Grammatical Cases
A complete Latin noun declension consists of seven grammatical cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative and locative.
They are abbreviated to the first three letters.
The sequence NOM-VOC-ACC-GEN-DAT-ABL has been the usual order taught in Britain and many Commonwealth countries since the publication of Hall Kennedy's Latin Primer (1866). It reflects the tendencies of different cases to share similar endings (see Syncretic trends below). For a discussion of other sequences taught elsewhere, see here. However, some schools teach it in the order NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC-ABL-VOC, as first given.
Read more about this topic: Latin Declension
Famous quotes containing the words grammatical and/or cases:
“As a particularly dramatic gesture, he throws wide his arms and whacks the side of the barn with the heavy cane he uses to stab at contesting bidders. With more vehemence than grammatical elegance, he calls upon the great god Caveat Emptor to witness with what niggardly stinginess these flinty sons of Scotland make cautious offers for what is beyond any question the finest animal ever beheld.”
—Administration in the State of Arka, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“I want in all cases to do right.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)