Classical Languages - Latin - Syntax - Uses of the Cases

Uses of the Cases

Morphology taught the forms of the cases. This page and its children teach their uses. It is the biggest topic in the Latin grammar, because the case system does the work that English does with word order and prepositions. This overview gives the map: the main functions of each case, the prepositions that go with them, the way verbs choose their cases, and the expressions of place. The details are on the pages for each case.

The principle

A case is a function marker. Which case a noun stands in depends on what it is doing in the sentence, not on what it means:

Brūtus Caesarem amat. (Brutus: subject; Caesar: object)

Caesar Brūtī amīcus est. (Brutus: possessor, Brutus's friend)

Caesar Brūtō dōnum dat. (Brutus: recipient, to Brutus)

The same person, Brutus, appears in three cases because he does three jobs. English would use word order (Brutus loves…), 's and to.

The cases at a glance

Case	Main uses	English equivalent	Page
Nominative	subject; predicate noun or adjective	(none)	Nominative and vocative
Vocative	direct address	O …	Nominative and vocative
Accusative	direct object; goal of motion; extent of space and time; after many prepositions	(none), to, for	Accusative
Genitive	possession, relationship, description, the whole (partitive)	of, 's	Genitive
Dative	indirect object; person who benefits or is harmed; possessor with sum	to, for	Dative
Ablative	means, manner, cause, separation, place where, time when, accompaniment	by, with, from, in, at	Ablative and locative
Locative	place where, for a few words	at, in	Ablative and locative

Examples

Case	Example	Translation
Nominative	Salūs populī suprēma lēx estō.	Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law. (Cicero, De Legibus 3.3.8)
Genitive	Salūs populī suprēma lēx estō.	the welfare of the people
Dative	Nōn scholae, sed vītae discimus.	We learn not for school but for life.
Accusative	Arma virumque canō.	I sing of arms and the man. (Vergil, Aeneid 1.1)
Ablative	quī ipsōrum linguā Celtae ... appellantur	who are called Celts in their own language (Caesar, De bello Gallico 1.1)
Vocative	Quō ūsque tandem abūtēre, Catilīna, patientiā nostrā?	How long, Catiline, will you abuse our patience? (Cicero, Against Catiline 1.1)

Three layers

It helps to see the cases in three groups:

1. The core of the clause: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object) and dative (indirect object). These are the grammatical cases, and they are tied to the verb.
2. The link between nouns: the genitive, which relates one noun to another (Brūtī amīcus).
3. The adverbial cases: the ablative and locative, which say how, where, when, with what, from what.

The vocative stands outside the clause: it addresses a person and takes no part in the structure.

A useful test when you meet a noun is to ask it a question:

Question	Case
Who or what does it?	nominative
Whom or what does it affect?	accusative
To or for whom?	dative
Whose? Of what?	genitive
By what means? From what? Where? When?	ablative (or locative)
Who is addressed?	vocative

Cases and verbs: government

A verb governs (demands) a particular case for its object. Most transitive verbs take the accusative, but some take a different case, and these must be learned with the verb.

Case demanded	Typical verbs	Example
Accusative	most transitive verbs	Brūtus Caesarem amat.
Dative	verbs of favouring, helping, harming, pleasing, trusting, persuading, obeying, commanding, resisting, pardoning: faveō, noceō, placeō, crēdō, persuādeō, pāreō, imperō, resistō, ignoscō	Puer magistrō crēdit. The boy trusts the teacher. (constructed)
Genitive	verbs of remembering and forgetting: meminī, oblīvīscor; some verbs of accusing and convicting (the charge)	meminī with the genitive or accusative
Ablative	the deponents ūtor, fruor, fungor, potior, vescor	Quō ūsque tandem abūtēre patientiā nostrā? (Cicero, abūtor takes the ablative)

Several of these verbs are translated into English with a direct object, which is why the dative is a trap: faveō is I favour, but takes the dative (Caesarī faveō).

Nouns, adjectives and prepositions also govern cases: adjectives of fullness take the genitive or ablative, adjectives of likeness and nearness the dative, and every preposition takes an accusative or an ablative.

Prepositions

A preposition stands before its noun and governs it in either the accusative or the ablative. The case is fixed for each preposition.

With the accusative	With the ablative
ad to, towards	ā, ab from, by
ante before	cum with
apud at, among	dē down from, about
circum around	ē, ex out of
contrā against	prae in front of
inter between, among	prō for, in front of
per through	sine without
post after, behind
prope near
propter because of
trans across
ob on account of

Two prepositions take both, with a difference in meaning:

Preposition	Accusative: motion towards	Ablative: rest
in	in urbem into the city	in urbe in the city
sub	sub mūrum to a point under the wall	sub mūrō under the wall

Dulce et decōrum est prō patriā morī.

It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. (Horace, Odes 3.2.13; prō takes the ablative)

Gallia est omnis dīvīsa in partēs trēs.

All Gaul is divided into three parts. (Caesar, De bello Gallico 1.1; in with the accusative: motion into)

The prepositions are treated in full on the page Invariable words.

Expressions of place

The expression of place is the clearest case where Latin chooses between the accusative, the ablative and the locative:

	Common nouns	Names of towns and small islands	domus, rūs
Place where	in + ablative: in Italiā	locative: Rōmae, Athēnīs, Carthāginī	domī, rūrī
Place to which	ad or in + accusative: in Italiam	accusative alone: Rōmam	domum, rūs
Place from which	ā, ab, dē, ē, ex + ablative: ex Italiā	ablative alone: Rōmā	domō, rūre

The rules for place are given in full on the Accusative and Ablative pages.

Sample analysis

Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs ...

I sing of arms and the man, who first from the shores of Troy ... (Vergil, Aeneid 1.1)

Word	Case	Function
arma, virum	accusative	direct objects of canō
Trōiae	genitive	possessor, of Troy
ōrīs	ablative	place from which, after ab: from the shores

Four cases appear in a single line of four words, and the position of the words does not tell you which is which.

Common pitfalls

• Translating the case by the English preposition alone. The ablative is not just by: it also means with, from, in and at.
• Assuming a verb that takes a direct object in English takes the accusative in Latin. Check the dictionary for faveō, noceō, crēdō, ūtor and the like.
• Forgetting that a preposition governs one fixed case. ad always takes the accusative, ab always the ablative.
• Mixing up in with the accusative and the ablative. Motion takes the accusative, rest the ablative.
• Using the preposition with town names. Rōmam, not ad Rōmam, for to Rome, in the standard rule.
• Taking the first noun for the subject. The nominative decides.

Self-test

1. Name the case of the word and its function: Brūtī in Caesar Brūtī amīcus est; Brūtō in Caesar Brūtō dōnum dat.
2. Which case does faveō govern, and what trap does it set?
3. Give the case and meaning of: in urbem, in urbe, ab urbe, ad urbem.
4. How do you say to Rome, at Rome and from Rome?
5. Which preposition in prō patriā governs which case?
6. Which cases occur in Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs?
7. What case does abūtor take in Cicero's abūtēre patientiā nostrā?
8. Which cases are the core cases, and which is the adverbial case?

Answers

1. Genitive (possessor); dative (indirect object).
2. The dative. English favour takes a direct object, but Latin demands Caesarī faveō.
3. Accusative, into the city; ablative, in the city; ablative, from the city; accusative, to the city.
4. Rōmam, Rōmae, Rōmā.
5. prō governs the ablative.
6. Accusative (arma, virum), genitive (Trōiae), ablative (ōrīs); the nominative quī too.
7. The ablative.
8. Nominative, accusative and dative are core; the ablative (with the locative) is adverbial.

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