Lesson 12 · Review
Read through the vocabulary and the rules, then test yourself below. Answer in your head before you click.
Nine new words. Five are second-declension nouns whose base ends in -i-: three masculines in -ius — fīlius (son), fluvius (river), gladius (sword) — and two neuters in -ium — praesidium (garrison) and proelium (battle). Then three adjectives — fīnitimus (neighboring), Germānus (German), multus (much; plural, many) — and the adverb saepe (often). The derivatives in parentheses help fix each meaning.
What is unusual about a noun like fīlius or praesidium: its genitive singular contracts to a single -ī (not -iī), and fīlius — together with proper names in -ius — takes a surprising -ī vocative. Everywhere else these are ordinary second-declension words, and their plurals are completely regular.
A second-declension noun whose base ends in -i- (the -ius and -ium nouns) drops one i in the genitive singular: the ending is a single -ī, never -iī. The accent then rests on the penult.
praesidium → praesidī (of the garrison); fīlius → fīlī (of the son); gladius → gladī (of the sword).
When you address fīlius or a proper name in -ius directly, the vocative does NOT take the regular -e; it ends in -ī, again accented on the penult. For these words the vocative and the genitive are therefore spelled exactly alike.
fīlī — "O son"; Vergilī — "O Vergil." Each is the same form as the genitive (fīlī, "of the son").
Run fīlius through its cases and only the genitive singular (and, for fīlius, the vocative) departs from the ordinary pattern — the -i- of the base survives everywhere else. The whole plural is regular.
Sg. fīlius · fīlī · fīliō · fīlium · fīliō · (voc.) fīlī. Pl. fīliī · fīliōrum · fīliīs · fīliōs · fīliīs.
The adjective fīnitimus, "bordering on, neighboring," governs the word it relates to in the dative case, not the accusative.
Fluvius Rhēnus est fīnitimus oppidīs — "The river Rhine borders on the towns."
Pick an answer; wrong picks turn red and you may try again. Six out of six before you start the exercises.
Question 1
The genitive singular of praesidium ("garrison") is —
Right. An -ium noun contracts its genitive singular to a single -ī, not -iī (Rule 1): praesidī. praesidiō is the dative/ablative.
Not quite — the genitive of these nouns drops one i. It is not -iī.
Question 2
The genitive singular of gladius ("sword") is —
Right. Like every -ius noun, gladius loses the -i- of its base in the genitive singular: gladī (Rule 1). gladiō is the dative/ablative.
Not quite — the same contraction that makes fīlius → fīlī applies here too.
Question 3
You speak directly to your son. How do you say "O son" (the vocative of fīlius)?
Right. fīlius takes the special -ī vocative, not the regular -e (Rule 2): fīlī. fīlius is the nominative.
Not quite — fīlius is one of the words whose vocative is NOT -e. Where does the accent fall?
Question 4
For fīlius, two of its singular forms are spelled exactly the same. Which pair?
Right. The contracted genitive fīlī and the special vocative fīlī are identical (Rule 2). Nominative fīlius, accusative fīlium, and ablative fīliō are all distinct.
Not quite — recall that for these words "the vocative and the genitive are alike." Which two does that name?
Question 5
The genitive plural of fluvius ("river") is —
Right. The contraction touches only the genitive singular; the plural is completely regular, so the genitive plural keeps the full -ōrum (Rule 3): fluviōrum. fluvī and fluviī are singular forms.
Not quite — only the singular contracts. The plural of these nouns behaves like any second-declension noun.
Question 6
In Fluvius est fīnitimus oppidīs ("The river borders on the towns"), the adjective fīnitimus governs oppidīs in which case?
Right. fīnitimus takes the dative for the word it borders on (Rule 4), so oppidīs is dative: "neighboring to the towns."
Not quite — this adjective does not take the accusative. Recall the "dative with fīnitimus" rule.
Answered correctly: 0 / 6