Dictionary Forms of Nouns

Foundations

Two forms and a letter for gender tell you how to build the whole noun.

How It Works

Dictionary lineDeclensionStemMeaning
rosa, rosae f.firstros-rose
dominus, domini m.seconddomin-lord
verbum, verbi n.secondverb-word
rex, regis m.thirdreg-king
nomen, nominis n.thirdnomin-name
manus, manus f.fourthman-hand
res, rei f.fifthr-thing

The nominative of a third declension noun often hides the stem: rex gives regem, not rexem. That is why the dictionary prints the genitive.

The letters m., f. and n. mean masculine, feminine and neuter. Many dictionaries print the genitive in short form, as in rosa, -ae, where -ae stands for rosae.

Examples (4)

  1. rosa, rosae

    rose

    The genitive -ae shows the first declension. The stem is ros-.

  2. dominus, domini

    lord

    The genitive -i shows the second declension. The stem is domin-.

  3. rex, regis

    king

    The genitive -is shows the third declension. The stem is reg-, so the accusative is regem.

  4. nomen, nominis

    name

    Third declension again. The stem is nomin-, so the plural is nomina.

Common Mistakes

  • Building a case form from the nominative of a third declension noun.

    Video rexem.
    Video regem.

    The stem is reg-, taken from the genitive regis. Add -em to the stem reg-.

How It Connects

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

Dictionary Forms of NounsFoundations

Learn This First

A dictionary entry lists the nominative, the genitive and the gender, so the genders come first.