Noun. General knowledge about nouns: declensions. Numbers and cases. Prepositions. Conjunctions. Prescription

While studying this topic, you will:

• get information about nouns;
• get acquainted with the grammatical form of the nouns of the 1^st declension;
• learn how to write prescriptions and write out the terms with attributes.

The lesson is divided into several sections:

• grammatical categories of the noun. Nouns of the 1^st declension;
• grammatical patterns (Pattern 1: the direct object; Pattern 2: uncoordinated attribute);
• prepositions in the nomenclature of medicinal plants and in prescriptions.

Grammatical categories of the noun

1^st Declension

Nouns ending with the vowel -a in the Nominative Singular and with -ae in the Genitive Singular (e.g., gutta, ae — drop) belong to the 1^st declension. They are all of a feminine gender. For example: herba, ae f (herb, трава).

Some of the words of the Greek origin belong to the 1^st declension. They end with -е in the Nominative Singular and in -es in the Genitive Singular. Such nouns are all feminine. For example: Aloё, ёs f (aloe, алоэ).

Dictionary form. In the dictionary, every noun has got two word forms: Nominative and Genitive. The Genitive case is not mentioned completely (only its ending). In addition, the dictionary states the gender of the noun in the abbreviated form.

• gutta, ae f — drop — капля (I^st declension)
• medicamentum, i n — medicine — лекарство (II^nd declension)
• liquor, oris m — liquid — жидкость (III^rd declension)
• fructus, us m — fruit — плод (IV^th declension)
• species, ei f — species — вид (V^th declension)

Memorize the endings of the 1^st declension nouns in all cases

In Latin we divide the nouns into 5 groups (declensions) and each noun belonging to the particular declension is declined in the same way. These declensions are distinguished according to their basic sound (the sound at the end of the part of the word which is left after the removal of the Genitive plural ending).

NB. According to the tradition of the Pharmacopeia, the names of medicinal plants and drugs are usually capitalised.

The example of the declension of the uncoordinated attribute