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# 4. Pronouns

Latin has no article. Its pronouns do the work that articles, possessives, demonstratives and relatives do in English, and a Latin pronoun often stands for a whole noun phrase that English would repeat. The classes are: personal, reflexive, possessive, demonstrative, intensive, relative, interrogative and indefinite (Bennett 1918 §§82–92). The subject pronoun is usually not expressed, because the verb ending carries the person (§6).

## Contents

1. Personal and reflexive pronouns
2. Possessives
3. Demonstratives
4. The intensive *ipse* and the identity pronoun *īdem*
5. The relative and the interrogative
6. Indefinites and negatives
7. Correlatives
8. Use: the third person, the reflexive, the relative
9. How Mova handles it

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## 1. Personal and reflexive pronouns

|  | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | reflexive (all persons, both numbers) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| nom. | ego | tū | nōs | vōs | — |
| gen. | meī | tuī | nostrī, nostrum | vestrī, vestrum | suī |
| dat. | mihi (*mī*) | tibi | nōbīs | vōbīs | sibi |
| acc. | mē | tē | nōs | vōs | sē (*sēsē*) |
| abl. | mē | tē | nōbīs | vōbīs | sē (*sēsē*) |
| vocative | — | tū | — | vōs | — |

Two genitives of the plural: *nostrī, vestrī* are the **objective genitives** (*memor nostrī*, "mindful of us"), and *nostrum, vestrum* the **partitive** (and the old plural of the possessive): *quem nostrum ignorare arbitraris?*, "which of us do you think does not know?" (Cic. *Cat.* 1.1). The pronouns have no third person; in its place the demonstratives *is, ea, id*, *ille* and *hic* are used, and for the reflexive third person *sē*. The enclitic *-cum* stands after the ablative: *mēcum, tēcum, sēcum, nōbīscum* (*tecum*, in Cic. *Cat.* 1.9, *quos tecum educeres*, "whom to take out with you").

The nominative forms *ego* and *tū* are used to give emphasis or contrast; in the sentences *Ego sum via, et veritas, et vita* (John 14:6) and *Vos autem, quem me esse dicitis?* (Matt 16:15, "but you, whom do you say I am?"), the pronoun is needed to carry the focus. Older *mihi* often has the final *-i* short and may be scanned as *mĭhĭ*; the medieval form *michi* (chapter 1 §7) is common.

## 2. Possessives

The possessives are the adjectives *meus, tuus, suus* (declined like *bonus*; the voc. sg. m. of *meus* is *mī*), and *noster, vester* (like *pulcher*); *suus* is reflexive only. They agree in gender, number and case with the **thing owned**, not with the owner: *patrem suum*, "his father" (acc. m. sg.), and *filiam suam*, *suae civitatis* (Caes. *B. G.* 1.3). In the third person the genitive of the demonstrative expresses the non-reflexive possessor: *eius* "his, her, its" (not *suus*) and *eōrum, eārum* "their" (of persons other than the subject).

> **Caes. *B. G.* 1.4** · Latin Library … quin ipse sibi mortem consciverit. "… that he himself had brought about his own death." (said of Orgetorix; *sibi* refers to the subject *ipse*)

The pronouns *ipse* and *sibi* together state the reflexive: *ipse sibi*, "he for himself".

## 3. Demonstratives

|  | *hic* "this (by me)" | *iste* "that (by you)" | *ille* "that (yonder)" | *is* "that, he" |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| nom. sg. m./f./n. | hic, haec, hoc | iste, ista, istud | ille, illa, illud | is, ea, id |
| gen. sg. | huius | istīus | illīus | eius |
| dat. sg. | huic | istī | illī | eī |
| acc. sg. | hunc, hanc, hoc | istum, istam, istud | illum, illam, illud | eum, eam, id |
| abl. sg. | hōc, hāc, hōc | istō, istā, istō | illō, illā, illō | eō, eā, eō |
| nom. pl. | hī, hae, haec | istī, istae, ista | illī, illae, illa | iī (eī), eae, ea |
| gen. pl. | hōrum, hārum, hōrum | istōrum … | illōrum … | eōrum, eārum, eōrum |
| dat./abl. pl. | hīs | istīs | illīs | iīs (eīs) |
| acc. pl. | hōs, hās, haec | istōs … | illōs … | eōs, eās, ea |

The three-way contrast is of **person**: *hic* is "this one near me, the present one", *iste* "that one near you" (often with a tone of contempt, *iste homo* "that fellow"), *ille* "that one over there" and "that famous one" (Bennett 1918 §§87, 246). *Is* is weaker and serves as the ordinary third-person pronoun and as the antecedent of the relative: *is qui …*, "the man who …". The nominative and accusative of the neuter *hoc, id, istud, illud* and the ablative *hoc* are frequent. *Hic* and *ille* in contrast refer to the nearer and the farther in the text: *hic*, "the latter", *ille*, "the former".

