A Practical Grammar of the Latin Language/Lesson 9
Of Pronouns.
edit- A. The pronouns of the Latin language are divided into the following classes:—
- Personal: egō, tū, suī (and ipse).
- Demonstratives: hic, iste, ille, is.
- Relatives: quī, quae, quod.
- Possessives: meus, tuus, suus, noster, vester.
- Interrogatives: quis? quid?, quī, quae, quod?
- Indefinite: aliquis, quis, quisquam.
- Patrials: nostrās, vestrās, cujās.
- B. The personal pronouns egō, I, tū, thou, suī, of himself, of herself, of itself, are thus inflected:—
Nom. | I | egō | thou | tū | — | — |
Gen. | of me | meī | of thee | tuī | of himself, &c. | suī |
Dat. | to me | mihi or mī | to thee | tibi | to himself, &c. | sibi |
Acc. | me | mē | thee | tē | himself, &c. | sē |
Voc. | — | egō | O thou | tū | — | — |
Abl. | with me | mē. | with thee | tē. | with himself, &c. | sē. |
Remark.— The suffix te is sometimes emphatically added to the nominative tū; as tūte, thou thyself; and the suffix met in the same sense to all the cases of egō, tū, and suī; as egomet, tūtemet, suīmet, I myself, &c.—So also mēme, tēte, sēse, for mē, tē, sē, in the accusative and ablative singular.
- C. The Latin language has no pronoun of the third person corresponding in every aspect to the English, he, she, it, the termination of the verb being commonly deemed sufficient to indicate the relation of personality. But when perspicuity or emphasis requires a pronoun, on of the demonstratives hic, iste, ille (most commonly the latter) is used for the nominative, and the oblique cases of is, ea, id for the remaining cases. The pronoun of the third person would thus be something like the following:—
Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | ||
Nom. | he, she, it | ille | illa | illud |
Gen. | of him, of her, of it | ejus | ejus | ejus (reī)1 |
Dat. | to him, to her, to it | eī | eī | eī (reī) |
Acc. | him, her,, it | eum | eam | id (illud) |
Voc. | — | — | — | — |
Abl. | with him, with her, with it | eō | eā | eō (eā rē). |
- D. The pronoun ipse, ipsa, ipsum may be joined to every case of egō, tū, and suī, with the same force of the English self (myself, thyself, himself, &c.). Its singular is thus declined:—
Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | |
Nom. | ipse | ipsa | ipsum |
Gen. | ipsīus2 | ||
Dat. | ipsī | ||
Acc. | ipsum | ipsam | ipsum |
Voc. | ipse | ipsa | ipsum |
Abl. | ipsō | ipsā | ipsō. |
Thus: egō ipse (ipsa), I myself; tū ipse (ipsa), thou thyself; (ille) ipse, he himself; mihimet ipsī, to myself; tēmet ipsum, thyself; suī ipsīus, of himself.
Have I the iron of the golden nail? | Ferreumne clāvum habeō, an aureum? |
You have neither the iron nor the golden nail. | Neque ferreum habēs clāvum, neque aureum. |
The sheep. | Ovis, is, f. |
The ram. | Vervēx, ēcis, m. |
The hen. | Pullus gallīnāceus (gen. ī), m. |
The ship. | Nāvis, is, f. |
The bag (sack). | Saccus, ī, m. |
The painter. | Pictor, ōris, m. |
The young man. | Juvenis, is, m. |
The youth (lad.) | Adulēscēns, tis, m. Adulēscentulus, ī, m. |
- E. The substantives ovis, nāvis, and juvenis are thus inflected:—
Nom. | ovis | nāvis | juvenis |
Gen. | ovis | nāvis | juvenis |
Dat. | ovī | nāvī | juvenī |
Acc. | ovem | nāvem or nāvim | juvenem |
Voc. | ovis | nāvis | juvenis |
Abl. | ove | nāvī or nāve | juvene |
- F. Obs. The words nāvis, messis, and clāvis have usually em in the accusative, sometimes im. The nouns febris, pelvis, puppis, vestis, secūris, and turris have oftener im than em. Those which have regularly im are: a) the substantives amussis, ravis, sitis, tussis, and vīs; b) a variety of nouns and proper names derived from the Greek, as basis, poësis, paraphrasis, Osiris, Zeuxis, Charybdis, &c.
