Lesson 16 · Review
Nine first-and-second-declension adjectives that break the pattern in only two spots. Several travel in pairs of meaning: ūnus (one) and sōlus (alone); ūllus (any) and its negative nūllus (no, none); tōtus (whole, entire); and the “of-two” set — alter (the one, the other of two), uter (which of two?), neuter (neither of two) — beside alius (other, another, of several).
These nine adjectives look exactly like bonus, -a, -um almost everywhere — same nominative, accusative, and ablative, and a perfectly regular plural. They differ in just two places, the same two for all three genders: the genitive singular and the dative singular. Learn those two endings and you have learned the whole irregularity.
In the genitive singular, masculine, feminine, and neuter ALL end in -īus — one ending for every gender, where bonus would give three (-ī, -ae, -ī).
nūllīus (of no), tōtīus (of the whole), alterīus (of the other) — all genders alike.
In the dative singular, all three genders end in -ī — again one ending for masculine, feminine, and neuter.
Nūllī puerō praemium dat magister — The teacher gives a reward to no boy.
Outside the genitive and dative singular, every case is regular, exactly like bonus, -a, -um, and the entire plural is regular. alius alone keeps a peculiar neuter singular in -d: aliud (compare aliam, alium).
Nom. nūllus, nūlla, nūllum · Acc. nūllum, nūllam, nūllum · Abl. nūllō, nūllā, nūllō — all like bonus.
Of TWO things, alter … alter = “the one … the other.” Of ANY number, alius … alius = “one … another,” and in the plural aliī … aliī = “some … others.” The rare genitive of alius is avoided — use alterīus instead.
Alterum oppidum est magnum, alterum parvum — the one town is large, the other small.
Because these adjectives share their odd endings with the pronouns, they are called the pronominal adjectives, and like pronouns they regularly stand BEFORE their noun, not after it.
nūllī aliī virō (to no other man) · tōtīus Germāniae (of all Germany).
Six out of six before you start the exercises.
Question 1
In the genitive singular, all three genders of these nine adjectives end in —
Right. One ending for every gender: the genitive singular is -īus — nūllīus, tōtīus, alterīus (Rule 1).
Not quite — this is one of the two endings that make these adjectives irregular. It is the same for masculine, feminine, and neuter.
Question 2
And in the dative singular, all three genders end in —
Right. The dative singular is -ī for every gender — nūllī, sōlī, neutrī (Rule 2).
Not quite — like the genitive, the dative singular is a single ending shared by all three genders.
Question 3
Outside the genitive and dative singular, these adjectives are declined —
Right. Only the genitive and dative singular are odd; everywhere else (and throughout the plural) they follow bonus, -a, -um (Rule 3).
Not quite — only two case-endings break the pattern. What model do the other cases follow?
Question 4
“The dinner of no maidservant is good”: Cēna ___ ancillae est bona. The right form of nūllus is —
Right. “Of no maidservant” is genitive singular, so the adjective takes the irregular -īus: nūllīus (Rule 1).
Not quite — “of no maidservant” is the genitive singular. Which ending do these adjectives use there?
Question 5
alius means “other, another (of several).” Which adjective means “the one, the other,” of two?
Right. alter is the “of two” word — alter … alter, “the one … the other” (Rule 4). tōtus = whole; ūllus = any.
Not quite — look for the member of the “of two” set (the same group as uter and neuter).
Question 6
Which idiom means “some … others”?
Right. The plural aliī … aliī means “some … others” (Rule 4). alter … alter is “the one … the other,” of just two.
Not quite — “some … others” speaks of an open number, and it is plural. Which pair fits?
Answered correctly: 0 / 6