MATSEC IM Latin cheat sheet
MATSEC IM Latin · Keep the key ideas within reach.
Latin Language and Literature (Intermediate Matriculation)
Noun declensions: 1st (a, ae), 2nd (us/er/um, i), 3rd (various, is), 4th (us, us), 5th (es, ei); gender and case endings must be memorised for accurate translation.
Verb conjugations: four principal parts (amo, amare, amavi, amatus); present stem from infinitive minus -re; perfect stem from 3rd principal part minus -i; supine stem from 4th minus -u.
Cases and functions: nominative (subject), genitive (possession), dative (indirect object), accusative (direct object, motion towards), ablative (means, manner, separation), vocative (address).
Subjunctive uses: purpose (ut/ne + subjunctive), result (ut/ut non), indirect command, cum clauses (circumstantial, causal, concessive), indirect questions, and conditionals (present contrary-to-fact: imperfect subjunctive; past contrary-to-fact: pluperfect subjunctive).
Ablative absolute: noun/pronoun + participle in ablative, grammatically independent of main clause; translate as 'with/after/when/while/since' clause.
Indirect statement: accusative + infinitive after verbs of saying, thinking, perceiving; tense of infinitive reflects time relative to main verb (present, perfect, future).
Literary periods: Republican (Plautus, Terence, Catullus, Cicero, Caesar, Lucretius), Augustan (Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Livy), Silver Age (Seneca, Lucan, Martial, Juvenal, Tacitus).
Scansion basics: dactylic hexameter (six feet: dactyl –uu or spondee ––), elegiac couplet (hexameter + pentameter), hendecasyllable; identify feet by syllable quantity (long by nature or position).