Pronouns
Sometimes, Latin uses pronouns to stand in for nouns.
The noun to which a pronoun refers is called the pronoun’s antecedent. The pronoun used in place of the noun must have the same gender and number as the antecedent. This works the same in Latin as in English. Think, for example, about the following pronoun subtitutions:
- The boy throws the ball. He throws the ball.
- We listened to the teacher. We listened to her.
- The students took the exam. They took the exam.
“He”, “her”, and “they” exhibit the same gender and number of their antecedents (“the boy”, “the teacher”, and “the students” respectively).
The same rules apply in Latin. For example, you would use ea (feminine nominative singular of is, ea, id – see below) to substitute for mater (feminine nominative singular) and is (masculine nominative singular of is, ea, id – see below) to substitute for pater (masculine nominative singular).
This also applies for nouns that are not typically biologically gendered. For the Latin word for table (mensa), you would use ea as the pronoun because the noun is feminine (although we might think it’s neuter because it’s a table). Remember that a noun’s gender is a static fact that you have to memorize with the dictionary entry.
The declension for the pronoun is tricky, so be sure to consult the paradigm charts linked under specific pronouns below so you are able to recognize their forms.
is, ea, id
The most common Latin pronoun is is, ea, id (“he”, “she”, “it”, “they”). It is technically a personal pronoun, but for now it suffices to know that it means “he”, “she”, “it”, or “they” or their appropriate objective forms (i.e., “him”, “her”, “it”, “them”).
The dictionary entry for is, ea, id represents the nominative singular forms for all three genders (once again, masculine, feminine, and neuter from left to right), so it works similarly to an adjective.
The declension chart for is, ea, id can be found here.
Demonstratives
There are irregular pronouns called demonstratives that serve to point out something that is nearby or far away from the speaker (from the Latin demonstrāre, “to point out”). Note that these pronouns can stand on their own, or they can also function as adjectives that modify an explicit noun. If a pronoun, we can sometimes treat it like a substantive adjective and supply a word like “man/men”, “woman/women”, “person/people”, or “thing/things”, depending on the gender and number of the pronoun, if our translation calls for it.
The demonstrative hic, haec, hoc, “this, these”, points out something that is close to the speaker.
- hic puer, “this boy”
- haec puellae, “these girls”
- hoc animāl, “this animal”
- hic (masculine nominative singular), “this man”
- hī (masculine nominative plural), “these men” or “these people”
And here is the paradigm chart for hic.
The demonstrative ille, illa, illud, “that, those”, points out something that is far away from the speaker.
- illī puerī, “those boys”
- illa puella, “that girl”
- illud animāl, “that animal”
- illae (feminine nominative plural), “those women”
- illa, “that woman” (if feminine nominative singular) or “those things” (if neuter nominative plural)
And here is the paradigm chart for ille.
The demonstratives can also be used in conjunction to indicate “the former … the latter” with ille first and hic second:
- illud verbum … hoc verbum = “the former word … the latter word”
Think about why this makes sense! ille points to something that is far away, so in this use, it points to the item in a series that is farther away, i.e., “the former”, as opposed to “the latter”, which is closer.
Intensives
Another kind of pronoun (that can either stand on its own as a pronoun or function as an adjective that modifies an explicit noun) is the intensive or intensifying pronoun, ipse, ipsa, ipsum, that draws special attention to the word being modified or the pronoun itself. It can be translated as “the [noun] him/her/itself/themselves”, “the very [noun]”, or “[noun] in and of itself.” Take a look at the following examples:
- ipse puer, “the boy himself” or “the very boy”
- ipsa puella, “the girl herself” or “the very girl”
- ipsa animālia, “the animals themselves” or “the very animals”
If you use the translation “the very [noun]”, be careful not to confuse this adjective with the common adverb “very”, as in “They are very happy.” We will learn how to indicate an adjectival degree like “very happy” later.