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I am teaching myself Latin. Right now I study how to make plural of nouns. I have found some rules online, depending on the ending of a noun in a nominative singular form. The website says that most times there are two versions of the plural. Is it like that? For example, an apple "malum", can I use both "mala" and "malums"?

(I have found only "mala" in a dictionary for apples in Latin.)

Thank you.

EDIT: Here is an illustration of the two options of a plural form rule:

@-a, plural -s or -ae

formula, formulas or formulae

@-ex, plural -exes or -ices

index, indexes or indices

@-eau, plural -eaus or -eaux

bureau, bureaus or bureaux

BUT:

@-us, plural -uses or -i

focus, foci or focuses

locus, loci [no: locuses]

cmw
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Jan
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  • I edited the initial post proving examples supporting the hypothesis of two plural forms. – Jan Dec 17 '21 at 20:06
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    Pretty sure bureaux isn't Latin! – Sebastian Koppehel Dec 17 '21 at 20:09
  • And for the nouns ending with -um: @-um, plural -a or -ums
    1. atrium, atria or atriums
    2. maximum, maxima or maximums
    3. malum, [mala or malums] ??
     – Jan Dec 17 '21 at 20:12
  • Here they say that the plural is malae: https://www.latin-is-simple.com/en/vocabulary/noun/17795/?h=malum – Jan Dec 17 '21 at 20:28
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    @Jan that website contains utter nonsense. In fairness it says "This word was edited by a user and has not been reviewed yet. There may be some mistakes." And boy does it not disappoint on that count. – Sebastian Koppehel Dec 17 '21 at 20:36
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    You will find the correct forms on Wiktionary, it is generally very reliable. But the real answer is: Forget about dictionaries, buy a beginner's textbook or grammar and start learning about declensions. Latin has five or so of them (the exact counting depends on your textbook), and once you know them, you won't need a table for every single word (and the best dictionaries don't have such tables). – Sebastian Koppehel Dec 17 '21 at 20:43
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    I can't second @SebastianKoppehel's opinion enough. Unverified online resources range from misleading to outright fabrication. You can't trust everything you read on the internet (like everything else!). – cmw Dec 17 '21 at 20:52
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    My favorite is "malum, A declension, masculine gender." At this point I wonder if the site is a troll site deliberately set up to lead people astray. – cmw Dec 17 '21 at 20:54
  • Wiktionary is not a good dictionary. Look: there are two ways how to say plural form of the word index in Latin: indexes and indices, however Wiktionary only lists one of them: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/index#Latin – Jan Dec 17 '21 at 20:54
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    @Jan Wiktionary is right and you are wrong. Indexes may happen in English but not in Latin. – Sebastian Koppehel Dec 17 '21 at 21:04
  • @Sebastan: and how about plural form of formula? In Latin it should be both "formulas" and "formulae". However Wiktionary lists only one of them: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/formula#Latin – Jan Dec 17 '21 at 21:13
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    @Jan In Latin, the only nominative plural for formula is formulae. The accusative plural is formulas. Wiktionary does mention both. – cmw Dec 18 '21 at 14:12

2 Answers2

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I'm afraid the website you're looking at isn't about Latin—these are rules for pluralizing Latin loanwords in English. In English, for example, the plural of "index" can be either the English-derived "indexes" or the Latin-derived "indices". But in Latin, the only valid plural is indicēs.

While it does have the occasional error or overgeneralization, Wiktionary is generally quite good at Latin declension. You might find it a more useful tool for looking up words. But whatever textbook you're learning from should also provide all this information in a useful way. If it doesn't, you should find a better textbook!

Draconis
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No, only mala is correct. Malums is not a possible Latin form.

What website are you using? It seems not to be particularly reliable.

TKR
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