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Personal Pronouns in English

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

There are three catagories of pronouns which are divided up into persons: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

• 1st person refers to the person speaking, I, we. • 2nd person refers to the person addressed, thou, ye (you and you all). • 3rd person is for everything else (he, she, it, they (insert any noun here).

In addition, pronouns can be singular or plural. They are declined like all other nouns.

• I is 1st person singular (only me), we is 1st person plural (me and others). • Thou/you is 2nd person singular (only thee), ye/ you all is 2nd person plural (you and others). • He, she, it is 3rd person singular (he/she/it is one), (they are many).

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)
                

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), Latin does not use the genitive, but the possessive adjectives:

meus, mea, meum = my

tuus, tua, tuum = thy

suus, sua, sum = his/hers/its/their

noster, nostra, nostrum = our

vester, vestra, vestrum = your

Example: Pater noster = Our 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 in which it modifies. 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 'this (masc.) thing'. Iste and ille are declined in exactly the same way.

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)

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:

1. ille est dominus - he is the master (ille as pronoun) 
2. ille dominus est malus - that master is bad (ille as adjective) 
3. illam videt - he sees her (or 'she sees her' - illam as pronoun) 
4. illam puellam videt - he (or she) sees that girl (illam as adjective).

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

            M:       F:       N:
Nominative is       ea       id        he        she        it 

Genitive   eius     eius     eius      his       her, hers  its 
Dative     eī       eī       eī        to him    to her     to it 
Accusative eum      eam      id        him       her        it 
Ablative   eō       eā       eō        by, with, from him, her, it. 
 
Nominative ei       eae      ea        they, those 

Genitive   eōrum    eārum    eōrum     their, theirs, of those 
Dative     eīs,iīs  eīs,iīs  eīs,iīs   to them, to those
Accusative eos      eās      ea        them, those   
Ablative   eīs,iīs  eīs,iīs  eīs,iīs   by, with, from them, those 

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

Examples of the Usage of Is

1. is est dominus - he is the master (is as pronoun) 
2. is dominus est malus - that master is bad (is as adjective) 
3. eam videt - he sees her (or 'she sees her' - eam as pronoun) 
4. eam puellam videt - he (or she) sees that girl (eam as adjective).

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

            M:       F:       N:
Nominative quī      quae     quod     who       who        which
Genitive   cuīus    cuīus    cuīus    whose 
Dative     cuī      cuī      cuī      to whom   to whom    to which
Accusative quem     quam     quod     whom      whom       which 
Ablative   quō      quā      quō      by, with, from whom, which. 

Nominative quī      quae     quae      who       who        which
Genitive   quorum   quarum   quorum   whose 
Dative     quibus   quibus   quibus     to whom, to which 
Accusative quos     quas     quae  whom      whom       which
Ablative   quibus   quibus   quibus   by, with, from whom, which  

Notice that the same forms are used to ask a question, with the following exceptions:

            M:       F:       N:
Nominative quis     quis     quid     who       which      what
Accusative quem     quam     quid     whom      which      what

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

            M:       F:       N:
Nominative hic      haec     hoc       this
Genitive   huius    huius    huius      
Dative     huic     huic     huic 
Accusative hunc     hanc     hoc               
Ablative   hōc      hāc      hōc         
 

Plural

Nominative hī       hae      haec      these  
Genitive   hōrum    hārum    hōrum      
Dative     hīs      hīs      hīs
Accusative hōs      hās      haec                 
Ablative   hīs      hīs      hīs        

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

Example of the Usage of Hic

hic servus, non ille, est malus: This slave, not that one, is bad.

Exercises

Give a suitable LATIN translation for the following:

1. To him
2. To her
3. For her
4. For him
5. To it
6. I
7. You
8. Ye
9. of You
10. of him
11. We
12. Thou
13. of thee
14. in him
15. in her

Give a suitable ENGLISH translation for the following:

1. meus
2. meī
3. ille
4. illud
5. huic
6. hī
7. hoc
8. nōs
9. nostrī
10. vōs
11. vestrum