FM: Lesson - Personal Pronouns vs. Demonstrative Pronouns

Personal Pronouns vs. Demonstrative Pronouns

As a reminder: the pronoun is, ea, id is not actually a personal pronoun, but is rather a new type of pronoun called a demonstrative pronoun. There are a few differences between 1st/2nd Pronouns and is, ea, id because of this distinction:

Comparing Personal Pronouns and Demonstrative Pronouns

Point of Difference

1st/2nd Person Personal Pronouns

3rd Person Personal Pronoun (demonstrative pronoun)

Possession

The genitive form is never used for possession. Instead, a possessive adjective used:

  • meus, mea, meum - my/mine
  • tuus, tua, tuum - your(s) (singular)
  • noster, nostra, nostrum - our(s)
  • vester, vestra, vestrum - your(s) (plural)

The genitive form will be used for possession.

  • eius - his, her(s), its
  • eorum - their(s) (m/n)
  • earum - their(s) (f)

Example:

  • Habesne meum librum? 
    • Do you have my book?

Example:

  • Ubi est Marcus? Habesne eius librum?
    • Where is Marcus? Do you have his book?

Use of cum (with)

Cum attaches to the ablative form as an enclitic:

  • mecum - with me
  • tecum - with you (s)
  • nobiscum - with us
  • vobiscum - with you (pl)

Cum never attaches to the ablative form:

  • cum eo - with him/it
  • cum ea - with her
  • cum eis - with them

Example:

  • Ita! Erat mecum!
    • Yes, he was with me!

Example:

  • Vidistine puerum? Erasne cum eo?
    • Have you seen the boy? Were you with him?

Gender

The 1st and 2nd Person Personal Pronouns do not demonstrate gender, so there is only one form per case.

The pronoun is, ea, id demonstrates gender. It is important to remember that all nouns in Latin are assigned a gender. The pronoun will refer to that gender, so be aware of situations like this:

Examples:

  • Feminine: Ego sum puella. - I am a girl.
  • Masculine: Ego sum puer. - I am a boy.

Example:

  • Librum habebam sed eum amisi.
    • I used to have a book but I lost it.

Nota bene

  • In the final example, liber, libri is masculine, so when a pronoun replaces book, Latin must use the masculine form. However, in English, a book is a thing, so it uses the neuter to translate: it.

Genitive Pronoun Uses - eius vs. suus

To express the possessive 3rd person pronoun (his, her(s), its, their(s)), Latin provides two options:

  1. The genitive of is, ea, id (eius - his, her(s), its; eorum/earum - their(s))
  2. A possessive adjective: suus, sua, suum - his own, her own, its own, their own

The possessive adjective suus should be used anytime the possessive 3rd person pronoun refers back to the subject of the sentence. This special role is called reflexive. Compare the following sentences:

Scenario: Iuba Selenen vidit. - Juba saw Selene.

Possession Type

Latin Example

English Translation

Non-Reflexive Possession

Iuba libros eius portavit.

Juba carried her books.

Reflexive Possession

Iuba libros suos portabat.

Juba was carrying his (own) books.

Nota Bene

  • In sentence one, eius refers to someone other than the subject, in this case, Selene. Whenever the possessive is not the subject, use the genitive pronoun.
  • In sentence two, suos refers back to Juba (the original subject). Whenever the possessive pronoun refers back to the subject, use the reflexive adjective suus, sua, suum.