In the previous chapter, you learned the 1st and 2nd person pronouns. The 3rd person personal pronoun is is, ea, id ("he" "she" "it"), and is different than the 1st or 2nd persons, because it occurs in all three genders. It's very important to learn the pattern of these endings, not only because the pronoun is common in Latin, but also because this pattern applies to a number of other Latin pronouns.
|
|
m. |
f. |
n. |
|
|
Singular |
||
|
Nom |
is |
ea |
id |
|
Gen |
eius |
eius |
eius |
|
Dat |
eī |
eī |
eī |
|
Acc |
eum |
eam |
id |
|
Abl |
eō |
eā |
eō |
|
|
Plural |
||
|
Nom |
eī |
eae |
ea |
|
Gen |
eōrum |
eārum |
eōrum |
|
Dat |
eīs |
eīs |
eīs |
|
Acc |
eōs |
eās |
ea |
|
Abl |
eīs |
eīs |
eīs |
A few observations about this pattern:
1. The neuter law is still in effect. In the neuter, the nominative and accusative are the same, and the nominative and accusative plural end in a.
2. The plural forms follow the 1st and 2nd declension patterns, like a 1st and 2nd declension adjective.
3. The genitive and dative singular are the same in all three genders. This is called the "universal genitive and dative." You will see it again with other pronouns.
Although we say that is ea id means "he, she, it," remember that in Latin the genders are grammatical, not biological. In English, we may sometimes need to translate is or ea as "it." For example:
Militēs silvam intravērant et in eā sē cēlavērunt .
The soldiers entered the forest and hid themselves in it.
In the above example, the feminine pronoun eā is used because it refers to silvam, which is feminine. But in English, a forest is usually referred to as an "it."