NOTE 2.—­Names of animals usually have grammatical gender, according to the ending of the Nominative Singular, but the one form may designate either the male or female; as, anser, m., goose or gander.  So vulpes, f., fox; aquila, f., eagle.

NUMBER.

16.  The Latin has two Numbers,—­the Singular and Plural.  The Singular denotes one object, the Plural, more than one.

CASES.

17.  There are six Cases in Latin:—­

Nominative, Case of Subject;
Genitive, Objective with of, or Possessive;
Dative, Objective with to or for;
Accusative, Case of Direct Object;
Vocative, Case of Address;
Ablative, Objective with by, from, in,

          
                      with.

1.  LOCATIVE.  Vestiges of another case, the Locative (denoting place where), occur in names of towns and in a few other words.

2.  OBLIQUE CASES.  The Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and Ablative are called Oblique Cases.

3.  STEM AND CASE-ENDINGS.  The different cases are formed by appending certain case-endings to a fundamental part called the Stem.[12] Thus, portam (Accusative Singular) is formed by adding the case-ending -m to the stem porta-.  But in most cases the final vowel of the stem has coalesced so closely with the actual case-ending that the latter has become more or less obscured.  The apparent case-ending thus resulting is called a termination.

THE FIVE DECLENSIONS.

18.  There are five Declensions in Latin, distinguished from each other by the final letter of the Stem, and also by the Termination of the Genitive Singular, as follows:—­

DECLENSION.      FINAL LETTER OF STEM.    GEN.  TERMINATION. 
First           a                       -ae
Second          o                       -i
Third           i / Some consonant      -is
Fourth          u                       -us
Fifth           e                       -ei / -ei

Cases alike in Form.

19. 1.  The Vocative is regularly like the Nominative, except in the singular of nouns in -us of the Second Declension.

2.  The Dative and Ablative Plural are always alike.

3.  In Neuters the Accusative and Nominative are always alike, and in the Plural end in -a.

4.  In the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Declensions, the Accusative Plural is regularly like the Nominative.

* * * * *

FIRST DECLENSION.

a-Stems.

20.  Pure Latin nouns of the First Declension regularly end, in the Nominative Singular, in -a, weakened from -a, and are of the Feminine Gender.  They are declined as follows:—­

Porta, gate; stem, porta-.