In **Late and Christian Latin** *ille*, *ipse* and *unus* come to do the work of the article, and *is* declines in frequency; in the Tuscan charters *ipsa* and *ille* precede nouns in the manner of the Italian *la*, *il* (chapter 15, §4): *ipsa casa*, `la_llct` train-s197; *et ille alia petia*, train-s309.

## 4. The intensive *ipse* and the identity pronoun *īdem*

*Ipse, ipsa, ipsum* (gen. *ipsīus*, dat. *ipsī*; the neuter is *ipsum*, not *ipsud*) means "self", for emphasis, and works in all three persons: *ego ipse*, *tū ipse*, *ipse* "he himself". It agrees with the word it emphasises: *te ipsum iam esse exiturum* (Cic. *Cat.* 1.9) "that you yourself were about to go out"; *ipsorum lingua* (Caes. *B. G.* 1.1) "in their own language"; *Omnia per ipsum facta sunt* (John 1:3), "all things were made through him", where *ipsum* is the third-person pronoun.

*Īdem, eadem, idem* "the same" is *is* + *-dem* (acc. *eundem, eandem*, gen. *eiusdem*). It is often used for "also, likewise": *īdem* in apposition adds a second description of the same person (Bennett 1918 §248).

## 5. The relative and the interrogative

The relative *quī, quae, quod* (Bennett 1918 §89):

|  | m. | f. | n. | m. | f. | n. |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | sg. |  |  | pl. |  |  |
| nom. | quī | quae | quod | quī | quae | quae |
| gen. | cuius | cuius | cuius | quōrum | quārum | quōrum |
| dat. | cui | cui | cui | quibus | quibus | quibus |
| acc. | quem | quam | quod | quōs | quās | quae |
| abl. | quō | quā | quō | quibus | quibus | quibus |

The relative agrees with its antecedent in gender and number and takes its case from its function in its own clause (Bennett 1918 §250). The interrogative *quis, quid* "who? what?" (substantive) differs from the relative only in the nominative singular masculine/feminine *quis* and the neuter *quid*; the adjectival interrogative *quī, quae, quod* "which?" is declined like the relative:

> **Matt 16:15** · Clementine Vulgate Dicit illis Jesus: Vos autem, quem me esse dicitis? "Jesus said to them: But you, whom do you say that I am?"

*Quem* is the interrogative accusative, subject of the infinitive *esse* with *me* (chapter 10 §4); *dicitis* is the main verb.

The relative is the main instrument of subordination in Latin and in English alike. An **ethical** or **connecting** relative begins a new sentence and refers back to the preceding one: *quae cum ita sint*, "and since this is so" (Bennett 1918 §355). A relative with its antecedent forming a unit has also **no antecedent** in the so-called "headless" use: *Ego sum qui sum*, "I am who I am" (Ex 3:14), *Qui est, misit me ad vos* ("He who is has sent me to you"). The interrogative is also used in **indirect questions**, with the subjunctive (chapter 10).

*Quod* introduces a clause of its own as a conjunction ("because, that"), and *quid* is the adverb "why" (accusative of respect); these uses are treated in chapters 7 and 10.

## 6. Indefinites and negatives

| form | meaning | where used |
| --- | --- | --- |
| *quis, quid* (after *sī, nisi, num, nē, ubi, cum*) | any(one) | *sī quis* "if anyone" |
| *aliquis, aliquid* (adj. *aliqui, aliqua, aliquod*) | someone, something | positive statements |
| *quispiam* | someone (or other) |  |
| *quīdam, quaedam, quiddam/quoddam* | a certain (one) | the specific but unnamed |
| *quisquam, quicquam* | anyone at all | negative or conditional contexts |
| *quisque, quaeque, quidque* | each, every | with superlatives and reflexives: *optimus quisque* "all the best" |
| *quīvīs, quīlibet* | anyone you please |  |
| *nēmō* | no one (gen. *nullīus*, abl. *nullō*) |  |
| *nihil* (*nīl*) | nothing |  |
| *ūllus, nūllus* | any, no (adjective) |  |

*Quis* is the weakest of the indefinites and may stand only after *sī, nisi, num, nē* (Bennett 1918 §252); *aliquis* is the positive "someone": *sī aliquis, nē quis*. The rule that *quis* is ordinarily never the first word of a clause is part of the same logic.

