An adjective has to have the same ending as the noun it modifies.

Question

for latin

Answer 1

Always remember it this way: they must match in number, gender and case. But they could have different endings, especially if they are in different declensions.

For example:

Agricola bonus -- the good farmer. Those two words match in number (singular), gender (masculine) and case (nominative), but "Agricola" is first declension, and the masculine form of "bonus" has to appear in the second declension.

The same coudl be said of Miles bonus, the good soldier, miles being third declension nominative masculine singular.

Or, for example, Miles fortis (the strong soldier) features a third declension noun and adjective, both nominative masculine singular. Yet the endings are still not the same because not all third declension words form their nominative the same way.

Answer 2

The adjective must agree with the noun it modifies in number and gender.

The "ending" may or may not be the same.

Answer 3

Hi Kayla,

That's a great question, and one that's a little hard to 'wrap your mind around' sometimes.

Nouns and adjectives must agree in gender, case, and number. However, they do not have to agree in Declension, which means that they may/may not agree in ending. This is called the Noun/Adjective Agreement.

So, in short, nouns and adjectives will have the same case endings if they are the same declension. However, the exception to that statement is a noun/adjective combination dealing with a 1st Declension 'masculine' noun. In which case, the noun will be declined in the 1st Declension and the adjective will be declined in the 2nd Declension 'masculine'. An example:

A good farmer (bonus, -a, -um; agricola, -ae, m., farmer): agricola bonus

I hope this helps!

Magistra Fortier

Answer 4

Adjectives aren't always going to have the same ending. Some adjectives don't even add endings! (i.e. numbers four and above). The important thing is that it has the same number, case, and gender.

Answer 5

Words that come into Latin from other languages, such as from Hebrew, can very well be indeclinable and not subject to any change in form

Answer 6

They must always agree but don't always match. "It's what's on the inside that counts!" so to speak.