Magnificat

My Soul Magnifies the Lord

Level 2

Mary's song, learned from its first line.

How It Works

LatinEnglish
Magnificat anima mea Dominum,My soul magnifies the Lord,
et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo.and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est,For he who is mighty has done great things for me,
et sanctum nomen eius.and holy is his name.

Anima is feminine, so its describing word is mea. Spiritus is masculine, so its word is meus.

In Church Latin Magnificat sounds like mahn-YEE-fee-kaht, because gn sounds like ny. In classical Latin it is mahng-NEE-fee-kaht.

Examples (4)

  1. Magnificat anima mea Dominum.

    My soul magnifies the Lord.

    Magnificat is the verb, anima mea the subject and Dominum the object.

  2. Et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo.

    And my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

    Exsultavit is a past form, learned whole. In Deo is in plus the ablative.

  3. Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est.

    For he who is mighty has done great things for me.

    Fecit is a past form. Mihi means for me, and magna means great things.

  4. Et sanctum nomen eius.

    And holy is his name.

    Sanctum matches the neuter noun nomen. Eius means his.

Common Mistakes

  • Giving anima a masculine describing word.

    Magnificat anima meus Dominum.
    Magnificat anima mea Dominum.

    Anima is a feminine noun, so the matching form is mea.

  • Putting the Lord in the nominative.

    Magnificat anima mea Dominus.
    Magnificat anima mea Dominum.

    The Lord is what the soul magnifies, so Dominum is the accusative. Dominus would make him the subject.

How It Connects

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

MagnificatLevel 2My Soul Magnifies the Lord

Learn This First

Magnificat is a first-family verb, and the canticle is sung with Church sounds.

Words in This Pattern

magnifico