LCII Third Declension Neuter endings

[Carol]

We are somewhat befuddled.

In lesson XXI we are given the nominative endings for 3rd declension neuter nouns: "us,e, en and ar".

In the grammar section we are asked to apply the neuter endings rule to determine which of the vocabulary words are clearly neuter. Why is "cor" among those words?

Similarly, why is "caput" from Lesson IV among them?

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,
Carol

[magistra6]

The endings given in the "Neuter endings rule" are not the only endings that third declension neuter nouns can have, nor are all words with these endings neuter. So the "rule" is really a guide to some endings that are usually neuter. In the text, neuter words that follow the rule will not be marked, but neuter words that don't follow the rule will be marked "n." I guess students for centuries have wished for hard and fast rules to tell the gender of 3rd declension nouns, but there aren't any!