Adjectives
After getting familiar with Latin nouns, adjectives are going to look very familiar. The main difference you'll notice is that an adjective can be more than one gender. This is because Latin adjectives match the gender of the nouns they modify. The same goes for the case and number (singular or plural). What does stay the same for every adjective is its declension. That's where you'll see your patterns most: within declensions.Adjectives may look confusing at first because they seem to have so many endings. These endings will match when the adjective and the noun are in the same declension, but otherwise they may not look like they go together. Just remember that, for the most part, you're applying the endings that you already know. Within each of the declensions, adjectives follow patterns for what gender they are, so before long, you may find that adjectives are even easier than nouns.
Just a hint: the key is to figure out which declension the adjective is in, then you can look up the information you need to pair it with a noun (case, number, and gender). Alright so here's your table:
Now to step it up a level...
Comparison of Adjectives
Adjectives may change form when they're used to compare the qualities of nouns they modify. In Latin, there are three types of adjectives that we can use to compare:Positive: This burger is good.
Comparative: The cheeseburger is better.
Superlative: The deluxe cheeseburger is best.
Positive adjectives behave just like normal adjectives, even though they appear on the other side of linking verbs. "Good" will decline just as it would if it appeared in front of the word "burger."
Comparative and superlative adjectives will look a little different, but they use the same stems as the positive adjectives, with a little tweaking to the endings. If you get confused during these descriptions, check the table at the bottom, and you'll get a better feel for what I'm talking about.
For comparative adjectives, take the stem from the normal version's masculine genitive singular form. Then, add -ior for masculine and feminine genders, and -ius for the neuter gender.
For superlative adjectives, there are two possible endings depending on the word (I know! But don't worry, you'll get the hang of it while practicing reading). When the adjective uses the masculine genitive singular stem, use the ending -issimus for masculine gender, -issima for feminine, and, as you probably guessed, -issimum for neuter (you'll see this written in dictionaries as -issimus, -a, -um). A superlative adjective might otherwise use the nominative masculine singular stem, in which case the ending will be -rimus, -a, -um.
I know that looks like a jumble of grammar terms, but check out the table below. You can probably already see the patterns, and you will get a feel for the "better" and "best" type adjectives as you practice. You'll notice some irregular forms listed in the bottom column - like all irregular words, you'll find yourself picking these up as you go. It's better to get a solid grounding in the regular stuff first
Again, don't move too fast, give yourself time to see the patterns as you write out the tables. It'll really start to click into place when you're reading Latin!
Further Reading: To read about adjectives in Wheelock's, see Chapter 2, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, and Chapter 16. For comparative adjectives, check out Chapter 26; for superlative adjectives, Chapter 27. Again, try to ignore or skip everything that looks unfamiliar to you. Wheelock has a pretty unique way of introducing content, and by that I mean, it's sort of all over the place. That's why we're only picking out we need; we'll get to the rest later.
UP NEXT: Verbs, the basics and the verb sum.
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