Latin for Beginners · Lesson XLVI · Part 9: Third-declension adjectives, the fourth and fifth declensions
46. The fourth declension: adventus and cornū
Goal: Your child can decline the fourth-declension nouns adventus and cornū and recognize their forms in sentences.
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 gender rule for the fourth declension (§§ 259 and 260), the paradigms of adventus (arrival) and cornū (horn), notes on lacus and portus, then nine Latin and eight English sentences. Vocabulary on page 293.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Your child declines omnis, omne. Then ask: how many declensions have we learned so far? (Three.)
The new idea
The fourth declension has nouns ending in -us (mostly masculine) and -ū (neuter). The genitive singular ends in -ūs, so it is easy to tell apart from the second declension's -ī.
adventus, adventūs
cornū, cornūs
The book adds two notes: manus and domus are feminine, and
cornū is the only neuter that is in common use.
Say the forms aloud
Read adventus across the page together: adventus, adventūs, adventuī, adventum, adventū; plural adventūs, adventuum, adventibus, adventūs, adventibus. Then the neuter plural:
cornua, cornuum, cornibus
Point out that -ūs appears three times (genitive singular, nominative and accusative plural), so the rest of the sentence decides which one it is.
Vocabulary
Page 293. Some of the words:
adventus, -ūs, m., approach, arrival (advent)
exercitus, -ūs, m., army
equitātus, -ūs, m., cavalry
manus, -ūs, f., hand; band, force (manual)
portus, -ūs, m., harbor (port)
Also: ante (before) and post (behind, after), both with the accusative.
Latin to English
Translate the nine sentences. Two of them:
Continēre exercitum ā proeliō nōn facile erat.
Post adventum suum Caesar iussit legiōnēs ex castrīs dūcī.
English to Latin
Write the eight English sentences. One uses the idiom impetum facere in, to make an attack on.
Wrap-up
Your child declines exercitus from memory. Memorize adventus, cornū and the new words.
Afterwards
Over the next days, also review the first three declensions orally; the book's teacher notes suggest this here.
Tip
When your child sees -ūs, have them ask: genitive singular, or nominative or accusative plural? Then let the verb and the meaning decide.
Answers to the book's problems
1. Before Caesar's arrival the swift horsemen of the enemy made a fierce attack on the camp. 2. It was not easy to hold the army back from battle. 3. After his arrival Caesar ordered the legions to be led out of the camp. 4. In front of the camp there was fighting with the enemy's cavalry. 5. After a short time the cavalry fled across the river where the enemy's camp had been pitched. 6. Then the victorious general laid waste the fields and burned the villages of the enemy. 7. But he did not attack the camp, because the soldiers were tired and the place difficult. 8. The enemy did not stop throwing weapons, which harmed few. 9. After the unsuccessful battle the chiefs of the Gauls were eager to send envoys to Caesar, but they could not persuade the people.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.