## 7. Correlatives

The relative, the interrogative and the demonstratives are bound in series of words that begin alike:

| demonstrative | relative / interrogative | indefinite | meaning |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| *tālis* | *quālis* | *aliqualis* | of such a kind / of what kind |
| *tantus* | *quantus* | *aliquantus* | so great / how great |
| *tot* | *quot* | *aliquot* | so many / how many |
| *totiens* | *quotiens* |  | so often / how often |
| *ibi, ibi* | *ubi* | *alicubi* | there / where |
| *eō* | *quō* | *aliquō* | thither / whither |
| *tum, tunc* | *cum, quandō* | *aliquandō* | then / when |
| *ita, sīc* | *ut, quemadmodum* |  | so / as |

*Tantus … quantus*, *tālis … quālis*, *tot … quot* are the vehicles of comparison and of result (*ita … ut*, *tam … ut*), described in chapter 10.

## 8. Use: the third person, the reflexive, the relative

- **The subject pronoun is omitted.** *Dixit* is "he said", *dixi* "I said"; a pronoun is added for emphasis only (Bennett 1918 §242).
- **The third person has no pronoun of its own**, and *is, ille, hic, iste* are used according to the distance and the need.
- **The reflexive** *sē* and *suus* refer to the subject of the clause in which they stand. In a subordinate clause that reports the thought of the main subject, they may refer to the main subject — the **indirect reflexive** (Bennett 1918 §244):

> **Caes. *B. G.* 1.3** · Latin Library … ipse suae civitatis imperium obtenturus esset: non esse dubium quin totius Galliae plurimum Helvetii possent; se suis copiis suoque exercitu illis regna conciliaturum confirmat. "… he himself would obtain the rule of his own state; there was no doubt that the Helvetii were the most powerful of all Gaul; he affirmed that he would win kingdoms for them with his own forces and his own army."

*Se, suis, suo* here refer to *Orgetorix*, the subject of the sentence that reports his words, not to the Helvetii; *illis* is "for them". A comparable direct reflexive is Divico's *ita Helvetios a maioribus suis institutos esse* (Caes. *B. G.* 1.14), in which *suis* refers to the accusative subject of the infinitive: "the Helvetii had been taught by their ancestors …".

- **The relative with a verb of the first or second person**: *Pater noster, qui es in cælis* (Matt 6:9), "our Father, who art in heaven"; the Latin verb agrees with the vocative antecedent (*qui es*), not with the third person.
- **Relative position**: the relative stands as near its antecedent as possible, and the antecedent may be placed **inside** the relative clause, a feature that the Hebrew-based and Greek-based Vulgate retains (chapter 14).

## 9. How Mova handles it

**The pipeline (2026-10-22).** UPOS for pronouns is `PRON` for a pronoun that stands for a noun (*ego, qui, quis*) and `DET` for one that modifies (*hic, ille, noster, meus*, and, in LLCT, also some accusatives like *me* in the accusative-and-infinitive clause: `la_llct` train-s2, *constat me Sanitulum …*). For the parser, `en xpos-fill` turns `PRON` into `PRP`, `WP` if `PronType=Rel` or `Int`, `PRP$` if `Poss=Yes`; and `DET` into `DT`, `WDT` for relative and interrogative determiners (*quod* with a noun), or `PRP$`. The person and the case of the pronoun are not given to the parser.

**UD conventions.** The relation of a relative clause is `acl:relcl`; of a relative pronoun inside it `nsubj`, `obj` or `obl` by its function. LLCT has 3 140 `acl:relcl` and 154 `ccomp:relcl` (train, 2026-10-22). The feature `PronType` (`Prs`, `Rel`, `Int`, `Dem`, `Ind`, `Tot`, `Neg`) and `Reflex=Yes` mark the class. LLCT tags every one of the 2 597 tokens of *ipse* in its train set as `DET` with `PronType=Dem`, whatever the use (intensive "self", or the article-like *ipsa casa* of the charters); UD also has a value `Emp` for the emphatic pronoun, which the Latin treebanks do not use for it. The five treebanks differ in the attachment of *ipse* and *īdem* and in whether a possessive is `DET` or `ADJ`; the 2023 harmonisation fixed the second (`DET`).

**Where it stops.** Mova does not know that *quis* after *sī* is "anyone" while *quis* at the head of a clause is "who?"; it treats the word form and the position as a flat sequence of tags. The reflexive's antecedent is not computed, and so the indirect reflexive of Caesar above is outside what can be said about the tree.

**Sources for this chapter.** Bennett 1918 §§82–92, 242–253, 355; Allen & Greenough 1903 (paraphrased); examples: Caes. *B. G.* 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.14; Cic. *Cat.* 1.1, 1.9 (Latin Library, with the numbering of the file); Vulgate Ex 3:14, Matt 6:9, 16:15, John 1:3, 14:6 (Clementine); UD_Latin-LLCT train.

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