Nominative
subject of a verb
- Quintus et amicus milites spectant.
- Quintus and his friend are watching the soldiers.
- multi fabulam Aeneae audiunt.
- Many people listen to Aeneas's story.
complement of sum esse
- Quintus est puer Romanus.
- Quintus is a Roman boy.
- est ingens saxum in mari.
- There is a huge rock in the sea.
Vocative
addressing someone (or something)
- veni huc, mea filia.
- Come here, my daughter.
- Decime, quid scribis?
- Decimus, what are you writing?
Accusative
object of a verb
- omnes iram tuam timemus.
- We all fear your anger.
- magister nobis tabulas tradit.
- The teacher hands us the boards.
A verb's object usually comes before the verb.
object of most prepositions
- milites saxa in navem coniciunt.
- The soldiers are throwing rocks at the ship.
- Ulixes comites per litus ducit.
- Ulysses leads his companions along the shore.
Prepositions with accusative objects include ad, ante, circum, in, inter, per, post, prope.
A preposition's object almost always comes after the preposition.
Genitive
the owner (the possessive genitive)
- pater Quinti canem domum reducit.
- Quintus's father takes the dog back home.
- omnes consilium regis accipiunt.
- They all accept the king's advice.
The possessive genitive always depends on another noun.
with a number or quantity (the partitive genitive)
- multae navium e proelio fugiunt.
- Many of the ships are fleeing from the battle.
- advenit Quintus cum duobus colonorum.
- Quintus arrived with two of the farmers.
Dative
indirect object of some verbs
- nolite arma militibus tradere.
- Don't hand over the weapons to the soldiers.
- vobis omnia damus quae habemus.
- We are giving you everything we have.
Verbs that often have both direct and indirect objects include do dare, dico dicere, narro narrare, ostendo ostendere, paro parare, reddo reddere, respondeo respondere, trado tradere.
object of some verbs
- decem annos Troiani hostibus resistunt.
- For ten years the Trojans resist the enemy.
- dea Venus regis filiae invidet.
- The goddess Venus envies the king's daughter.
Verbs with dative objects include impero imperare, invideo invidere, placeo placere, occurro occurrere, resisto resistere, succurro succurrere.
Ablative
object of some prepositions
- Horatia amicas in foro exspectat.
- Horatia is waiting in the forum for her friends.
- viri a litore navigant.
- The men sail away from the shore.
Prepositions with ablative objects include a/ab, cum, de, e/ex, in, sub.
A preposition’s object almost always comes after the preposition.