MATSEC IM Latin flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

1st Declension Endings

Mostly feminine nouns with genitive singular -ae. Endings: -a, -ae, -ae, -am, -ā, -a (singular); -ae, -ārum, -īs, -ās, -īs, -ae (plural). Example: puella, puellae.

2nd Declension Masculine

Nouns in -us/-er (gen. -ī), mostly masculine. Endings: -us/-er, -ī, -ō, -um, -ō, -e (singular); -ī, -ōrum, -īs, -ōs, -īs, -ī (plural). Example: dominus, dominī.

2nd Declension Neuter

Nouns in -um (gen. -ī), neuter. Endings: -um, -ī, -ō, -um, -ō, -um (singular); -a, -ōrum, -īs, -a, -īs, -a (plural). Nominative and accusative are identical in each number.

3rd Declension Consonant Stem

Nouns with genitive singular -is and stem ending in a consonant. Endings: -, -is, -ī, -em, -e, - (singular); -ēs, -um, -ibus, -ēs, -ibus, -ēs (plural). Example: rēx, rēgis.

3rd Declension I-Stem

Nouns with genitive singular -is and stem ending in -i. Ablative singular -ī, genitive plural -ium, neuter nominative/accusative plural -ia. Example: cīvis, cīvis; mare, maris.

4th and 5th Declension

4th: gen. -ūs, mostly masculine (cornū neuter). 5th: gen. -ēī, mostly feminine (diēs masculine). Endings: 4th -us/-ū, -ūs, -uī, -um, -ū; 5th -ēs, -ēī, -ēī, -em, -ē.

Principal Parts of Verbs

Four forms: present indicative (amō), present infinitive (amāre), perfect indicative (amāvī), perfect passive participle (amātus). They give the three stems for all tense formations.

Present Stem Formation

Remove -re from the present infinitive: amāre → amā-. Used for present, imperfect, future (1st/2nd conjugation), and present subjunctive. Example: amō, amās, amat.

Perfect Stem Formation

Remove -ī from the third principal part: amāvī → amāv-. Used for perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect indicative and perfect/pluperfect subjunctive.

Passive Voice Formation

Present system: add passive endings (-r, -ris, -tur, -mur, -minī, -ntur) to present stem. Perfect system: perfect passive participle + forms of esse (amātus sum, eram, erō).

Deponent Verbs

Verbs passive in form but active in meaning (e.g. loquor, loquī, locūtus sum). They have only passive endings but can take direct objects and are translated actively.

Purpose Clause

Introduced by ut (positive) or nē (negative) + present/imperfect subjunctive. Expresses the purpose of the main verb. Example: venit ut vidēret (he came to see).

Result Clause

Introduced by ut (positive) or ut nōn (negative) + subjunctive, often with a correlative (tam, ita, tantus) in the main clause. Example: tam fessus erat ut dormīret.

Indirect Command

After verbs of ordering, urging, or requesting (imperō, rogō, moneō), use ut/nē + subjunctive. Example: imperāvit ut abīrent (he ordered them to leave).

Cum Clauses

Cum + subjunctive: circumstantial (when), causal (since), or concessive (although). Cum + indicative: temporal (when) or narrative cum. Distinguish by context.

Indirect Question

A question reported after a verb of asking, knowing, or perceiving, using a subjunctive verb and an interrogative word (quis, quid, ubi, cur, num). Example: rogāvit ubi essēs.

Conditional Sentences

Future more vivid: future indicative in both clauses. Present contrary-to-fact: imperfect subjunctive both clauses. Past contrary-to-fact: pluperfect subjunctive both clauses. Mixed conditions are possible.

Ablative Absolute

Noun/pronoun + participle (or adjective/noun) in ablative, grammatically independent. Translate with 'with', 'after', 'when', 'while', 'since', or 'because'. Example: urbe captā, cīvēs fūgērunt.

Indirect Statement

Accusative + infinitive after verbs of saying, thinking, or perceiving (dīcō, putō, sentiō). Infinitive tense shows time relative to main verb: present (same time), perfect (earlier), future (later).

Gerund vs Gerundive

Gerund: verbal noun (amandum, -ī, -ō, -um, -ō). Gerundive: future passive participle (amandus, -a, -um) expressing necessity or obligation, often in passive periphrastic (dēlenda est Carthāgō).

Supine

Verbal noun in -um (accusative, after verbs of motion: eō spectātum) or -ū (ablative, after adjectives: mirabile dictū). Rare but tested in set texts.

Dactylic Hexameter

Six feet: dactyl (–uu) or spondee (––), with the fifth foot usually dactyl and sixth spondee. Caesura often after the second or third foot. Used in epic (Virgil, Ovid's Metamorphoses).

Elegiac Couplet

Alternating dactylic hexameter and pentameter (two half-feet, two feet, caesura, two feet). Used by Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, Ovid (Amores, Tristia).

Hendecasyllable

Eleven-syllable line used by Catullus (e.g. Carmina 1). Pattern: – u – u u – u – u – – (with variations). Common in lyric and invective poetry.

Roman Comedy

Plautus and Terence wrote fabulae palliatae (Greek-style comedy) in the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE. Plautus: lively, farcical, musical; Terence: refined, psychological, less metrical variety.

Cicero's Speeches

Key works: In Catilinam (63 BCE), Pro Archia, Pro Milone, Philippics. Style: periodic sentences, rhetorical questions, tricolon, anaphora. Important for prose set text analysis.

Caesar's Commentaries

De Bello Gallico (7 books) and De Bello Civili (3 books). Third-person narrative, clear and concise style, indirect statement frequent. Historical and literary significance.

Virgil's Aeneid

Epic in 12 books, Augustan period. Themes: pietas, fatum, founding of Rome. Stylistic features: epithets, similes, Homeric allusion, dactylic hexameter. Central for set text study.

Ovid's Metamorphoses

15-book hexameter poem on transformations, Augustan period. Themes: love, change, divine caprice. Style: witty, rhetorical, narrative variety. Frequently set for translation and analysis.

Horace's Odes

Four books of lyric poetry in various metres (Alcaic, Sapphic, Asclepiad). Themes: love, wine, friendship, Roman values, carpe diem. Augustan period; important for scansion practice.

Catullus' Poetry

116 poems, late Republic. Themes: love (Lesbia), invective, friendship, grief. Metres include hendecasyllable, elegiac couplet, and polymetrics. Key for literary analysis.

Roman Historiography

Livy (Ab Urbe Condita), Sallust (Catiline, Jugurthine War), Tacitus (Annals, Histories). Features: speeches, moralising, dramatic narrative, stylistic variation between Republican and Silver Age authors.