Functions and Uses of the Cases

NOMINATIVUS:

• I. Subject of the sentence or clause. e.g. Iulius ad villam suam venit. (Iulius comes to his house.); Aemilia, quae femina pulchra est, ridet. (Aemilia, who is a beautiful woman, laughs.)
  
• II. Complement (predicate nominative) to the subject with a state of being verb (copulative verb). e.g. Marcus filius improbus est. (Marcus is a wicked son.)

ACCUSATIVUS:

• I. Direct object of a transitive/active verbs. e.g. Marcus Quintum pulsat. (Marcus hits Quintus.) Quintus, quem Marcus pulsat, probus est. (Quintus, whom Marcus hits, is morally upright.)
  
• II. Object of some prepositions: e.g. inter, prope, ante, post, etc.. e.g. Medus prope Romam est. (Medus is near Rome.)
  
• III. Subject of an infinitive in Indirect Speech (set up by a verb or participle of thinking, saying, or feeling). e.g. Marcus Iuliam puellam stultam esse putat. (Marcus thinks that Iulia is a stupid girl.)
  
• IV. ACCUSATIVE of END of MOTION: Expresses motion towards with or without a preposition. e.g. Medus Romam it. (Medus goes to Rome.)
  
• V. ACCUSATIVE of EXTENT: denotes the amount of SPACE or TIME across which an action is carried. e.g. Iulius duas horas ad Marcum clamavit. (Iulius yelled at Marcus for two hours.) Iulius decem millia graduum in viå Latinå ambulåvit. (Iulius walked on the Latin way for ten thousand of paces.)
  
• VI. ACCUSATIVE of EXCLAMATION: used in exclamations. e.g. me miserum! (Miserable me!)
  
• VII. ACCUSATIVE of RESPECT: the "Greek Accusative," denotes in respect to what (usually a body part) an adjective, passive, or intransitive form applies. e.g. Marcus pedem aeger est. (Marcus is sick with respect to the foot.) Sextus frontem pulsatus est. (Sextus was struck in the forehead [with respect to the forehead].)

GENITIVUS: in most instances can be loosely translated with: "of."

• I. Shows possession. e.g. Filia Iulii laeta est. (The daughter of Iulius is happy.) Iulius, cuius filia Iulia est, quoque pater Marci est. (Iulius, whose daughter is Iulia, is also the father of Marcus.)
  
• II. Object of some verbs and adjectives. e.g. Iulius Marci obliviscitur. (Iulius forgets Marcus. [or] Iulius is forgetful of Marcus.) Marcus similis Titi est. (Marcus is like Titus.)
  
• III. OBJECTIVE GENITIVE: modifies a noun of verbal meaning, as if it were the object of the verbal idea implied in the noun. e.g. Marcus metum Magistri non habet. (Marcus does not have a fear of the Magister.)
  
• IV. GENITIVE of MATERIAL: describes content or material. e.g. Numerus nummorum quattuor est. (The number of coins is four.) Anulus Lydiae auri est. (The ring of Lydia is of gold.)
  
• V. PARTITIVE GENITIVE: specifies the group of which the limited word is a part. e.g. Aliquis puerorum malum Marci cepit. (Someone of the boys took the apple of Marcus. "someone" is a part of the "boys.") Quid rationis Marcus habet? (What of a reason does Marcus have.)
  
• VI. GENITIVE of DESCRIPTION: typically a genitive noun modified by an adjective which describes another noun. e.g. Aemilia femina summae pudicitiae est. (Aemilia is a woman of the highest chastity.)
  
• VII. GENITIVE of VALUE: denotes how much a thing is worth. e.g. Villa Iulii magni pretii est. (The country estate of Julius is of a great price.) Marcus Diodorum non pili esse cogitat. (Marcus thinks that Diodorus is not worth a hair.)

DATIVUS: in most instances can be loosely translated with: "to," or "for."

• I. Indirect object of verbs such as do, dare. e.g. Aemilia Iulio osculum dat. (Aemilia gives a kiss to Iulius.)
  
• II. Object of some verbs such as impero and pareo. e.g. Marcus Iulio paret. (Marcus obeys Iulius.)
  
• III. DATIVE of ADVANTAGE: expresses for whose benefit a thing exists or is done. e.g. Brutus Caesarem populo Romae necat. (Brutus is killing Caesar for the people of Rome.) Aemilia, cui Iulius ornamentum emit, laeta est. (Aemilia, for whom Iulius buys the ornament, is happy.)
  
• IV. DATIVE of DISADVANTAGE: expresses for whose harm a thing exists or is done. e.g. Fur domino eorum tres servos necavit. (The thief killed three slaves to the harm of the master of them.)
  
