Read the introduction below and watch the video, taking notes.
Unlike English, Latin is an inflected language (which means that the endings of nouns change based on its role in the sentence) and divides its nouns into groups called declensions. Each declension has predictable and fixed patterns for changing endings to go along with the changing grammar. This video discusses at a very basic level what exactly declensions are and how you can identify the declension of a noun given just the nominative and accusative cases.
The last two chapters have focused on the singular and plural forms of nouns and adjectives. So far the text has presented nouns that are the subject of a sentence. The Latin term for the subject form is "nominative." The direct object case is "accusative." Our textbook introduces the accusative or direct object form in the next chapter, Chapter IV.
If you look at the far left side of the white board you will see a poster of all the possible functions of a noun in a sentence and the Latin terms for those functions. Right now you do not have to worry about the grammatical labels for noun functions. It is enough to get the general idea noun endings change depending on function and number (whether the noun is singular or plural). The change of endings is called inflection.
This video is introduces you to the basic concepts of inflection and declension. Video is 4:22 minutes long.
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