Latin nouns have case-endings that make them like little phrases rather than like simple individual words. After you have studied the full chart of the declension, practice perceiving the ending-ambiguities immediately, and instead of thinking of the case-names (e.g. dative, ablative, etc.), give the full meanings as conventionalized here. This chart shows you which endings are unambiguous (have only one case as a possibility), and which are doubly-ambiguous.

Note: These ways of indicating the meanings of the words are only conventions: determining meaning in a sentence is more complex than substituting simple formulae like these. The purpose of this exercise is to get you into the habit of noticing and distinguishing and registering different inflected forms automatically and effortlessly. To achieve the necessary speed and ease of understanding, you should practice these exercises until you recognize the full meanings without having to pause and recall the declension-table. Be aware that in the ablative case, if the noun refers to a person rather than a thing, then the noun is made the object of the preposition a or ab: a puerô does not mean "by means of the boy" but [something was done] "by the boy."

Give the full meaning of each word-form or phrase in the practice-exercises below, following the conventions given above. N.B.: English-to-Latin exercises are found below the Latin-to-English ones.

1. amīcōrum
2. puerum
3. populus
4. fīliō
5. amīcī
6. puerōs
7. populum
8. ager
9. populīs
10. agrī
11. fīliīs
12. amīcum
13. populō
14. amīcus
15. puerī
16. fīlius
17. fīliōrum
18. populōs
19. puer
20. fīliī
21. numerī
22. fīliōs
23. amīcō
24. puerōrum
25. puerō
26. fīlium
27. populī
28. numerum
29. agrōrum
30. agrīs
31. amīcīs
32. agrō
33. numerīs
34. puerīs
35. agrōs
36. numerōrum
37. amīcōs
38. agrum
39. numerōs
40. numerō
41. populōrum
42. numerus

1. field (subject)
2. by the son
3. men (d. obj.)
4. to / for the boys
5. by the friend (m)
6. friend (m) (subject)
7. to / for the peoples
8. by the number
9. of the field
10. of the boys
11. boys (d. obj.)
12. by the boys
13. of the friends (m)
14. to / for the number
15. son (subject)
16. by the people
17. to / for the numbers
18. of the friend (m)
19. to / for the men
20. peoples (d. obj.)
21. number (subject)
22. to / for the boy
23. by the boy
24. to / for the friend (m)
25. of the son
26. numbers (d. obj.)
27. by the men
28. people (subject)
29. by the man
30. of the men
31. of the number
32. boy (subject)
33. sons (d. obj.)
34. by the fields
35. friend (m) (d. obj.)
36. to / for the field
37. of the people
38. man (subject)
39. by the friends (m)
40. field (d. obj.)
41. friends (m) (d. obj.)
42. son (d. obj.)
43. fields (subject)
44. of the boy
45. by the sons
46. men (subject)
47. to / for the people
48. fields (d. obj.)
49. of the peoples
50. number (d. obj.)
51. by the field
52. friends (m) (subject)
53. by the numbers
54. boys (subject)
55. to / for the man
56. of the man
57. of the numbers
58. man (d. obj.)
59. people (d. obj.)
60. sons (subject)
61. by the peoples
62. peoples (subject)
63. of the fields
64. of the sons
65. to / for the son
66. boy (d. obj.)
67. numbers (subject)
68. to / for the friends (m)
69. to / for the fields
70. to / for the sons