Latin Cases Explained: An Easy Beginner-Friendly Guide
The case system is a critical part of Latin grammar, but it can be confusing for beginners. This post explains all the Latin cases and their uses – with examples.
In linguistics, the term case refers to an inflectional form of a noun, adjective, or pronoun. To put things more simply: cases are the different possible forms that Latin nouns, adjectives, and pronouns can take.
Each Latin case has a variety of functions, and if I listed all of them this post would never end. Neither of us wants that! So here I will focus on the most important uses of each case.
I will focus on what you need to know now, as you are beginning to explore Latin. Simple and to the point – no confusing jargon or grammatical hair-splitting.
I also link to my posts on each specific Latin case, where you can find more information, explanations, and examples.
Let’s get started with an essential preliminary question: What are cases, anyway?
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What are cases?
Cases are different forms that a noun, an adjective, or a pronoun can take.
In Latin (and in many other languages), nouns change their endings based on their role in a sentence. These different endings signal different cases.
In other words, nouns have multiple possible endings, and each ending correlates to a case. That’s why we call such endings case endings.
The following chart shows the case endings for first declension Latin nouns.
| Case | SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | a | ae |
| Genitive | ae | ārum |
| Dative | ae | īs |
| Accusative | am | ās |
| Ablative | ā | īs |
Isolating the case endings is helpful for Latin students, but it is important to note that you will never see a case ending on its own “in the wild”.
Case endings are always attached to a noun’s stem or base. So, for instance, the noun terra “earth” declined would be: terra, terrae, terrae, terram, terrā; terrae, terrārum, terrīs, terrās, terrīs.
When you look at a Latin noun, you have to decide what case it is in. It isn’t enough just to understand the basic meaning of a word: you also need to figure out what it is doing in the sentence!
👉 Want to know more? Read my introduction to declension for a full discussion of terms like “declension”, “decline”, “case”, and “number”.
English used to have case endings, but they have mostly disappeared. Our surviving cases are most visible in pronouns.
| English Pronoun | English Case |
|---|---|
| they | nominative / subjective |
| their | genitive / possessive |
| them | objective |
You say “they see the cat”, but “the cat sees them.” English speakers instinctively know that “the cat sees they” is wrong.
Why? It’s not the right case.
The Latin case system is more highly developed. But the principle is the same as “they”, “their”, and “them.”
For the sake of simplicity, the examples in this post will focus on Latin nouns. But remember, Latin adjectives have cases, too, and so do Latin pronouns!
As you read, bear in mind that you can apply all of these principles to adjectives and pronouns. Cases work in the same way and have the same usages regardless of the part of speech.
(If you can’t remember what nouns, adjectives, and pronouns are, no worries. Review Grammarly’s guide to the parts of speech!)
What are the cases in Latin?
Latin has 6 commonly used cases and the remnants of a 7th.
The 6 primary cases are as follows:
- Nominative
- Genitive
- Dative
- Accusative
- Ablative
- Vocative
The vocative case is identical to the nominative, except for second declension masculine nouns. For this reason, the vocative is not usually included in declension paradigms.
In other words, declension charts show only the nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative. If you scroll back up to my chart of first declension case endings, you will see only 5 cases.
👉 Want to know more? Here is a full list of all Latin noun endings!
The 7th Latin case is the locative, which only appears in very specific contexts and with certain nouns. Beginning students don’t need to worry much about the locative, but I will cover it briefly at the end of this post.
In the United States, the Latin cases are usually listed in the exact order that I have given above. Here is a useful mnemonic to help remember the order of Latin cases:
Never gag down an ant.
The first letter of each word is the first letter of one of the cases. The N in “never” stands for “nominative”, the G in “gag” stands for “genitive”, and so forth.
My Latin students at Harvard supplemented this sentence to include the vocative:
Never gag down an ant violently.
It’s such a weird sentence that it sticks in your head, right?
Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Ablative is the order of the Latin cases in the United States, but this order is not universal. For instance, in many parts of Europe, cases are listed in the following order: Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Ablative.
On this website, I use the U.S. version. This is partly because this was the way I was taught, but mostly because I think it makes more sense. The genitive case is crucial for many reasons, so it deserves to come second.
Depending on where you live and what textbook you use, you may see a different order of cases than what I am presenting here. If that happens, don’t panic! It’s the same language, just different learning conventions.
Now you know what the Latin cases are and what order to list them in. Time to talk about their uses!
Uses of Latin Cases
Most Latin cases have multiple uses, and eventually you will want to learn most of them. But if you are just starting out, take things step by step.
The following chart outlines the most characteristic uses and translations of each case. I have used [noun] as a placeholder.
| Latin Case | Basic Use | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | subject | [noun] |
| Genitive | possession | [noun]’s / of [noun] |
| Dative | indirect object | to / for [noun] |
| Accusative | direct object | [noun] |
| Ablative | means + prepositions | by / with / from / in [noun] |
| Vocative | direct address | (O) [noun] |
| Locative | location | in / at [noun] |
If this chart is full of confusing terminology, don’t worry! The following sections will break everything down into digestible chunks.
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Nominative Case in Latin
The nominative is the default case in Latin. This is the form that you will see listed first in your textbook or dictionary.
There are two main uses of the nominative:
- Subject
- Predicate nominative
First, the nominative is used to indicate the subject of a sentence. The subject is the one who performs the action of the main verb.
The girl sings. = Puella cantat.
In this sentence, the girl is the one performing the action of singing. So we put puella (girl) in the nominative case.
A predicate noun is also in the nominative case. This sounds fancy, but all it really means is that if you say something is equal to something else, that second something is also in the nominative.
Claudia is a girl. = Claudia est puella.
What’s happening here? Well, Claudia is the subject, and puella (girl) is the predicate nominative.
Since Claudia is nominative as the subject, it makes sense that puella would be nominative, too, since Claudia = puella.
Let’s look at a few more examples:
Piscēs in aquā habitant. = The fish live in the water. (subject)
Magistra linguae Latīnae sum. = I am a teacher of the Latin language. (predicate nominative)
Cūr librī in campō iacent? = Why are the books lying in the field? (subject)
👉 Explore the nominative case in more detail!
Genitive Case in Latin
The genitive case is crucial in Latin. You need to know a noun’s genitive in order to determine what declension it belongs to and to find its stem.
For this reason, textbooks and dictionaries will list the genitive after the nominative. This is also why you should memorize each noun’s genitive singular along with its nominative singular.
So don’t forget to include the genitive singular when you are making your Latin flashcards!
There are many uses of the genitive, but I want to highlight the most important one here. The classic use of the genitive is to show possession.
Liber puellae in mēnsā est. = The girl’s book / the book of the girl is on the table.
Spēs amīcōrum in tē ūnō est. = The friends’ hope / the hope of the friends is in you alone.
Pecūniam populī nōn videō. = I do not see the people’s money / the money of the people.
The book belongs to the girl, hope belongs to the friends, and the money belongs to the people. The genitive ending establishes these relationships between possessor and possessed.
English has genitive case endings, too! We use ‘s (apostrophe + S) in the singular and s’ (S + apostrophe) in the plural.
Friend is in the subjective case, while friend’s is in the genitive or possessive case.
My students are often shocked when I tell them this. The apostrophe confuses us and makes us think something else is happening. But it’s just part of a case ending!
Other important uses of the genitive in Latin include the partitive genitive and the objective genitive.
PRO TIP: Regardless of the specific usage, you can typically translate the genitive as “of [blank]” and it works out well!
👉 Click here for more details about the genitive case!
Dative Case in Latin
The dative case has many uses, but here we will look at its most characteristic one: the dative of indirect object.
The indirect object is the person (or sometimes thing) indirectly affected by the action of the verb. Look at the following examples:
Canem puellae dant. = They give a dog to the girl.
