Latin mnemonics

 

Note on Declension songs

The declension songs come from Mrs. Kathleen Carpenter-Smith, the Latin teacher at Stanton College Preparatory School in Jacksonville, FL. Further songs added by the students of Mrs. Margaret "Peggy" Minnick, a teacher at Jericho High School on Long Island, NY.

1st Declension Endings

By song, to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:

a a e a e a m,

a a e a r u m,

i s a s i s [too],

These should stick to you like glue!

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-a	-ae
Genitive	-ae	-ārum
Dative	-ae	-īs
Accusative	-am	-ās
Ablative	-ā	-īs

2nd Declension Endings

By song, to the tune of The Mexican Hat Dance:

u-s i-o u-m,

o-i o-r u-m,

i-s o-s i-s,

I hope I pass the test, [yes!]

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-us	-i
Genitive	-i	-ōrum
Dative	-o	-īs
Accusative	-um	-ōs
Ablative	-ō	-īs

The same goes for neuter except that the nominative and accusative singular end in -um, and the nom and acc plural ends in -a.

3rd Declension Endings

By song, to the tune of Farmer in the Dell: The nominative is left out.

Be aware that this does not include i-stem or 3rd declension adjectives.

[variant] i s i e m e

(i s i e m e)

e s u m i b u s

e s i b u s

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	___	-es
Genitive	-is	-um
Dative	-i	-ībus
Accusative	-em	-es
Ablative	-e	-ibus

4th Declension Endings

By song, to the tune of -- (variant of "The wheels on the bus go round and round)

u-s u-s u-i u-m,

u u-s u-u-m,

ibus u-s i-b-u-s,

these should help you pass the test

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-us	-us
Genitive	-us	-uum
Dative	-ui	-ībus
Accusative	-um	-us
Ablative	-u	-ibus

5th Declension Endings

Be aware that this does not include irregulars such as cornu or domus.

By song, to the tune of Oh My Darling, Clementine

e-s e-i e-i e-m

e e-s e-r-u-m

e-bus e-s e-bus (finis)

there are no more declensions.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-es	-es
Genitive	-ei	-erum
Dative	-ei	-ebus
Accusative	-em	-es
Ablative	-e	-ebus

Present Indicative

To remember the present active indicative verb tense endings:

Actual:

Singular

• 1st person: -m/o
• 2nd person: -s
• 3rd person: -t

Plural

• 1st person: -mus
• 2nd person: -tis
• 3rd person: -nt

mnemonic phrase: "Most Must Isn't" (-M/O-S-T-MUS-TIS-NT)

Mnemoic song to the tune of the 'Mickey Mouse Song': m-o-s m-u-s t-i-s n-t

Mnemoic song to the tune of "High Hoh The Dairy Oh"- O-S-T-MUS-TIS-NT, O-S-T-MUS-TIS-NT, High Hoh the Dairy Oh, O-S-T-MUS-TIS-NT"

Present Subjunctive

To remember the conjugating vowels of each verb conjugation for the subjunctive mood:

Actual:

• I: E
• II: EA
• III: A
• III io: IA
• IV: IA

mnemonic phrase: "She beat a liar", "She wears a diamond" or "He eats a viagra" (She beat a liar) (she wears a diamond) (He eats a viagra) To distinguish the 3rd io stem: "We hear a liar friar" (We hear a liar friar) where "friar" represents the 3rd io

2nd & 3rd Conjugations

To remember how to differentiate between the second and third conjugations :

Actual:

• II: Ē (note long mark, or macron)
• III: E

mnemonic: "SECOND (II), has six letters like MACRON"

To remember stem modifications for conjugating present subjunctives:

Actual

• I: Ā -> Ē
• II: Ē -> EĀ
• III: E -> Ā
• III io: E -> IĀ
• IV: Ī -> IĀ

Mnemonic:

• "Ned beat a giant."
• "She wears a giant diamond."
• "She wears a diamond tiara."
• "We fear a liar friar."
• "We beat all liars."
• "We eat a pizza."
• "We eat caviar."
• "Cl'em' st'eam's cl'am's in S'iam'"

Prepositions

Prepositions that take the Ablative Case include:

• S- Sub

• I- In

• D- De

• S- Sine

• P- Pro

• A- Ab

• C- Cum

• E- Ex

Mnemonic: SID SPACE (The Ablative Astronaut)

A mnemonic rhyme to remember the Prepositions that take the Ablative Case is as follows:
"A ab de e ex
cum pro sine prae
take the ablative
every day"
(Although it does not rhyme when pronounced in Classical Latin)

Nouns in the Ablative Case with the preposition omitted:

• N- Nouns

• I- In

• A- Ablative

• W- Without

• A- A

• P- Preposition

Mnemonic : NIAWAP (The Friend Astronaut of SIDSPACE)

Mnemonic Rhyme:
When you meet NIAWAP
What you really need to see
Is that the missing prepositions
Begin in WIAB

These prepostitons are With, In, At and By.

Future

Type I verbs: BO-BIT-BUNT . Mnemonic: BO BIT my a(B)unt.

eg:haber

• I:habebo
• II:habebis
• III:habebit

Plural

• I:habebimus
• II:habebitis
• III:habebunt

Or, try "In the future, I will bring 4 bicycles (the four -bi's on the singular 2nd and 4rd, plural 1st and 2nd) to Boston University (-bu)," then add endings o, s, t, mus, tis, nt.

Type II verbs: AM-ET-ENT . Mnemonic: AMy EaTs a(E)nts.

eg:leger

• I:legam
• II:leges
• III:leget

Plural

• I:legemus
• II:legetis
• III:legent

External links

• http://www.inrebus.com/mnemoniclatin.php Latin gender rhymes from Kennedy's Latin Primer

Donate to Wikimedia