Chapter XIX: Forum Appiī Back to Chapter 19 contents

Demonstratives: hic and ille

You have seen the words hic haec hoc and ille illa illud many times in this text. These words are demonstratives, and they can function both as adjectives and pronouns:

Nescīvī hunc.
I didn't know this (man).
I didn't know him.

Here, hunc is being used as a pronoun.
"Man" is implied because hunc is masculine.

Spectāvī illum equum.
I saw that horse.
I didn't know him.

Here, illum acts an adjective, modifying equum.

Hic and ille decline very much like is ea id, although hic has some unusual endings. Let's look at ille first.

	m.	f.	n.
	Singular
Nom	ille	illa	illud
Gen	illius	illius	illius
Dat	illī	illī	illī
Acc	illum	illam	illud
Abl	illō	illā	illō
	Plural
Nom	illī	illae	illa
Gen	illōrum	illārum	illōrum
Dat	illīs	illīs	illīs
Acc	illōs	illās	illa
Abl	illīs	illīs	illīs

Note that, like is ea id, the genitive ends in ius and the dative in ī (in all three genders). This is the "universal genitive and dative."

Hic is declined very much the same, except that a final c often appears. (The sound of c or k often appears in the Indo-European language groups as a sign that someone is trying to point something out. In archaic Latin, we also see a forms like hōsce, but those gradually disappeared.) The m in the accusative singular morphs into an n. If you want to understand why, try saying humc vs. hunc.

	m.	f.	n.
	Singular
Nom	hic	haec	hoc
Gen	huius	huius	huius
Dat	huīc	huīc	huīc
Acc	hunc	hanc	hoc
Abl	hōc	hāc	hōc
	Plural
Nom	hī	hae	haec
Gen	hōrum	hārum	hōrum
Dat	hīs	hīs	hīs
Acc	hōs	hās	haec
Abl	hīs	hīs	hīs