Multa amīcīs dīxī. = I said many things to the friends.
The girl ends up owning a dog, while the friends end up hearing news. No one is physically moving or directly affecting the girl or the friends, but both are impacted.
Verbs of giving and speaking often involve indirect objects. If you are reading a sentence and one of these actions comes up, be on the lookout for a dative!
Other important uses of the dative include the dative of reference, dative of possession, and dative with special verbs.
PRO TIP: Most of the time, you can translate a noun in the dative as “to / for [blank].” When in doubt, fall back on this translation strategy and try to figure out the overall meaning from there.
👉 Want a more detailed account of the dative case? I’ve got you covered.
Accusative Case in Latin
The accusative is the case of the direct object (among other things). The direct object is the person or thing that receives the action of the main verb.
Here are a few examples:
Puellam videō. = I see a girl.
Saxum portās. = You carry a rock.
In the first sentence, the girl receives the action of seeing. In the second, the rock receives the action of carrying. Thus both puellam and saxum are direct objects and must be in the accusative.
Remember the examples we saw up above in our discussion of the dative case? Let’s take another look. This time the direct objects are in bold.
Canem puellae dant. = They give a dog to the girl.
Multa amīcīs dīxī. = I said many things to the friends.
The people in the first sentence perform an action on the dog: they hand him over to a new owner. Canem is the direct object, while, as we saw above, puellae is the indirect object.
In the second example, I perform the action of saying on the “many things”, and these things then make their way to the friends. Multa (an adjective) is the direct object; amīcīs is the indirect object.
Other important uses of the accusative include accusative of place to which, accusative of extent of space or time, and subject of an indirect statement.
👉 Read this post for more about the accusative case!
Ablative Case in Latin
The ablative case is the “everything” case, so it is hard to summarize its uses quickly. Here I will discuss two basic uses: the ablative of means and the ablative after prepositions.
The ablative of means is used to express the object by means of which you do something. You can translate this type of ablative as “by / with [blank]”.
Litterās stilō scrībō. = I write a letter with / by means of a pen.
Canem aquā lavō.= I wash the dog with / by means of water.
Note that you do not need a preposition in Latin to express this type of “with” like you do in English. The simple ablative is enough to express means.
Another use of the ablative that beginning students will meet quickly is the ablative after prepositions. We can further divide this type into the ablative of place where, ablative of accompaniment, etc., but don’t worry about this for now.
Basically, some Latin prepositions take the ablative. This means that any noun following them must be in the ablative case.
Cūr clāmās in silvīs? = Why are you shouting in the woods?
Sine mē fuistī. = You went without me.
Omnia prō Rōmā fēcērunt. = They did everything for Rome.
When you see a Latin preposition, there is a very good chance that an ablative is coming shortly afterward.
Other common uses of the ablative include the ablative absolute, the ablative of manner, and the ablative of agent.
The ablative is the most versatile Latin case, so it is hard to suggest one blanket translation. Generally, if you see an ablative on its own, try “by / with / from / in [blank] and see if any of these options work.
👉 Take a deep dive into the ablative!
Vocative Case in Latin
The vocative is used for direct address. When you speak to someone and use their name or a title, that name or title is in the vocative.
For most Latin nouns, the vocative looks identical to the nominative. Only the second declension preserves distinct case forms.
Marce, mēcum venī! = Marcus, come with me!
Cūr nōn audīs, soror? = Why aren’t you listening, sister?
In the first example, I am speaking directly to Marcus and using his name to address him. In the second, I use a title – “sister” – to address my sister.
The vocative is common in letters, speeches, and dialogues – basically, any time that you have another person in mind as you speak or write.
PRO TIP: Sometimes the Latin vocative is preceded by Ō. It’s like in old-fashioned English, if you say, “O wise teacher, help me!” or something like that. Ō is an extra sign that a direct address may be coming.
👉 Click here for more details about the vocative!
Locative Case in Latin
The locative case is only partially present in classical Latin. Why? Because the ablative case has stolen its usage.
