Personal Pronouns (First and Second Person)
Core drill · 200×
0 / 200 correct repetitions
- 1sg → 1pl → 2sg → 2pl
- Each Nom. → Gen. → Dat. → Acc.
0 / 16 forms · 1 line
Personal Pronouns
Historical Grammar
325. The Personal Pronouns. – The pronouns of the first, second, and third person are declined as follows:
| singular | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | ἐγώ I | σύ thou | —— he, she, it (325 d) |
| Gen. | ἐμοῦ; μου enclitic | σοῦ; σου enclitic | οὗ; οὑ enclitic |
| Dat. | ἐμοί; μοι enclitic | σοί; σοι enclitic | οἷ; οἱ enclitic |
| Acc. | ἐμέ; με enclitic | σέ; σε enclitic | ἕ; ἑ enclitic |
| dual | |||
| N. A. | νώ we two | σφώ you two | |
| G. D. | νῷν | σφῷν | |
| plural | |||
| Nom. | ἡμεῖς we | ὑ̄μεῖς you | σφεῖς they |
| Gen. | ἡμῶν | ὑ̄μῶν | σφῶν |
| Dat. | ἡμῖν | ὑ̄μῖν | σφίσι(ν) |
| Acc. | ἡμᾶς | ὑ̄μᾶς | σφᾶς |
a. The enclitic forms μου, μοι, με; σου, σοι, σε are used when the pronoun is unemphatic, the longer forms ἐμοῦ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ and the accented σοῦ, σοί, σέ are
used when the pronoun is emphatic. Thus, δός μοι τὸ βιβλίον give me the book, οὺκ ἐμοί, ἀλλὰ σοὶ ἐπιβουλεύουσι they are plotting not against me, but against you. See 187 a. On the use after prepositions see 187 N. 2.
b. For ἐγώ, ἐμοί, σύ the emphatic ἔγωγε, ἔμοιγε (186 a), σύγε occur. Also ἐμοῦγε, ἐμέγε.
c. The use of the plural you for thou is unknown in Ancient Greek; hence ὑ̄μεῖς is used only in addressing more than one person.
d. Of the forms of the third personal pronoun only the datives οἷ and σφίσι(ν) are commonly used in Attic prose, and then only as indirect reflexives (1228). To express the personal pronouns of the third person we find usually: ἐκεῖνος, οὗτος, etc., in the nominative (1194), and the oblique forms of αὐτός in all other cases.
e. For the accus. οὗ the tragic poets use νιν (encl.) and σφε (encl.) for masc. and fem., both sing. and pl. (= eum, eam; eos, eas). Doric so uses νιν. σφίν is rarely singular (ei) in tragedy.
f. ἡμῶν, ἡμῖν, ἡμᾶς, ὑ̄μῶν, ὑ̄μῖν, ὑ̄μᾶς, when unemphatic, are sometimes accented in poetry on the penult, and -ῑν and -ᾱς are usually shortened. Thus, ἥμων, ἧμιν, ἧμας, ὕ̄μων, ὗμιν, ὗμας. -ῑν and -ᾱς are sometimes shortened even if the pronouns are emphatic, and we have ἡμίν, ἡμάς, ὑ̄μίν, ὑ̄μάς. σφάς occurs for σφᾶς.
326. Stems. – I. (ἐ) με- (cp. Lat. me), νω- (cp. Lat. νο̄-ς), (ἐ)μο-, ἡμε-. ἐμοῦ is from ἐμέο; ἡμεῖς from ἀμμε-ες (37) with the rough breathing in imitation of ὑ̄μεῖς; ἡμῶν from ἡμέων, ἡμᾶς from ἡμέας with ᾱ not η by 56. ἐγώ is not connected with these stems. II. συ- and σε- from τϜε; το-; σφω-; ὑ̄με- from ὑμμε- (37). III. ἕ for σϜε (cp. Lat. se), ἑέ for σεϜε, οἷ for σϜο-ι, and σφε-. The form of the stems and formation of the cases is often obscure.
Syntax & Usage
1190. The nominative of the personal pronoun is usually omitted except when emphatic, e.g. in contrasts, whether expressed or implied: ἐπεὶ ὑμεῖς ἐμοὶ οὐ θέλετε πείθεσθαι, ἐγὼ σὺν ὑμῖν ἕψομαι since you are not willing to obey me, I will follow along with you X. A. 1. 3. 6. In contrasts the first pronoun is sometimes omitted (930).
1191. Where there is no contrast the addition of the pronoun may strengthen the verb: εἰ μηδὲ τοῦτο βούλει ἀποκρίνασθαι, σὺ δὲ τοῦντεῦθεν λέγε if you do not wish to reply even to this, tell me then X. C. 5. 5. 21.
1192. The forms ἐμοῦ, ἐμοί, and ἐμέ and the accented forms of the pronoun of the second person (325 a) are used when emphatic and usually after prepositions: καὶ πείσᾱς ἐμὲ πιστὰ ἔδωκάς μοι καὶ ἔλαβες παρ' ἐμοῦ and after prevailing on me you gave me pledges of faith and received them from me X. A. 1. 6. 7. Cp. 187 N. 2. On the reflexive use of the personal pronouns of the first and second persons, see 1222–1224.
1193. ἐγώ, σύ (ἐμός, σός) are rarely used of an imaginary person ('anybody'): D. 9. 17, X. R. A. 1. 11.
1194. The nominative of the pronoun of the third person is replaced by ἐκεῖνος (of absent persons), ὅδε, οὗτος (of present persons), ὁ μέν . . . ὁ δέ (at the beginning of a sentence), and by αὐτός in contrasts. The oblique cases of the foregoing replace οὗ, etc., which in Attic prose are usually indirect reflexives (1228, 1229). οὗ and ἕ in Attic prose occur chiefly in poetical passages of Plato; in Attic poetry they are personal pronouns. The pronoun of the third person is very rare in the orators.
Loquentes Practice Reference
Our drill practices the 1st and 2nd person pronouns (ἐγώ, σύ) across all three numbers, as Smyth § 325 gives them.