First Declension: puella

Level 1

Drop the -a to find the stem, then add the endings.

How It Works

CaseSingularPlural
nominativepuellapuellae
genitivepuellaepuellarum
dativepuellaepuellis
accusativepuellampuellas
ablativepuellapuellis
vocativepuellapuellae

Several endings repeat, so use the rest of the sentence to decide. The ending -ae is a genitive or dative singular, or a nominative plural. The ending -a is a nominative or an ablative. Only the ablative has a long a, which the dictionary marks.

Most first declension nouns are feminine. A few name men and are masculine, such as poeta (poet), nauta (sailor) and agricola (farmer). Say the whole set aloud as a chant: puella, puellae, puellae, puellam, puella.

Examples (5)

  1. Puella rosam portat.

    The girl carries a rose.

    Puella is nominative singular and rosam is accusative singular.

  2. Puellae cantant.

    The girls sing.

    Puellae is nominative plural.

  3. Marcus puellas videt.

    Marcus sees the girls.

    Puellas is accusative plural.

  4. Aqua in villa est.

    The water is in the house.

    Aqua is nominative, and villa after in is ablative.

  5. Maria Deum laudat.

    Mary praises God.

    Maria is a first declension name, nominative singular.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the accusative plural as a subject.

    Puellas cantant.
    Puellae cantant.

    Puellas is the accusative plural, the form of an object. The subject of a plural verb is puellae.

How It Connects

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

First Declension: puellaLevel 1

Learn This First

The first family is the model for all the others, so the family overview and the accusative come first.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

-a