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GrammarFirst & Second Declension Adjectives
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First & Second Declension Adjectives
GrammarWords & FormsFirst & Second Declension Adjectives

First & Second Declension Adjectives

A&G §110–113|8 rules|0 practice questions

Bonus, bona, bonum is the biggest adjective family in Latin — borrow the feminine endings from 1st-declension stella, the masculine from 2nd-declension servus, and the neuter from 2nd-declension bellum, and you can describe almost anything.

Sallust pairs them effortlessly: bonus et ignāvōs aequē sibi exoptant — "the good man and the worthless want the same things for themselves."

The forms are easy. The traps are at the edges. Pulcher and sacer keep the e in their stem (pulchra, sacra), but miser drops it (miserī, not misrī) — you only know which from the genitive.

And nine adjectives — sōlus, tōtus, ūnus, ūllus, nūllus, alius, alter, uter, neuter — break ranks in the singular: their genitive ends in -īus and their dative in -ī across all three genders. Verg.

Aen. x.442 nails the trap in one line: sōlus ego in Pallanta feror, sōlī mihi Pallās — "I alone go against Pallas; for me alone is Pallas."

Pattern
M. = servus / puer / ager (2nd decl.)
F. = stella (1st decl.)
N. = bellum (2nd decl.)
Nine pronominalsgen. sg. -īus, dat. sg. -ī (all genders)
First & Second Declension Adjective Endings

Borrow the masculine and neuter from 2nd-decl. nouns and the feminine from 1st-decl. — same endings, no new memorization.

Pulcher-style adjectives keep the e (pulchra); niger-style drop it (nigra); the genitive feminine tells you which. Sōlus, tōtus, ūnus and the other six pronominals always take -īus / -ī in the singular.

bonus, bona, bonum — good (the model paradigm)
CaseSG. M.SG. F.SG. N.PL. M.PL. F.PL. N.Use
Nom.bon-usbon-abon-umbon-ībon-aebon-asubject; predicate adjective
Gen.bon-ībon-aebon-ībon-ōrumbon-ārumbon-ōrumof — possessive / partitive
Dat.bon-ōbon-aebon-ōbon-īsbon-īsbon-īsto / for — indirect object
Acc.bon-umbon-ambon-umbon-ōsbon-āsbon-adirect object
Abl.bon-ōbon-ābon-ōbon-īsbon-īsbon-īsby / with / from
Voc.bon-ebon-abon-umbon-ībon-aebon-adirect address (only m. sg. differs from nom.)
pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum — beautiful (drops the *e* — *niger* type)
CaseSG. M.SG. F.SG. N.PL. M.PL. F.PL. N.Use
Nom.pulcherpulchr-apulchr-umpulchr-īpulchr-aepulchr-a*e* appears ONLY in m. nom. sg.
Gen.pulchr-īpulchr-aepulchr-īpulchr-ōrumpulchr-ārumpulchr-ōrumstem reveals: *pulchr-*, no *e*
Dat.pulchr-ōpulchr-aepulchr-ōpulchr-īspulchr-īspulchr-īsto / for
Acc.pulchr-umpulchr-ampulchr-umpulchr-ōspulchr-āspulchr-adirect object
Abl.pulchr-ōpulchr-āpulchr-ōpulchr-īspulchr-īspulchr-īsby / with / from
miser, misera, miserum — wretched (keeps the *e* — *puer* type)
CaseSG. M.SG. F.SG. N.PL. M.PL. F.PL. N.Use
Nom.misermiser-amiser-ummiser-īmiser-aemiser-a*e* belongs to the stem — never drops
Gen.miser-īmiser-aemiser-īmiser-ōrummiser-ārummiser-ōrumcompare *pulchrī* (stem *pulchr-*)
Dat.miser-ōmiser-aemiser-ōmiser-īsmiser-īsmiser-īsto / for
Acc.miser-ummiser-ammiser-ummiser-ōsmiser-āsmiser-adirect object
Abl.miser-ōmiser-āmiser-ōmiser-īsmiser-īsmiser-īsby / with / from
sōlus, sōla, sōlum — alone (one of the nine pronominals)
CaseSG. M.SG. F.SG. N.PL. M.PL. F.PL. N.Use
Nom.sōl-ussōl-asōl-umsōl-īsōl-aesōl-aregular like *bonus*
Gen.sōl-īussōl-īussōl-īussōl-ōrumsōl-ārumsōl-ōrum**sg. *-īus* across all genders** — the trap
Dat.sōl-īsōl-īsōl-īsōl-īssōl-īssōl-īs**sg. *-ī* across all genders** — same trap
Acc.sōl-umsōl-amsōl-umsōl-ōssōl-āssōl-aregular
Abl.sōl-ōsōl-āsōl-ōsōl-īssōl-īssōl-īsregular
The Sub-Types of First/Second Declension Adjectives
1
Standard -us, -a, -um (the bonus type)
bonus, bona, bonum — good; magnus, parvus, altus — most adjectives
critical
2
Stem in -ius — gen. sg. m. -iī, voc. m. -ie
Lacedaemonius, -iī, -ie — Spartan (does NOT contract like the noun)
common
3
-er keeping e (the miser / puer type)
miser, misera, miserum — wretched; līber, tener, asper, prosper
important
4
-er dropping e (the niger / ager type)
pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum — beautiful; niger, sacer, integer
important
5
Compounds in -fer and -ger — keep e like miser
signifer, -fera, -ferum — standard-bearing; saetiger — bristle-bearing
common
6
Possessives — irregular vocative mī, otherwise bonus-pattern
meus, mea, meum (voc. m. mī); tuus, suus, noster, vester
critical
7
Pronominal nine — gen. sg. -īus, dat. sg. -ī (all genders)
sōlus, tōtus, ūnus, ūllus, nūllus, alius, alter, uter, neuter
critical
8
Defective in nom. sg. m. — survive in fixed phrases
posterō diē — "the next day"; cētera, īnfera, supera
rare

