[george wythe]

Examples of English equivalents:

Nominative : I, George

Genitive: Mine, George's

Dative: [to] me, [to] George

Accusative: Me, George

etc, etc,

Am I in the right track?

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

Here's a handy chart that might help:

Let's watch a the Latin noun puella (girl) as it inflects through its different cases:

SINGULAR		APPROXIMATE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
NOMINATIVE	puella	girl
GENITIVE	puellae	of the girl
DATIVE	puellae	to/for the girl
ACCUSATIVE	puellam	girl
ABLATIVE	puella	by/with the girl
VOCATIVE	puella	girl
PLURAL
NOMINATIVE	puellae	girls
GENITIVE	puellarum	of the girls
DATIVE	puellis	to/for the girls
ACCUSATIVE	puellas	girls
ABLATIVE	puellis	by/with the girls
VOCATIVE	puellae	girls

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

I am not very clear on it all yet either, since I am just learning myself at age 35. I just wanted to post some helpful stuff in case someone was interested like a homeschooler parent.

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

Here is a site that has a simple looking explaination for Latin declensions: http://lonestar.texas.net/~jebbo/learn-as/ch2.htm

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

From Transparent Languages "31 Languages of the World" CD Latin Grammar help file:

---

Latin NOUNS and ADJECTIVES are declined in one of six cases.

1) NOMINATIVE (nom.), for the subject of the verb.
Servus venit. "THE SLAVE is coming."

2) VOCATIVE (voc.), for direct address.
Tê exspectant, serve. "They await you, O SLAVE."

3) GENITIVE (gen.), to indicate that something is a possession or a part of something else, or to describe a characteristic quality or value.
Servus Cicerônis vigilat. "CICERO'S slave keeps watch."

servus magnae virtûtis "a slave OF GREAT COURAGE"

4) DATIVE (dat.), for the indirect object, or to indicate the party receiving an advantage or disadvantage from an action, or to indicate possession with est or sunt.
Servô litterâs dedit. "He gave the letter TO A SLAVE."
Servus nôbîs iânuam claudit. "The slave shuts the door FOR US."
Est servus mihi. "There is a slave TO ME." = "I have a slave."

5) ACCUSATIVE (acc.), for the direct object of the verb, or the subject of an infinitive verb, or to indicate movement towards/against or extent of time or space.

Servum verberat. "He is whipping THE SLAVE."
Dîcô servum callidum esse. "I say THE SLAVE is clever."
Servus Carthâginem veniet. "The slave will come TO CARTHAGE."

6) ABLATIVE (abl.), for the agent or instrument by which something is done ("by"), or to indicate separation or source ("from"), or for an accompanying object or characteristic or circumstance ("with"), or to express comparison ("than"), or to indicate position in space or time ("in").

Iânua â servô clausa est. "The door was shut BY THE SLAVE."
Servus ex cellâ cucurrit. "The slave ran FROM THE ROOM."
Servus cum virtûte pugnat. "The slave fights WITH COURAGE."
Servus est dominô altior. "The slave is taller THAN (HIS) MASTER."
Servus aestâte labôrat. "The slave works IN THE SUMMER."

7) There is also a rare LOCATIVE (loc.) case used with the names of towns or small islands, and with a very few nouns such as domus (locative domî, "at home").

Servum domî exspectant. "They await the slave AT HOME."