Latin for Beginners · Lesson XLIV · Part 8: The third declension completed
44. vīs and iter; gender in the third declension
Goal: Your child declines the irregular nouns vīs and iter, uses the gender rules of the third declension, and reads the story of Caesar's bridge over the Rhine.
You'll need
- The book: the lesson pages, plus the special vocabulary at the back of the book
- A notebook and pencil
- Index cards for new words
What's in the book
The declensions of vīs (force) and iter (march), the rules for gender in the third declension (§ 247) with a practice list (§ 248), the reading The First Bridge over the Rhine, and seven English sentences. Vocabulary on page 292.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Your child declines hostis and animal from the last lesson.
Two odd nouns
vīs (force) is irregular, and its plural means strength. iter (march, journey) uses a longer base, itiner-, in every case except the nominative and accusative singular.
iter, itineris, itinerī, iter, itinere
vīrēs, vīrium, vīribus, vīrīs, or -ēs, vīribus
Say both aloud a few times.
Gender rules
Third-declension nouns can be any gender, so the book gives rules (§ 247). Read them together:
Masculine are nouns in -or, -ōs, -er, -ĕs (gen. -itis).
Neuters are nouns in -e, -al, -ar, -n, -ur, -ŭs, and caput.
Rule 2 gives the feminines, such as nouns ending in -s after a consonant or after any long vowel but ō; the book lists exceptions, such as the masculine mōns and pōns. Then do the § 248 list: give each noun's gender and the rule.
Vocabulary
Page 292. Some of the words:
arbor, arboris, f., tree (arbor)
iter, itineris, n., march, journey, route (itinerary)
mōns, montis (-ium), m., mountain; summus mōns, top of the mountain
numquam, adv., never
trāns, prep. with acc., across (transatlantic)
Read the story
Read The First Bridge over the Rhine one sentence at a time. Two of its sentences:
Mox ad rīpās magnī flūminis vēnērunt.
Numquam anteā pōns in Rhēnō vīsus erat.
Use the footnotes; one explains that Romans 'make a bridge on' a river where we 'build a bridge over' it.
English to Latin
Write the seven English sentences. For each noun, decide its gender before choosing the adjective ending.
Wrap-up
Your child recites the gender rules and declines iter. Memorize the rules in § 247 and the new words.
Afterwards
Over the week, ask the gender of three third-declension nouns a day, with the rule that decides it.
Tip
Gender rules have exceptions, as the book admits in its own footnote. Learn the main rules first and the exceptions one at a time.
Answers to the book's problems
The story's sentences are not numbered in the book; these follow its order. The safety of the allies was always dear to the Romans. Once the Gauls, friends of the Romans, had received many injuries from the Germans who lived across the river Rhine. When envoys came from them to Caesar, the Roman general, and asked for help, the Romans hurried by forced marches to the enemy's territory. Soon they came to the banks of a great river. The general was eager to lead his forces across the river, but he could not do it by any means. He had no ships. The water was deep. But the general, a famous man, never shaken by bad fortune, formed a new plan. He ordered his men to make a bridge on the broad river. Never before had a bridge been seen on the Rhine. When the enemy saw the bridge which the Romans had made, moved by the greatest terror, they began without delay to prepare for flight.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.