See It In Action

nam gloriam honorem imperium bonus et ignāvōs aequē sibi exoptant
For the good man and the worthless want glory, honor, command equally for themselves.

— Sall. Cat. 11.2

Bonus and ignāvus — both 1st/2nd-decl. adjectives — work as substantives ("the good man," "the worthless"). When the noun is obvious, the adjective alone carries it.

sōlus ego in Pallanta feror, sōlī mihi Pallās
I alone am borne against Pallas; for me alone Pallas (is owed)

— Verg. Aen. x. 442

Vergil pairs sōlus (nom. m. sg., regular) with sōlī (dat. m. sg., the pronominal -ī). One line, both forms — the trap and its tell, side by side.

Nāscētur pulchrā Trōiānus orīgine Caesar
A Trojan Caesar will be born from beautiful stock

— Verg. Aen. i. 286

Pulchrā (abl. f. sg.) drops the e in the stem and takes the 1st-decl. -ā ending — and agrees across declensions with orīgine (3rd decl.). Agreement is by case, not by ending shape.

Reading Adjectives as Substantives
masculine plural

Render as "the X men" or "X people" — Latin drops the noun when the gender supplies it.

bonī = "good men" / "the good"; Rōmānī = "the Romans"

feminine plural

Render as "the X women" — gender alone supplies the noun.

bonae = "good women"; miserae = "wretched women"

neuter plural

Render as "X things" — abstract or collective.

bona = "good things, possessions"; vēra = "true things, the truth"

neuter singular

Render as the abstract concept — "the X" or "what is X".

bonum = "the good, a good thing"; pulchrum = "beauty" / "what is beautiful"

*-er* keeps *e* (*miser*) vs. *-er* drops *e* (*pulcher*)

Both adjectives end in -er in the m. nom. sg. — but only one keeps the e in the rest of the paradigm. The genitive feminine reveals the truth.

Keeps the *e* (*miser* / *puer* type)

e belongs to the stem — appears in every form

miser, misera, miserum

wretched (gen. f. miserae)

Drops the *e* (*pulcher* / *ager* type)

e is a nominative crutch — gone in oblique cases

pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum

beautiful (gen. f. pulchrae)

Tip: Look up the feminine in your dictionary entry. Asper, līber, miser, prosper, tener and -fer/-ger compounds keep the e. Almost everything else (niger, sacer, pulcher, integer, sinister, noster, vester) drops it.

Quick Check

In Vergil's line sōlī mihi Pallās ("for me alone, Pallas"), what case and number is sōlī?

Study Tips

  • •Memorize bonus, bona, bonum cold — every other adjective in this family clones its endings, even the -er and pronominal types.
  • •When you meet an -er adjective, look up its genitive feminine before declining: pulchra keeps the e, misera keeps it, but the consonant-cluster types like nigra, sacra, aegra drop it.
  • •Drill the nine pronominal adjectives as a chant — sōlus, tōtus, ūllus, ūnus, ūnī, nūllus, alius, alter, neuter, uter. Genitive -īus, dative -ī, plural is regular bonus.

Edited by Baris Yildirim·After Allen & Greenough §§110–113 (1903)

Last updated May 2, 2026·How antiq's grammar pages are made