Asking grammar questions in Latin

I am a high school Latin teacher. My subdepartment uses Wheelock’s, which of course yields excellent results on standardized tests and college placement exams but unfortunately has imparted almost no oral comprehension or intuitive sense of the language. I am planning to weave Orberg into the curriculum next year, but in the meantime, I would at least like to ask my students on grammar questions in Latin.

I am familiar with all of the Latin grammar terms, but I do not know the idioms. For example, in English, I can say “What is the case of this noun?” or “In what case is this noun?” The same applies to tenses, moods, etc. Orberg tends to go with the former (“corporī est datīvus singulāris”), and interestingly has constructions like “conjūnctīvus praesentis,” while we would probably say “present subjunctive” in English. Perhaps this is a difference between Danish and English? Or do we have certain information from Latin grammar references?

In brief, I would love input from those who teach/have learned Latin about such idioms. I am happy to read some ancient grammatical sources as well if they could help answer my question, so references are welcome.

Hi, this should be helpful: http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/don.html I think the last chapter of LLPSI has a brief summary of this. It seems Oerberg took his constructions and terminology from this work. It’s interesting that Donatus only recognizes 3 conjugations of verbs, lumping the 3rd and 4th together, and he sees Latin having an optative mood: utinam legerem he gives as an example. It’s quite fascinating to see how much is the same and also how some terminology and ways of viewing things have changed.

The Q&A format was a popular one, maybe Alcuin’s Grammatica would also be useful.