General Grammar Grammar Index Page

What are Principal Parts?

Nouns, verbs, and adjectives have principal parts. All nouns, verbs, and adjectives are listed alphabetically according to their principal parts in all Latin dictionaries. The principal parts are used to obtain stems. Stems become the base of that word for its function.

Principal Parts Menu:

Principal Parts of Adjectives

Principal Parts Nom. sg. masculine Nom. sg. feminine Nom. sg. neuter
1st and 2nd Declension altus
pulcher
alta
pulchra
altum
pulchrum
3rd Declension fortis
celer
fortis
celeris
forte
celere

The stem of the adjective comes from the Nom. sg. f. (2nd principal part) by dropping the feminine ending: -a for 1st and 2nd Declension, and the -is for 3rd Declension.
Memoria tene! Declensions: Nouns and adjectives are declined in cases. A noun can belong to only one declension. There are five declensions of nouns. An adjective can belong to only one of two types (1st and 2nd declension or 3rd declension) but will contain endings for all three genders.

Exempli Gratia - The table below gives some examples of an adjective and a noun in agreement, and gives the gender, number and case - all of which must agree!

Adjective & Noun Number Gender Case
tall tree (direct object)
arborem altam
singular feminine Accusative
with tall men
cum virîs altîs
plural masculine Ablative
of the brave boy
puerî fortis
singular masculine Genitive

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