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Latin Adjectives

The Latin Adjectives section covers all five textbook adjective patterns, with full case × number × gender paradigms for every adjective in the catalogue plus comparative and superlative derivation. The catalogue contains around 150 adjectives in v1.0 across the five patterns.

This section has the same Setup / Study / Test layout as Declensions, with one extra test type unique to Latin — the Concordance Drill.

The five adjective patterns

1st/2nd-declension -us / -a / -um

The textbook starting point. Masculine takes 2nd-declension -us endings, feminine takes 1st-declension -a, neuter takes 2nd-declension -um. Examples: bonus / bona / bonum, magnus / magna / magnum, malus / mala / malum.

This is by far the largest group — about 70 of the 150 adjectives in the catalogue follow this pattern.

1st/2nd-declension -er / -a / -um

Same shape as the -us pattern, but the masculine nominative singular ends in -er instead of -us. Two sub-patterns:

  • Keeps the e in oblique cases: miser / misera / miserum (acc. miserum, gen. miserī…)
  • Drops the e : pulcher / pulchra / pulchrum, sacer / sacra / sacrum

The app handles both automatically based on the lemma's stored stem.

3rd-declension two-ending

The masculine and feminine share a form; the neuter takes a different one. Examples: fortis / fortis / forte, brevis / brevis / breve, facilis / facilis / facile.

These follow the i-stem 3rd-declension pattern in the oblique cases (ablative singular in -ī, genitive plural in -ium, neuter nom/acc plural in -ia).

3rd-declension one-ending

A single nominative form across all three genders, with a distinct paradigm visible in the genitive. Examples: ingēns (gen. ingentis), fēlīx (gen. fēlīcis), sapiēns (gen. sapientis), audāx (gen. audācis).

The lemma is always shown with the genitive in the lexicon entry so the stem is unambiguous.

3rd-declension three-ending

Three distinct nominative singular forms across the three genders. The smallest group — about a dozen adjectives. Examples: ācer / ācris / ācre, celer / celeris / celere, alacer / alacris / alacre.

Comparative and superlative

Every adjective in the catalogue produces its comparative (-ior / -ius) and superlative (-issimus / -issima / -issimum by default, plus the textbook irregulars).

The comparative is regular: fortis → fortior, fortius; altus → altior, altius. The comparative declines as a 3rd-declension two-ending adjective with consonant-stem endings (not i-stem) — so genitive plural fortiōrum / fortiōrum (not fortiōrium) and ablative singular fortiōre / fortiōrī.

The superlative is mostly regular with three productive sub-rules:

  • Default: -issimus / -issima / -issimum — altus → altissimus, fortis → fortissimus.
  • After -er stems: -rimus — miser → miserrimus, ācer → ācerrimus, celer → celerrimus.
  • After the facilis family (six adjectives): -illimus — facilis → facillimus, difficilis → difficillimus, similis → simillimus, dissimilis → dissimillimus, gracilis → gracillimus, humilis → humillimus.

The fully irregular suppletives — bonus → melior → optimus, magnus → maior → maximus, malus → peior → pessimus, parvus → minor → minimus, multus → plūs → plūrimus — are stored explicitly and surfaced with a "suppletive" tag on their lexicon entries.

What's on each screen

Setup

  • Select Adjectives — pick which adjectives are in your drill pool. Filterable by pattern, CEFR / textbook chapter, topic, and frequency.
  • Select Tenses (not applicable) — adjectives don't have tenses, so this row doesn't appear in the Adjective coach.

Study

  • Adjective Paradigms — full case × number × gender tables for every adjective. Same shape as the noun Declension Paradigms screen.
  • Adjective Meanings — searchable list with translations, browsable A–Z.
  • Comparative / Superlative Reference — a dedicated card showing the comparative and superlative for the currently-viewed adjective, with the derivation rule annotated.

Test

  • Decline the Adjective — production drill, given lemma + case + number + gender, type the form. Same model as Decline the Noun.
  • Recognise the Form — recognition drill, given a form, identify case + number + gender.
  • Comparative / Superlative Drill — given the positive form, produce the comparative or superlative. Catches the irregulars and the -rimus / -illimus sub-rules.
  • Concordance Drill — adjective–noun agreement in a real sentence frame. The drill no other consumer iOS Latin app implements; covered on its own page.
  1. Start with 1st/2nd-decl -us* / -a / -um as your pool. It's the largest group and the textbook starting point.
  2. Use Adjective Paradigms as your reference while you're drilling.
  3. Run Decline the Adjective and Recognise the Form in alternating sessions, the same as for nouns.
  4. Add 3rd-declension two-ending as your second pool. The i-stem features in the oblique cases need separate muscle memory.
  5. Add the comparative / superlative drill once positive forms are automatic.
  6. The Concordance Drill is the integration drill — use it once you can produce both noun and adjective forms reliably. It tests whether you can put them together in a sentence, which is the real skill.