The locative expresses the place where something occurs. But – thanks to the ablative’s incursions – the locative only exists for the names of cities, small islands, and a few random words.
Rōmae sunt multī cīvēs. = There are many citizens at / in Rome.
Esne domī? = Are you at home?
Tē vidēbō Athēnīs. = I will see you in Athens.
The locative typically appears toward the end of Latin textbooks, but some Latin-learning apps introduce it early on.
If you are a beginning student, you can memorize the most common locative forms (Rōmae and domī are a good place to start). Then focus on mastering the other Latin cases for now.
👉 Want a more detailed account of the locative and where it still exists? This post will help you out.
Latin Cases: A Summary
By now you should understand what Latin cases are and have a basic idea of their use. If things still seem fuzzy, don’t worry. It takes time, but if you persevere, cases will become second nature to you.
I have emphasized throughout this post that most Latin cases have multiple uses, and I have linked to posts with more in-depth treatments of each case. But in the beginning, focus on understanding the most characteristic uses of each case.
Here is an epic sentence that includes all of the Latin cases at once:
Ō nauta, mihi dōna sorōris sine morā dare dēbēs, quod soror domī nōn est.
O sailor, you need to give (my) sister’s gifts to me without delay, since (my) sister is not at home.
Can you figure out which noun is in which case? (There is also one pronoun, mihi, since I was trying to make the sentence sound natural.)
This is a hard sentence, but perhaps the accompanying translation can help you out.
Here’s a mini answer key: nauta (vocative), mihi (dative), dōna (accusative), sorōris (genitive), morā (ablative), soror (nominative) and domī (locative).
Case endings can be overwhelming to memorize, which is why I have created a handy cheat sheet for my students and readers.
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As you continue studying Latin, you may find the following posts helpful:
My Favorite Latin-Learning Resources (Free & Paid)
Best Latin Dictionaries for Students
How To Pronounce Classical Latin
53 Must-Know Latin Phrases in Everyday English
Well done! Very helpful.
I’m glad the post was helpful, Ted!
so helpful!! thanks so much
You are welcome, Lima!
Best explanation of Latin cases I could find – thank you 🙂 Would be good to have exercises with english translation for practice.
You are welcome, AJ! Hopefully in the future I can add exercises!
This is very well laid out and easy to use…. fantastic job. I am relearning Latin after 30+ years after my Jesuit education, and this is a great resource. You are very good at this. Thank you!!
You are welcome, Anthony! Good luck with your Latin studies 🙂
I am using “Homo sapiens prōlixus” in a novel to indicate the next step in human evolution: wise, long-lived human. Am I correct or incorrect?
Hi Paul, I think that this works well! Good luck with your novel!
Thanks for everything you are doing. Your site is a life saver. It simplifies things a lot.
You are welcome, Amine! I’m glad my site is helping you out!
Trying to understand how to distinguish declensions:
If you have the same ending on a given noun, like aqua or aquae, it can be seen as either nominative singular/ablative singular for ‘aqua’, or genitive singular/dative singular/nominative plural for ‘aquae’. How can you tell the difference if the word is not in the context of a sentence.
Similar question:
When you have two nouns or a noun and an adjective together that do not match in ending, how do you tell which takes priority? For example, how would one translate ‘terra mariae’?
Hi Luke, great questions. The answer to your first question is that, without context, you *can’t* tell what case an ambiguous form like *aquae* is in. It’s kind of like in English how you wouldn’t know if the word “lead” is a noun or a verb if you saw it in isolation.
Now for your second question. First of all, an adjective ALWAYS has to agree with its noun, so if an adjective and noun don’t have the same case, number, and gender, this means the adjective is not modifying that particular noun.
If you have two nouns together, you have to figure out what relationship the different cases are establishing between the two nouns. In your example, *terra Mariae* has a nominative (terra) and a genitive (Mariae) and so it means “the land of Maria” or “Maria’s land.”