FIRST AND SECOND DECLENSIONS (ā- AND o-STEMS)

Stems ending in ro- preceded by e form the Nominative Masculine like puer (§ 47) and are declined as follows:—

Like miser are declined asper, gibber, lacer, līber, prosper (also pros perus), satur (-ura, -urum), tener, with compounds of -fer and -ger: as, saetiger, -era, -erum, bristle-bearing; also, usually, dexter. In these the e belongs to the stem; but in dextra it is often omitted: as, dextra manus, the right hand.

The following lack a nominative singular masculine in classic use: cētera, īnfera, postera, supera. They are rarely found in the singular except in certain phrases: as, posterō diē, the next day.

Stems in ro- preceded by a consonant form the Nominative Masculine like ager (§ 47) and are declined as follows:—

Like niger are declined aeger, āter, crēber, faber, glaber, integer, lūdicer, macer, piger, pulcher, ruber, sacer, scaber, sinister, taeter, vafer; also the possessives noster, vester (§ 145).

The following nine adjectives with their compounds have the Genitive Singular in -īus and the Dative in -ī in all genders:

Of these the singular is thus declined:—

The plural of these words is regular, like that of bonus (§ 110).

The genitive in -īus, dative in -ī, and neuter in -d are pronominal in origin (cf. illīus, illī, illud, and § 146).

The i of the genitive ending -īus, though originally long, may be made short in verse; so often in alterius and regularly in utriusque.

Instead of alīus, alterīus is commonly used, or in the possessive sense the adjective aliēnus, belonging to another, another's.

In compounds—as alteruter—sometimes both parts are declined, sometimes only the latter. Thus, alterī utrī or alterutrī, to one of the two.