The first declension consists of Latin words whose stems end in ·a. First declension nouns are almost always feminine, except for a few words that denote men.
Regular
Regular first declension nouns decline like this:
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | puella | puellae |
| vocative | puella | puellae |
| accusative | puellam | puellas |
| genitive | puellae | puellarum |
| dative | puellae | puellis |
| ablative | puella | puellis |
Exceptions
Gender
All the first declension nouns in Oxford Latin Course, Book I, are feminine, except nauta -ae m., sailor.
dea, goddess and filia, daughter
The nouns dea -ae f., goddess and filia -ae f., daughter have irregular dative/ablative plural forms, deabus and filiabus. Therefore:
| word | dative/ablative plural |
|---|---|
| deus -i m., god | dis |
| dea -ae f., goddess | deabus |
| filius -i m., son | filiis |
| filia -ae f., daughter | filiabus |
Aeneas
The name Aeneas -ae m., Aeneas has an irregular nominative singular form: Aeneas. Its other forms are regular, including its vocative singular, Aenea.