-ae
_Gen._ portarum _of gates_ -arum
_Dat._ portis _to_ or _for gates_ -is
_Acc._ portas _gates_ (as object) -as
_Voc._ portae _O gates!_ -ae
_Abl._ portis _with, by, from, in gates_ -is

1. The Latin has no article, and porta may mean either _a gate_ or _the
gate_; and in the Plural, _gates_ or _the gates_.

Peculiarities of Nouns of the First Declension.

21. 1. EXCEPTIONS IN GENDER. Nouns denoting males are Masculine; as, nauta,
_sailor_; agricola, _farmer_; also, Hadria, _Adriatic Sea_.

2. Rare Case-Endings,--

a) An old form of the Genitive Singular in -as is preserved in the
combination pater familias, _father of a family_; also in mater familias,
filius familias, filia familias. But the regular form of the Genitive in
-ae is also admissible in these expressions; as, pater familiae.

b) In poetry a Genitive in -ai also occurs; as, aulai.

c) The Locative Singular ends in -ae; as, Romae, _at Rome_.

d) A Genitive Plural in -um instead of -arum sometimes occurs; as,
Dardanidum instead of Dardanidarum. This termination -um is not a
contraction of -arum, but represents an entirely different case-ending.

e) Instead of the regular ending -is, we usually find -abus in the Dative
and Ablative Plural of dea, _goddess_, and filia, _daughter_, especially
when it is important to distinguish these nouns from the corresponding
forms of deus, _god_, and filius, _son_. A few other words sometimes have
the same peculiarity; as, libertabus (from liberta, _freedwoman_),
equabus (_mares_), to avoid confusion with libertis (from libertus,
_freedman_) and equis (from equus, _horse_).

Greek Nouns.

22. These end in -e (Feminine); -as and -es (Masculine). In the Plural they
are declined like regular Latin nouns of the First Declension. In the
Singular they are declined as follows:--

Archias, Epitome, Cometes, _comet_.
_Archias_. _epitome_.
_Nom._ Archias epitome cometes
_Gen._ Archiae epitomes cometae
_Dat._ Archiae epitomae cometae
_Acc._ Archiam (or -an) epitomen cometen
_Voc._ Archia epitome comete (or -a)
_Abl._ Archia epitome comete (or -a)

1. But most Greek nouns in -e become regular Latin nouns i