• I have chosen not to include as
an example the third person
English personal pronoun “one.”
• I see no pedagogical point in
dealing with it.
• I just hope some pretentious
moron in Section 1 doesn’t try to
point this out as an “error” on my
part.
Pronouns
• Personal
• (I, me, he, she, it, you, we, us, they, them)
• Demonstrative
• (this, that, these, those)
• Possessive
• (mine, ours, yours, his, hers, its, theirs)
• etc.
•
The Personal Pronouns
•
1st person
• Sing.
[N.]
• N
ego (I)
• G meī (of me)
• D
mihi (to/for me)
• Acc. mē (me)
• Abl. mē (b/w/f me)
• Pl.
• N
• G
nōs (we)
nostrī/
•
nostrum (of us)
• D
nōbīs (to/for us)
• Acc. nōs (us)
• Abl. nōbīs (b/w/f us)
2nd person
3rd person
[M.]
tu (you)
tuī (of you)
tibi (to/for you)
tē (you)
tē (b/w/f you)
[F.]
is (he)
ea (she)
id (it)
eius (of him/her/it)
eī (to/for him/her/it)
eum (him) eam (her) id (it)
eō (b/w/f him) eā (b/w/f her) eō (b/w/f it)
vōs (you)
iī/ eī (they) eae (they) ea (they)
vestrī/
eōrum
eārum
eōrum
vestrum (of you) (of them)
(of them)
(of them)
vōbīs (to/for you)
eīs (to/for them)
vōs (you)
eōs (them) eās (them) ea (them)
vōbīs (b/w/f you)
eīs (to/for them)
The 1st and 2nd person personal pronouns
may also be used
REFLEXIVELY,
i.e., to refer to the subject of the sentence.
In English the reflexive pronouns are
myself, yourself, ourselves, yourselves,
himself, herself, themselves
•
The Reflexive Pronouns
•
1st person
2nd person
• Sing.
•
N
•
G
•
D
•
Acc.
•
Abl.
--------meī (of myself)
mihi (to/for myself)
mē (myself)
mē (b/w/f myself)
--------tuī (of yourself)
tibi (to/for yourself)
tē (yourself)
tē (b/w/f yourself)
• Pl.
•
•
•
•
N
G
D
Acc.
Abl.
----------------nostrī (of ourselves) vestrī (of yourselves)
nōbīs (to/for ourselves)
vōbīs (to/for yourselves)
nōs (ourselves)
vōs (yourselves)
nōbīs (b/w/f ourselves)
vōbīs (b/w/f yourselves)
Examples:
Nunc philosophiae mē dābō.
Now I will give myself to philosophy.
Nunc philosophiam mihi dābō
Now I will give philosophy to myself.
Saepe nōs terrēmus.
We often scare ourselves.
Dē vōbīs sōlīs cogitābātis.
You were thinking about yourselves only.
Tū id fēcistī prō tē.
You did it for the sake of yourself.
Tē laudās propter amōrem tuī.
You praise yourself because of love of
yourself.
For the 3rd person, Latin uses a reflexive
pronoun which is different from the
3rd person personal pronoun is, ea, id.
Unlike is, ea, id, this pronoun does not
change according to the gender of the
antecedent to which it refers.
The Reflexive Pronouns
1st person
Sing.
N
--------G meī (of myself)
D
mihi (to/for myself)
Acc. mē (myself)
Abl. mē (b/w/f myself)
2nd person
3rd person
--------tuī (of yourself)
tibi (to/for yourself)
tē (yourself)
tē (b/w/f yourself)
--------suī (of him-, her-, or itself)
sibi (to/for him-, her-, or itself)
sē (himself, herself, itself)
sē (b/w/f him-/her-/it-self)
Pl.
N
------------------------G nostrī (of ourselves) vestrī (of yourselves)
suī (of themselves)
D
nōbīs (to/for ourselves)
vōbīs (to/for yourselves)
sibi (to/for themselves)
Acc. nōs (ourselves)
vōs (yourselves)
sē (themselves)
Abl. nōbīs (b/w/f ourselves)
vōbīs (b/w/f yourselves)
sē (b/w/f themselves)
Examples:
Virgō eum nimis amat.
Virgō sē nimis amat.
The girl loves him too much.
The maiden loves herself too much..
Semper audiēbat laudem eius.
He was always hearing praise of her.
Semper audiēbat laudem suī.He was always hearing praise of
himself.
Eīs perīculum creāvērunt.
Sibi perīculum creāvērunt
They created danger for them
(i.e., for other people).
They created danger for themselves.
Dē eō nihil dīxit.
Dē sē nihil dīxit.
He said nothing about it.
He said nothing about himself.
In the 1st and 2nd persons, the genitive is not
normally used to indicate possession.
Instead Latin uses a set of POSSESSIVE
ADJECTIVES:
meus, -a, -um
tuus, -a, -um
my
your (sing.)
noster, nostra, nostrum
vester, vestra, vestrum
our
your (pl.)
These may be used reflexively (to indicate
possession by the subject of the
sentence), but their translations into
English will be the same.
The singular and plural genitives of is, ea, id
may be used to indicate possession in the
3rd person (his, her, its, their)…
eius
eōrum (m. & n.) eārum (f.)
his/her/its
their
…BUT these forms cannot be used
reflexively and the genitive of the reflexive
pronoun suī is also not used in this way.
The Latin reflexive possessive adjective,
SUUS, -A, -UM
means his (own), her (own), its (own) or
their (own).
It indicates that the noun it modifies
belongs to the subject of the sentence.
Examples:
Necāverat eius frātrem.
Necāverat suum frātrem.
He has killed his (i.e., someone else’s) brother.
He has killed his own brother.
Eius librōs in viā invēnit.
She found her (i.e., someone else’s) books in
the street.
She found her own books in the street.
Suōs librōs in viā invēnit.
Ibi remānsērunt sine amīcīs eōrum.
Ibi remānsērunt sine amīcīs suīs.
They remained there without their
(i.e. other people’s) friends.
They remained there without their
own friends.
Last but not least, Latin has a widely used
intensive pronoun,
IPSE, IPSA, IPSUM
which declines like the UNUS NAUTA (-īus)
adjectives or like ille, illa, illud.
IPSE, IPSA, IPSUM may stand alone as a or
modify a noun. Either way, it simply
emphasizes the identity of the person or
thing to which it refers.
It is often translated with myself, yourself,
himself, herself, itself, ourselves,
yourselves, themselves, but English can
also emphasize identity in other ways.
Examples:
Cōnsulem vīdī.
Ipse cōnsulem vīdī.
Cōnsulem ipsum vīdī.
I saw the consul.
I myself saw the consul.
I saw the consul himself.
Rēx mē vocat.
Rēx ipse mē vocat.
Rēx mē ipsum vocat.
The king is calling me.
The king himself is calling me.
The king is calling me myself.
OR
The king is calling me.
Ratiō id nōbīs docet.
Ratiō ipsa id nōbīs docet.
Ratiō id ipsum nōbīs docet.
Ratiō id nōbīs ipsīs docet.
Reason teaches us this.
Reason itself teaches us this.
Reason teaches us this very thing.
Reason teaches us ourselves this.
(Used adjectivally, IPSE, -A, -UM almost always immediately
follows a noun or pronoun that it modifies.)