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Chapter 31 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Chapter 41 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Chapter 51 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Personal Pronouns in English

Lesson Vocabulary
Latin English
cibus food
laborat he/she works

Pronouns are nouns which are used instead of another noun ('pro', in place of 'noun', noun.)

There are three categories of pronouns which are divided up into persons: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. In addition, pronouns can be singular or plural. They are declined like all other nouns.

Person Singular Plural
1st I we
2nd you, thou you (all)
3rd he/she/it they

Personal Pronouns in Latin

1st/2nd Person Pronouns

Table of Personal Pronouns in all of their cases: I, thou, we, ye

Note: thou is the archaic singular of the archaic plural ye - useful for distinguishing you (singular) from you (plural)

Singular Plural
Case 1st Person 2nd Person 1st Person2nd Person
Nominative egoIyou nōswevōsyou
Genitive meīof metuīof you nostrī(nostrum)of usvestrī (vestrum) of you
Dative mihito metibito/for you nōbīsto usvōbīsto/for you
Accusative meyou nōsusvōsyou
Ablative from mefrom you nōbīsfrom usvōbīsfrom you

Nota Bene: the genitive is used in certain phrases like:

  1. memor nostrī, mindful of us
  2. paucī vestrum, a few of you.

For the possessive uses (my sister, your bicycle) sometimes uses the possessive adjectives:

Latin English
meus, mea, meummy
tuus, tua, tuumthy
suus, sua, suumhis/hers, its, their
noster, nostra, nostrumour
vester, vestra, vestrumyour
Pater nosterOur father

3rd Person Pronouns

Technically, 3rd person pronouns do not exist in Latin as they do in English. However, they do have equivalents.

Adjectives modify nouns and take the gender of the noun which they modify. However, adjectives do not necessarily need a substantive present in the sentence to modify. The substantive can be presumed. In this way, '3rd person' pronouns are formed.

Example 1

Take the masculine form of the adjective 'ille'. Literally it means 'That (masculine) thing.' However one could take it for simply meaning 'he', depending on the context. Similarly, the pronoun 'iste' means 'that (masc.) thing'. Iste and ille are declined in exactly the same way, but there are a slight difference of meaning between them: 'ille' is often used with proper names for marking dignity or worth and 'iste' conveys a contemptuous sense.

Examples:

- Annibal, ille inclytus filius Amilcaris (Hannibal, that renowned Hamilcar's son).

- Iste servus improbus ante te (this bad slave in front of you).


If no substantive is provided assume words like these: 'man', 'woman', 'thing', 'idea', 'concept', 'reason' etc. Let context be your guide.

Common Adjectives Used as 3rd Person Pronouns In Latin

Declension of Ille (that)

Declension of ille (that): Singular
Latin English
Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative illeillailludhesheit
Genitive illiusilliusilliushisher, hersits
Dative illīillīillīto himto herto it
Accusative illumillamilludhimherit
Ablative illōillāillōby, with, from himherit
Declension of ille (that): Plural
Latin English
Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative illīillaeillathey, those
Genitive illōrumillārumillōrumtheir, theirs, of those
Dative illīsillīsillīsto them, to those
Accusative illōsillāsillathem, those
Ablative illīsillisillīsby, with, from them, those

Ille is often used as a kind of pronoun. In situations with multiple phrases or sentences, however, it is syntactically different from is, ea, id (see below).

For example: "Canis puero cibum dat. Is laborat in agro." means "The dog gives food to the boy. The dog works in the field".

However: "Canis puero cibum dat. Ille laborat in agro." means "The dog gives food to the boy. The boy works in the field".

Thus, ille, unlike the other pronouns makes a previous object into the subject (and vice versa).

Examples of the Usage of Ille:

Latin English
Ille est dominus.He is the master. (ille as pronoun)
Ille dominus est malus.That master is bad. (ille as adjective)
Illam videtHe sees her. (or 'she sees her' - illam as pronoun)
Illam puellam videtHe (or she) sees that girl (illam as adjective).

Declension of Is, ea, id: (personal pronouns w/ translations)

Singular
Case Latin English
M F N M F N
Nominativeiseaidhesheit
Genitiveēiushisher, hersits
Dativeto himto herto it
Accusativeeumeamidhimherit
Ablativeby/with himby/with herby/with it
Plural
Case Latin English
M F N M F N
Nominativeiieaeeathey, those
Genitiveeōrumeārumeōrumtheir, theirs, of those
Dativeeīs, iīsto them, to those
Accusativeeōseāseathem, those
Ablativeeīs, iīsby, with, from them, those

Like ille, is can be used as a form of a pronoun.

Examples of the Usage of Is

Latin English
Is est dominus.He is the master. ("is" as pronoun)
Is dominus est malus.The master is bad. ("is" as adjective)
Eam videt.He sees her. (or 'she sees her', "eam" as pronoun)
Eam puellam videt.He (or she) sees the girl. ("eam" as adjective)

Declension of the Relative pronoun qui, quae, quod: (meaning who, which)

Singular
M F N M F N
Nominativequīquaequodwhowhich
Genitivecūiuswhoseof which
Dativecuīto whomto which
Accusativequemquamquodwhomwhich
Ablativequōquāquōby, with, from whom, which
Plural
M F N M F N
Nominativequīquaequaewhowhich
Genitivequōrumquārumquōrumwhoseof which
Dativequibusquibusquibusto which
Accusativequōsquāsquaewhich
Ablativequibusquibusquibusby which, in which, etc

Uses of the Relative Pronoun

The relative pronoun takes on the case depending on the function it serves in the relative clause. For example, in the sentence "He sees the man who has a slave," "who" is translated as nominative because it is the subject of the clause "who has a slave." The antecedent (noun to which the pronoun refers) is usually before the relative clause.

Examples of the Usage of the Relative Pronoun

  1. Virum videt (he/she sees) qui servum (servant) habet (he/she has).
    He sees the man who has a slave
  2. Ille est vir cujus servus est malus.
    That's the man whose slave is bad.
  3. Quis eum videt?
    Who sees him?

Declension of hic, haec, hoc (meaning "this")

Singular
Masculine Femine Neuter
Nominativehichaechocthis
Genitivehuius
Dativehuic
Accusativehunchanchoc
Ablativehōchāchōc
Plural
Masculine Femine Neuter
Nominativehaehaecthese
Genitivehōrumhārumhōrum
Dativehīs
Accusativehōshāshaec
Ablativehīs

N.B. Hic as an adverb that means 'here'. N.B. Hic can also be used as a pronoun.

Example of the Usage of Hic

Latin English
'Hic' servus, non ille, est malus.This slave, not that one, is bad.
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