Who? | Quis? Cui (with est)? |
Who has? | Quis habet? Cui est? |
Who has the trunk? | Quis habet arcam? Cui est riscus? |
The man has the trunk. | Vir riscum habet (tenet). |
The man has not the trunk. | Vir riscum nōn habet (tenet). |
Who has it? | Quis eum habet? |
The youth has it. | Adolēscēns eum habet. |
The youth has it not. | Adolescentulus eum nōn habet (tenet). |
He has. | Habet, tenet (is, hic, ille).3 Est eī. |
He has the knife. | Is (ille) cultrum habet. |
He has not the knife. | Cultrum nōn habet. |
Has the man? | Habetne vir? Ecquid habet homō? An habet homō? |
Has the painter? | Habetne pictor? Num habet pictor? Estne (an, num est) pictōrī? |
Has the friend? | Habetne amīcus? An habet amīcus Estne (ecquid, an est) amīcō? (Cf. Lesson II. note 1.) |
Has the boy the carpenter's hammer? | Tenetne puer malleum fabrī tignāriī? |
He has it. | Vērō (eum) tenet. |
Has the youth it? | Eumne tenet adolēscēns? |
He has it not. | (Eum) nōn tenet. |
Is he thirsty? | Sititne? An (ecquid) is sitit? |
He is thirsty. | Ita est, sitit. |
Is he tired? | Num (numquid) fessus est? An est fessus? |
He is not tired. | Nōn est fessus. |
Is he right or wrong? | Rēctēne loquitur, an errat? Utrum vērē loquitur, an errat? |
He is right (correct). | Vērē loquitur. |
He is not wrong. | Nōn errat. |
Is he hungry? | Ēsuritne? Num ēsurit? |
He is not hungry. | Nōn ēsurit. |
Exercise 8.
edit- Is he thirsty or hungry? — He is neither thirsty nor hungry.
- Has the friend my hat? — He has it. — He has it not.
- Who has my sheep? — Your friend has it.
- Who has my large sack? — The baker has it.
- Has the youth my book? He has it not.
- What has he? — He has nothing.
- Has he the hammer or the nail? — He has neither the hammer nor the nail.
- Has he my umbrella or my stick? — He has neither your umbrella nor your stick.
- Has he my coffee or my sugar? — He has neither your coffee nor your sugar; he has your honey.
- Has he my brother's biscuit or that of the Frenchman? — He has neither your brother's nor that of the Frenchman; he has that of the good boy.
- Which ship has he? — He has my good ship.
- Has he the old sheep or the ram?
Exercise 9.
edit- Has the young man my knife or that of the painter? — He has neither yours nor that of the painter.
- Who has my brother's fine dog? — Your friend has it.
- What has my friend? — He has the baker's good bread. — He has the good neighbor's good chicken.
- What have you? — I have nothing.
- Have you my bag or yours? — I have that of your friend.
- Have I your good knife? — You have it. — You have it not.
- Has the youth it? — He has it not.
- What has he? — He has something good. — He has nothing bad.
- Has he anything? — He has nothing.
- Is he sleepy? — He is not sleepy. — He is hungry.
- Who is hungry? — The young man is hungry. — Your friend is hungry. — Your brother's boy is hungry. — My shoemaker's brother is hungry. — My good tailor's boy is thirsty.
- Which man has my book? — The big (prōcērus) man has it.
- Which man has my horse? — Your friend has it. — He has your good cheese.
- Has he it? — Yes, sir, he has it.
Footnotes.
edit1 The Romans are fond of employing the word rēs, thing, instead of the neuter of adjectives and pronouns. This becomes necessary in cases where ambiguity as to gender would otherwise arise, as here in the genitive, dative, and ablative. So also cujus reī, cui reī, quā rē, for cujus, &c.
2 The genitive ipsīus and the dative ipsī are here intended for all the genders. The same applies to all the subsequent paradigms.
3 The pronoun of the third person, like that of the second and first, is commonly omitted, except where perspicuity requires it.