Can you tell the difference between these two sentences?

(1) Ad īnsulam nāvigat cum scaphā

(2) Ad īnsulam nāvigat cum scaphīs

Everything is identical except for “scaphā” and “scaphīs”. As you know, “scaphā” means “boat”, but what does “scaphīs” mean? Scaphīs is the plural ablative, which means that instead of “boat”, it’ll be “boats”. The plural ablative in the first declension will end in -īs. Therefore the first sentence will be “He is sailing to the island with a boat” but the second sentence will be “He is sailing to the island with the boats”.

Now, what’s the difference between these two sentences?

(1) Ad casam cum virō ambulō

(2) Ad casam cum virīs ambulō

The first sentence means, “I am walking to the house with a man”, and the second sentence means, “I am walking to the house with the men”. The second sentence uses the ablative plural, but guess what, the second sentence uses a second declension noun. That means that the ablative plural in both the first and second declension ends in -īs.

Try translating these sentences, and state whether the ablative plural is in the first declension or the second declension :

(1) Pīrātae sine gladiīs nōn pugnant

(2) Magister ad scholam sine tabulīs semper ambulat

Here are the answers :

(1) The pirates are not fighting without swords (second declension)

(2) The teacher always walks to the school without writing tablets (first declension)