
There are Seven Cases in Latin, of which one, the Locative, is rarely used. The following are their chief usages:
The Nominative (Nom., N.) shows the person or thing spoken of, the subject of the sentence.
Vocative (Voc., V.) shows the person or thing addressed.