• V. DATIVE of POSSESSION: a noun in the dative made possessive when the subject noun is paired with a form of esse in its clause. e.g. Marco pater pecuniosus est. (Marcus has a rich father. [or] For Marcus there is a rich father.) Puer, cui nomen Marcus est, ad ludum it. (The boy, whose name is Marcus, goes to school. [or] The boy, for whom there is the name Marcus, goes to school.)
  
• VI. DATIVE of INTEREST: indicates for whom (or from whose perspective) a statement is true. e.g. Marco mentiri bonus mos est. (To lie is a good habit to Marcus [as far as Marcus is concerned].)
  
• VII. DATIVE of PURPOSE: denotes the purpose for which something serves. Frequently found with the dative of interest in the Double Dative construction. e.g. Stylus Marco telo erat. (The stylus was as a weapon [purpose] for Marcus [interest].)

ABLATIVUS: in most instances can be loosely translated with: "by," "with," "in," or "from."

• I. Object of some prepositions: e.g. cum, sine, ex, etc.. e.g. Iulius cum Marco est. (Julius is with Marcus.)
  
• II. ABLATIVE of AGENT: with passive verbs and typically preceded by "a" or "ab," expresses by whom the action of the passive verb was accomplished. e.g. Iulius a Marco pulsatur. (Iulius is hit by Marcus.) Nota bene: Marco is not the subject of the passive verb pulsatur.
  
• III. ABLATIVE of MEANS: with both active and passive verbs, expresses the means (or tool) by which an action was accomplished. e.g. Iulius Medum baculo pulsat. (Iulius hits Medus with a stick.)
  
• IV. ABLATIVE ABSOLUTE: usually a noun being modified by a participle, both in the ablative case and somewhat separated grammatically (absolutum) from the main thought of the sentence. Sole oriente, Marcus ad ludum it. (With the sun rising, Marcus goes to school.)
  
• V. ABLATIVE of MANNER: expresses the manner in which the action of the verb is carries out. e.g. Iulius Marcum magna ira verberat. (Iulius beats Marcus with great rage.)
  
• VI. ABLATIVE of DESCRIPTION: typically an ablative noun modified by an adjective which together describe another noun. e.g. Marcus puer improbo mente est. (Marcus is a boy with a wicked mind.)
  
• VII. ABLATIVE of PRICE: Gives the price for which a thing was bought or sold. e.g. Medus anulum aureum nonaginta sestertiis emit. (Medus buys a golden ring for ninety sesterces.)
  
• VIII. ABLATIVE of PLACE WHERE: indicates where the action takes place. e.g. Tusculo urbe ludus Marci est. (In Tusculum city is the school of Marcus.)
  
• IX. ABLATIVE of PLACE from WHICH: with a verb of motion indicates the origin of motion from which the subject travels, often with ab, de, or ex. e.g. Medus Roma Tusculum it. (Medus goes from Rome to Tusculum.)
  
• X. ABLATIVE of TIME within WHICH: indicates during what time the action takes place. e.g. Nona hora Marcus a ludo rediit. (At the ninth hour, Marcus returns from school.)
  
• XI. ABLATIVE of COMPARISON: found with comparative constructions to give a point of reference. e.g. Marcus pigrior Quinto est. (Marcus is lazier than Quintus.)
  
• XII. ABLATIVE of RESPECT: explains in respect to what factor an assertion holds true. e.g. Marcus moribus improbus est. (Marcus is wicked in respect to habits.)

VOCATIVUS:

• I. Used whenever speaking directly to another person; typically found with 2nd person verbs, specifically imperatives. e.g. Aemilia vocat: "Marce, veni!" (Aemilia calls: "Marcus, come!") The vocative is morphologically identical to the nominative, except in the 2nd declension singular masculine in which the [­us] ending becomes [­e] as in Marcus --> Marce. Nouns ending in [­i-us] become [-i] as in Iulius --> Iuli.

[LOCATIVUS]:

• I. Is morphologically identical to the genetive in the singular (to ablative when plural) and denotes the locus: the place where. Iulius Tusculi in villa habitat. (Iulius lives in a villa at Tusculum.) Locative forms exist only for the names of cities and islands with these exceptions: domi (domus), humi (humus), and ruri or rure (rus), militiae (militia), belli (bellum), and animi (animus).

NOTA BENE: all of the cases can stand as apposatives to other words in a sentence. e.g. Marcus, improbus puer, Quintum pulsat. (Marcus, a wicked boy, hits Quintus.) [puer is apposative to Marcus] Quintus a Marco, puero improbo, pulsatur. (Quintus is hit by Marcus, a wicked boy.) [puero is apposative to Marco].

Liber Grammaticus Latinus /\\||\\/ Classis Latina MIII Pagina Villae