Dative and Ablative Plural: -is

Dative and Ablative Plural Endings -is

Level 2

One ending for two jobs.

How It Works

Noun	Plural in -is	As dative	As ablative
puella	puellis	to the girls	with the girls
amicus	amicis	to the friends	with the friends
verbum	verbis	to the words	with the words

After cum, in, ex and sine, the plural in -is is the ablative. After dat, dicit and portat, it is the dative.

Third declension nouns use -ibus for both, as in hominibus, which you meet at Level 3.

Only the sentence tells the two jobs apart. Ask whether a preposition stands in front, or whether the verb gives something to someone.

Pueris and puellis are both easy to spot: the ending -is on a second or first declension noun is always plural.

Marcus puellis rosas dat.
Marcus gives the girls roses.
Puellis is dative. The verb dat tells you.
Cum amicis in horto sum.
I am in the garden with my friends.
Amicis is ablative after cum.
Pueri amicis libros dant.
The boys give books to their friends.
Amicis is dative.
Nos in villis habitamus.
We live in the houses.
Villis is ablative after in.
Puellis et pueris donum do.
I give a gift to the girls and the boys.
Puellis and pueris are both dative.

Using the accusative after cum.
Cum amicos in horto sum.
Cum amicis in horto sum.
Cum takes the ablative. The plural ablative of amicus is amicis.

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Dative and Ablative Plural: -isLevel 2Dative and Ablative Plural Endings -is

One plural ending serves both the dative and the ablative, so the ablative and plurals come first.

Patterns that build on this one.

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