LINKS
(1) 25.02.24: subject pronouns
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/subject-pronouns-it-has-already-been.html
(2) 22.05.25: Level 1; readings [12] - [15]: review (1a); personal pronouns (1)
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/02/220525-level-1-readings-12-15-review-1a.html
Latin seems to have a staggering array of pronouns. However, the way in which they translate is generally no different from English i.e. I, me, him, them etc. The focus is more on how the different pronouns are used in different contexts.
We can divide the pronouns into two groups i.e. [1] the first / second person pronouns (e.g. I, me, we, us, you etc.) and [2] the 3rd person pronouns e.g. he, him, them etc. It is the 3rd person pronouns that take some time to master.
We will deal here with the 1st/ 2nd person pronouns.
1st / 2nd person pronouns
[1] The nominative of the subject pronouns is generally not used since the verb ending makes it clear who is performing the action: ambulō │ I am walking. However, they are used when there is a need to emphasise and / or make a contrast, or to clarify, or when the pronoun stands alone. In written English such a use may be indicated by italics e.g. You may think that but I have a different opinion.
Ego in Britanniā habitō, sed tū in Ītalia habitās. │ I live in Britain, but you live in Italy.
Quid agis? Bene, grātiās agō. Et tū? │ How are you? I’m fine, thanks. And you?
Vōs in agrō laborātis, sed nōs in templō ōrāmus. │ You (all) work in the field, but we pray in the temple.
[2] tū; vōs: be careful not to be influenced by other languages where there is more than one word for ‘you’. In French, for example, the second person pronouns tu and vous - derived from the Latin tū and vōs - distinguish not only between talking to one person or more than person, but the relationship between the person speaking and the person addressed, Fr. tu only used informally with one person who is, for example, a friend, a family member or somebody markedly younger whereas Fr. vous is used for all groups of people and formally to one person who is not known e.g. a shop assistant, or a stranger in the street. Similar distinctions occur in Spanish, German and Russian.
The only distinction made in Classical Latin is whether one person is being addressed (tū) or more than one (vōs) i.e. the age, relationship or status of the person / people being addressed is not a factor. The use of vōs in the way that French uses vous to one person in formal / respectful situations does, however, occur in Mediaeval Latin.
[3] mihi can also be found as mī
[4] the preposition cum (with) when used with the ablative pronouns is attached to the end of the pronoun:
mēcum (with me); tēcum (with you), nōbīscum (with us), vōbīscum (with you [pl.])
pax vōbīscum │ peace (be) with you
[5] the genitive pronouns: meī; tuī; nostrum, nostrī; vestrum, vestrī
These should not be confused with the possessive adjectives the endings of which can look the same:
meus, -a, -um: my (mine); amīcus meus │ my friend; amīcī meī │ my friends
tuus, -a, -um: you [sg.] (yours); pecūnia tua │ your money;
In hīs inventae sunt quīnque imāgunculae mātrōnārum, in quibus ūna sorōris amīcī tuī (Cicero) │ In this (baggage) were found five little busts of Roman married ladies, among them one of the sister of your friend
noster, nostra, nostrum: our(s); patria nostra │ our fatherland
Nam Catōnem nostrum nōn tū amās plūs quam ego (Cicero) │ For you do not love our (friend) Cato more than I do
Nunc et nostrī hostēs ibi sunt (Cicero) │ But now our enemies are there
vester, vestra, vestrum: your [pl.] (yours); inimīcī vestrī │ your enemies
The possessive adjectives function like any other adjective, agreeing in case, gender and number with the noun.
They are by far more common and not the same as the genitive pronouns below:
[a] meī; tuī
[b] nostrum, nostrī; vestrum, vestrī
While [a] and [b] can be used to indicate possession, they generally appear in different contexts:
objective genitive
He worked hard for ¦ [i] the love [ii] of his family. (English may also use ‘for’ e.g. He was motivated by [i] hatred [ii] for his enemies)
In the examples, the objects of the love and hatred are ‘family’ and ‘enemies’ i.e. He worked hard because he loved his family, and he was motivated because he hated his enemies. In Latin, these are expressed in the genitive case, this construction known specifically as the objective genitive.
amor patriae: love of / for the fatherland
odium hostium: hatred of / for the enemies
… ut vōbīscum ¦ dē [i] amōre [ii] reī pūblicae certent (Cicero) │ …in order to vie with you ¦ in [i] love [ii] for the republic
Imperātor ¦ [i] odiō [ii] hostium dūcitur. │ The general is guided ¦ by [i] (his) hatred [ii] of (his) enemies.
This is where these pronouns step in:
ūror [i] amōre [ii] meī (Ovid) │ I burn [i] with love [ii] of / for myself (stated, unsurprisingly, by Narcissus!)
cāritās tuī │ affection for you [i.e. not *your* affection]
… utrum contrā nōs faciat an prō sē, [i] amōre [ii] alterīus an [i] odiō [ii] nostrī. (Seneca the Younger) │ … whether he acts against us or for himself, and whether [i] because of love [ii] for another or [i] out of hatred [ii] for us
Habētis ducem [i] memorem [ii] vestrī │ You have a leader (who is) [i] mindful [ii] of you
partitive genitive
The alternative pronouns nostrum and vestrum are used in partitive constructions i.e. the equivalent of, for example “Which one of us will tell the king?” and “Many of you may be killed.”
Quis nostrum? │ Which of us?
Cicero tibi plurimam salutem dicit. Tu dices utriusque nostrum verbis et Piliae tuae et filiae (Cicero) │ Cicero pays you his best respects. Please give the compliments of both of us to your wife (Pilia) and daughter
Mīrum vidērī nēminī vestrum volō, spectātōrēs (Plautus) │ I don’t want to seem strange to any of you, spectators.
