Editing Latin declension (section)

=== {{anchor|d1}}{{anchor|First declension}} First declension (''a'' stems) ===
Nouns of this declension usually end in ''-a'' in the nominative singular and are mostly feminine, e.g. {{wikt-lang|la|via|via, viae}} {{abbr|f.|feminine}} ('road') and {{wikt-lang|la|aqua|aqua, aquae}} {{abbr|f.|feminine}} ('water'). There is a small class of masculine exceptions generally referring to occupations, e.g. {{wikt-lang|la|poeta|poēta, poētae}} {{abbr|m.|masculine}} ('poet'), {{wikt-lang|la|agricola|agricola, agricolae}} {{abbr|m.|masculine}} ('farmer'), {{wikt-lang|la|auriga|auriga, aurigae}} {{abbr|m.|masculine}} ('auriga, charioteer'), {{wikt-lang|la|pirata|pīrāta, pīrātae}} {{abbr|m.|masculine}} ('pirate') and {{wikt-lang|la|nauta|nauta, nautae}} {{abbr|m.|masculine}} ('sailor').

The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is ''a''. The nominative singular form consists of the [[stem (linguistics)|stem]] and the [[Suffix#Inflectional suffixes|ending]] ''-a'', and the genitive singular form is the stem plus ''-ae''.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ First declension paradigm
|-
!
! Singular || Plural
|-
! Nominative, Vocative
| -a || -ae
|-
! Accusative
| -am || -ās
|-
! Genitive
| rowspan="2" |  -ae || -ārum
|-
! Dative
| rowspan="2" | -īs
|-
! Ablative
| -ā
|-
! Locative
| ''Gen.'' || ''Dat.''
|}
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | {{wikt-lang|la|mensa|mensa, mensae}}<br />table {{abbr|(f.)|feminine}}
! colspan="2" | {{wikt-lang|la|poeta|poēta, poētae}}<br />poet {{abbr|(m.)|masculine}}
|-
! Singular
! Plural
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! Nominative, Vocative
| mensa || mensae || poēta || poētae
|-
! Accusative
| mensam || mensās || poētam || poētās
|-
! Genitive
| rowspan="2" | mensae{{efn-lr|The archaic genitive ending in ''-ai'' (as in ''aquai'') occurs occasionally in [[Virgil]] and [[Lucretius]], to evoke the style of older writers. Plus, the archaic genitive ending in -ās is used in expressions like ''pater familiās'' (also possible in conjunction with ''māter'', ''fīlius'' and ''fīlia'').}} || mensārum || rowspan="2" | poētae || poētārum
|-
! Dative
| rowspan="2" | mensīs || rowspan="2" | poētīs
|-
! Ablative
| mensā || poētā
|}
{{notelist-lr}}
The locative endings for the first declension are ''-ae'' (singular) and ''-īs'' (plural), similar to the genitive singular and ablative plural, as in ''{{wikt-lang|la|mīlitia|mīlitiae}}'' 'in war' and ''{{wikt-lang|la|Athēnae|Athēnīs}}'' 'at Athens'.<ref>Allen and Greenough. §43 c.</ref>

==== {{anchor|d1g}} First declension Greek nouns ====

{{Main|Declension of Greek nouns in Latin}}

The first declension also includes three types of [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] loanwords, derived from Ancient Greek's [[Ancient Greek nouns#First declension|alpha declension]]. They are declined irregularly in the singular, but sometimes treated as native Latin nouns, e.g. nominative {{wikt-lang|la|athleta|athlēt'''a'''}} ('athlete') instead of the original ''athlēt'''ēs'''''. Archaic ([[Homer]]ic) first declension Greek nouns and adjectives had been formed in exactly the same way as in Latin: ''nephelēgerét'''a''' Zeus'' ('[[Zeus]] the cloud-gatherer') had in classical Greek become ''nephelēgerét'''ēs'''''.

For full paradigm tables and more detailed information, see the Wiktionary appendix [[wiktionary:Appendix:Latin first declension|First declension]].