The Vocative Case
The case for calling someone.
How It Works
| Nominative | Vocative | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Marcus | Marce | -us becomes -e |
| Dominus | Domine | -us becomes -e |
| Filius | Fili | -ius becomes -i |
| Iulia | Iulia | no change |
| amici | amici | no change |
Marce sounds like MAR-keh in classical Latin and MAR-cheh in Church Latin. Domine is DOH-mee-neh in both.
The word Deus keeps its own form: Deus meus means my God. The vocative of meus is mi: mi amice means my friend.
Prayers use it to call the one who is addressed: Domine, Christe, Sancte Francisce.
Latin often puts the vocative near the start of a sentence, as in English: Marce, audi! is Marcus, listen!
Examples (5)
- Salve, Marce!
Hello, Marcus!
Marce is the vocative of Marcus.
- Audi, Iulia!
Listen, Iulia!
Iulia is the same in the vocative.
- Gloria tibi, Domine.
Glory to you, O Lord.
Domine is the vocative of Dominus. Tibi means to you.
- Fili, audi.
Son, listen.
Fili is the vocative of filius.
- Et tu, Brute?
You too, Brutus?
Brute is the vocative of Brutus. Shakespeare gave Caesar these words.
Common Mistakes
Calling someone with the nominative form.
Salve, Marcus!Salve, Marce!Marcus is the form for the subject. When you call a man named Marcus, the form is Marce.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The vocative looks like the nominative except for nouns in -us, so the second family comes first.
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice The Vocative Case in Bubblegum
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