Mnemonic Devices
Mnemonic Devices for Learning Latin
A somewhat systematized compilation of mnemonic devices
I. Verbs
1. The conjugations' thematic vowels in the subjunctive
wE bEAt A lIAr. [We beat a liar]John Franklin
clEm EAts clAms in sIAm.
Leo Curran
2. Vowels in the Future
Conjugations One and Two, in the future Bo Bi Bu;Conjugations Four and Three, in the future A then E.
John McMahon
3. Present imperatives without "e":
Dic, duc, fac and fer should have an "e" but it isn't there. Bruce Macbain.Dic the duc has fer and it's a fac! Anne Mackay
Dic the duc has fer on his fac. Philippa Matheson
II. Nouns, adjectives
1. Feminine nouns of the second declension
Domus, "house", and manus, "hand", feminine will always stand.Claude Pavur
Also the names of towns, islands, and trees.
2. Genders in the third declension
a. First the natural gender rule (words which denote men are masculine, etc.).b. Then "the ERROR, SOX, LANCET (US, RIS) rule" (Henle)
Masculine: nominative in -er, -r, or -or.
Feminine: nominative in -s, -o, or -x.
Neuter: nominative in -l, -a, -n, -c, -e, or -t, or nom. in -us (-ris).
c. Exceptions: Masculine: nom. in -os, -nis, -quis, and -cis
and -ex (-icis) and -es (-itis).
Feminine: tree names (incl. arbor), mons, pons, fons, dens.
[Native speakers themselves sometimes could not always agree on the gender of a word (pulvis and pumex come to mind), and that there are ancient (as in Pliny the Elder) and early medieval treatises called 'De dubiis nominibus'. (Pliny's is not extant.)] Ed Menes
3. Liquid stems (-l & -r) in the third declension
(to the tune of *Farmer in the Dell*):"Blank, -is, -i, -em and -e,
Blank, -is, -i, -em and -e,
-Es, -um, -ibus and -es, ibus,
Blank, -is, -i, -em and -e."
John McMahon
4. i-stem Adjectives forming their genitive with -ius and dative with -i (acronym= "unus nauta"):
Unus Nullus Ullus Solus - Neuter Alter Uter Totus Alius.Patricia Johnston, Traditio, > John Gruber-Miller
or (less complete): "Some Uncles' Umbrellas Are All Too Nice."
--> solus, unus, ullus, alter, alius, totus, nullus.
5. Nemo
For NEMO never let me say NEMINIS or NEMINE. Robert Todd
III. Syntax
1. Subjunctive
Tantum, quantum, licet, cum take the subjunctive, boom, boom, BOOM.Claude Pavur
2. Names of subjunctives
a. hortatory = the "salad subjunctive" ("let us" eat cake)b. jussive = the "Marie Antoinette subjunctive" ("let them" eat cake)
Laura Abrahamsen
3. Dum with the subjunctive
"These words in feeble minds instill: / dum with subjunctive means 'until'"Agnes Michels > Mary Pendergraft > Rob Ulery
4. Si, nisi, num, ne
After si, nisi, num and ne, "ali-" takes a holiday (or ... all the alis go away).Tom McCreight
5. On the exclusive use of aut
"aut...aut: throw one out; vel...vel: what the hell."Jim Helm
6. Five verbs which take the ablative
utor, fruor, fungor, potior, vescoror (less complete), the acronym PUFF
potior, utor, fruor, fungor
students from Cornell College Latin 102
IV. Calendar
In March, July, October, MayThe Ides are on the 15th day
The Nones the 7th, but all besides
Have two days less for Nones and Ides. David J. White