Grammatica Capitulum XIII · Annus et mēnsēs

The chapter where Latin learns to say when. It opens the fifth and last declension, gives time a case of its own — the ablative without a preposition —, moves ante and post from place to moment, and completes the file of ranks up to the twelfth.

It also gives the adjective its third and last degree, the superlative.

One thing from the chapter is not here: the imperfect erat / erant, which the book slips in along the way. The course teaches it at capitulum XIX, along with every other past tense.

1. The fifth declension

One paradigm only, that of diēs:

Three things to remember:

• The genitive in -ēī is this declension's signature, and the dative is identical to it.
• The nominative singular and the nominative plural are the same form, diēs. The verb decides: diēs longus est (one day), diēs longī sunt (several days).
• diēs looks like a 3rd-declension nominative plural (mēnsēs, noctēs), but its accusative diem says otherwise. As always, the genitive gives the declension.

The chapter's words: diēs and merīdiēs, both masculine; faciēs (face) and glaciēs (ice), both feminine. The shape says nothing about gender: it is learnt with the word.

2. The ablative that says when

To place an action in time, Latin uses no preposition at all: it puts the time word in the ablative.

• Nocte sōl nōn lūcet. — at night
• Hieme nix est, aestāte imber. — in winter, in summer
• Vēre avēs canunt, autumnō folia cadunt. — in spring, in autumn
• Hōrā sextā merīdiēs est. — at the sixth hour
• Mēnse prīmō annus initium habet. — in the first month

Do not confuse it with place, which keeps its preposition: in monte nix est, but hieme nix est.

3. ante and post move to time

The two prepositions of capitulum VI still govern the accusative, but they now serve to divide the day and the year:

• ante merīdiem / post merīdiem
• post vesperum nox venit
• post hiemem vēr rūrsus venit

4. Ranks, from fifth to twelfth

Eight 1st-class adjectives, agreeing like magnus:

quīntus, sextus, septimus, octāvus, nōnus, decimus, ūndecimus, duodecimus.

• They follow their noun and take its ending: mēnsis quīntus, hōra sexta, tempus quārtum.
• Do not confuse them with the numerals that count: quīnque (five) against quīntus (fifth), duodecim (twelve) against duodecimus (twelfth). The former never change shape.
• Two spelling traps: nōnus loses the -v- of novem, and septimus turns the -e- of septem into -i-, as decem → decimus.

5. Three nominatives that hide their stem

The -x is only a c or a v followed by an s. You will never guess nivis from nix: the genitive has to be learnt with the word.

And mind the ablative: nox, imber and nix have a genitive plural in -ium (noctium, imbrium, nivium), but their ablative singular stays in -e — nocte, imbre, nive. That is exactly the rule of capitulum XII.

6. Two words apart

• māne never declines. One single form, everywhere. Latin has few such words; this is the course's first.
• tempus, temporis (neuter) says two things: time in general, and — in the plural, with the genitive annī — the seasons: quattuor tempora annī.

7. The superlative, the highest degree

Capitulum XII gave altior, "higher". Here is altissimus, "the highest of all". Three formations, and not one more:

• The rule: -issimus, -a, -um welded to the stem, then declined like magnus. altus → altissimus, brevis → brevissimus, clārus → clārissimus, frīgidus → frīgidissimus.
• Words in -er take -errimus on the full form: pulcher → pulcherrimus, never pulchrissimus.
• Five adjectives take another word: bonus → optimus, malus → pessimus, magnus → maximus, parvus → minimus, multī → plūrimī. parvissimus does not exist.

Do not put quam after a superlative. The comparative sets two terms against each other (clārior quam lūna); the superlative names the highest degree within a set, and that set is said in the genitive plural: sōl stēllārum clārissimus est.

Two words of the unit are already superlatives in shape: postrēmus (the last, opposite of prīmus) and the name of the degree itself, superlātīvus, a 2nd-declension masculine like comparātīvus.

8. Counting: what moves and what does not

From two hundred on, the hundred agrees with what it counts, exactly like multī: ducentī virī, ducentae fēminae, ducenta oppida. Below that, nothing moves.

And remember the chapter's great pair: the count stands still (duodecim mēnsēs), the rank is declined (mēnsis duodecimus).

9. The three dates of the Roman month

Three words only, and all three plural only:

• kalendae, kalendārum — the 1st of the month.
• nōnae, nōnārum — the 5th or the 7th, depending on the month. The name comes from nōnus.
• īdūs, īduum — the 13th or the 15th: the middle. This is a feminine 4th declension, which is rare.

A fourth word counts the days differently: aequinoctium, made of aequus and nox — the day when night equals day.

10. The four verbs, and the small words

• incipere (to begin) belongs to the mixed 3rd conjugation, like capere: incipit, incipiunt.
• operīre (to cover) belongs to the 4th: operit, operiunt. Do not confuse it with aperīre (to open), which says exactly the opposite.
• illūstrāre (to light up) needs an object — sōl terram illūstrat — where lūcēre stands alone.
• nōmināre (to name) is used mostly in the passive: hoc tempus aestās nōminātur.

And the six small words that remain:

• quandō? asks the question this whole chapter answers. Quandō nix est? Hieme.
• nunc (now) and tunc (then) go in pairs.
• igitur (therefore) never comes first: it slips in after the opening word, like autem and enim.
• item (likewise) takes up a statement for a second case; vel (or) opens a choice.

11. The comparative, reused

The comparative of capitulum XII comes back whole on the vocabulary of time, with quam and a second term in the same case:

• Lūx sōlis clār*ior est quam lūx stēllārum.*
• Aestāte diēs long*iōrēs sunt quam hieme.*
• Aqua hieme frīgid*ior est quam aestāte.*

The vocabulary of the eight units

• Passing time: annus, mēnsis, diēs, hōra, tempus, initium, nox, saeculum.
• The day and its light: māne, merīdiēs, vesper, lūx, lūna, stēlla, clārus, obscūrus.
• The seasons: vēr, aestās, autumnus, hiems, calidus, frīgidus, imber, nix.
• Ranks: quīntus, sextus, septimus, octāvus, nōnus, decimus, ūndecimus, duodecimus.
• Shape and water: faciēs, fōrma, urbs, lacus, glaciēs, tōtus, exiguus, aequus.
• Around the superlative: superlātīvus, postrēmus, dīmidius, indēclīnābilis, tunc, nunc, igitur, item.
• Counting the days: ūndecim, trīgintā, sexāgintā, ducentī, trecentī, kalendae, nōnae, īdūs.
• Acting: aequinoctium, nōmināre, illūstrāre, incipere, operīre, vel, quandō.