Ipse, Ipsa, Ipsum
The INTENSIVE DEMONSTRATIVE adjective/pronoun ipse declines
almost exactly like ille (and iste), except in the neuter nominative and
accusative singular.
M
F
N
Nom:
ipse
ipsa
ipsum
Gen:
Dat:
Acc:
Abl:
ille
illa
illud
ipsius
ipsius
ipsius
illius
illius
illius
ipsī
ipsī
ipsī
illī
illī
illī
ipsum
ipsam
ipsum
illum
illam
illud
ipsō
ipsā
ipsō
illō
illā
illō
The plural of ipse is exactly the same as the plural of ille; it uses the
regular 2-1-2 adjective endings. (See p. 211 for full chart)
Using ipse, ipsa, ipsum
 As an ADJECTIVE it agrees with the noun it modifies in gender,
number, and case.
o Herī vīdī Caesarem ipsum in forō. “I saw Caesar himself
in the forum yesterday.”
o Tūne ipse omnēs hōs librōs lēgistī? “Did you read all these
books yourself?” or “Did you yourself read all these books?”
o “ego ipsa istam pecūniam nōn āmīsī,” Aurēlia inquit. “I
myself did not lose that money of yours,” said Aurelia.
o nōn inrītēmus Rōmam ipsam! “Let us not provoke (this is
a “hortatory” subjunctive) Rome herself/itself!”
Ipse, Ipsa, Ipsum
 As a PRONOUN it operates like any other pronoun: it has a number
and a case and stands “in the place” (prō-) of a noun.
o Ubi sunt illa arma quae ipse in horreō condiderat?
“Where are those weapons which he himself had stored in the
barn?”
o hic poēta ipsās nōn odit sed dē eīs multa mala scrībit.
“This poet does not hate (the) women themselves but he
writes many bad things about them.”
o Marcus cum ipsō ōlim habitāvit. “Marcus once lived with
the man himself.” N.B. This is NOT translated as, “Marcus
once lived with himself,” because that is an example of the
REFLEXIVE pronoun.
 The intensive demonstrative ipse is also seen in the Latin phrase
ipsō factō, which is regularly used in English. It means that a
certain fact is a direct consequence of the action in question rather
than being brought about by a subsequent action.
o “Someone who has never held a job, ipso facto, cannot draw
Social Security retirement benefits.”
o “Since Jeffree plays football he is ineligible to play another
sport in the fall season ipso facto.”
o “If two people fail to make an exchange, then this ipso facto
demonstrates that at that moment at least one of them would
not have benefited from the exchange.”
 I like to think of ipse as the “CELEBRITY PRONOUN.”
o “Miley Cyrus herself recorded my musical birthday greeting
card.”
o “Please bid on my bootleg copy of Transformers II: Revenge
of the Fallen, signed by Megan Fox herself!”
o “I ran into John Thomas himself the other day – literally!
Now he’s limping around in a cast, unfortunately….”
Ipse, Ipsa, Ipsum
PRACTICE SENTENCES:
1. At last, in only three very brief hours, Caesar himself will reach the
outermost camp with those tribunes.
2. After the old man (one word) was almost killed by this old lady’s
rather savage dog, he was carried by the most loyal of his slaves to
the very* threshold of the temple of Aesculapius.
*(what word should “the very” be in this use?)
3. The following year, my foolish descendants (use substantive
adjective, see Ch. 34) pitched camp as often as possible near the
territory of the barbarians.
4. I was always very similar to my father in appearance, but my friendly
and loyal spirit has distinguished me for the longest time.
5. Since (see Ch. 36) you have not yet finished this very long task, you
must read another book about Latin at once.
(use PASSIVE PERIPHRASTIC* + DATIVE OF AGENT for “you must verb
object.” E.g. Rōmānīs Carthāgō dēlenda est. “Carthage must be
destroyed by the Romans,” or “The Romans must destroy Carthage.”)