Chapter 7 introduces the third declension. The first, second and third declensions are the sets of noun endings most commonly used in Latin. (The fourth and fifth declension endings, which we will study later, are only used with a few words).
The nominative of a third declension noun can end in a number of ways: -o, -or, -tio, -tas, -men, etc. You have to get the nominative form from the vocabulary entry. The genitive ending is always -is. The other endings are listed on p. 55 of Wheelock.
You can't usually tell what the gender of a third declension noun is, you have to get it from the vocabulary entry. There are a few exceptions to this: If the nom. singular ends in -or, the noun is masculine; if the nom. singular ends in -us (and is third declension), -men, -al, -ar or -e, the noun is neuter.
There are lots of abstract nouns in the third declension that use specific suffixes (suffix = anything put on the end of a word). Those abstract nouns are always feminine. The suffixes have English equivalents, which I have listed below.
nom sg./ gen. sg.
-tas, -tatis = English -ty; libertas = liberty
-tus, tutis = English -tue; virtus = virtue
-tudo, tudinis = English -tude; multitudo = multitude
-tio, tionis = English -tion; natio = nation
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