Page:Latin for beginners (1911).djvu/130

108 LESSON XLIII THE THIRD DECLENSION • Ī-STEMS 241. To decline a noun of the third declension correctly we must know whether or not it is an i-stem. Nouns with i-stems are

1. Masculines and feminines:

a. Nouns in -ēs and -īs with the same number of syllables in the genitive as in the nominative. Thus caedēs, caedis, is an i-stem, but mīles, mīlitis, is a consonant stem.

b. Nouns in -ns and -rs.

c. Nouns of one syllable in -s or -x preceded by a consonant.

2. Neuters in -e, -al, and -ar.

242. The declension of i-stems is nearly the same as that of consonant stems. Note the following differences:

a. Masculines and feminities have -ium in the genitive plural and -īs or -ēs in the accusative plural.

b. Neuters have -ī in the ablative singular, and an -i- in every form of the plural.

243. Masculine and Feminine I-Stems. Masculine and feminine i-stems are declined as follows: