Lesson 19: Pronouns and Pronominal Adjectives
PRONOUNS AND PRONOMINAL ADJECTIVES255.1 The words commonly called pronouns are here separated into two groups on a purely formal basis: I. Pronouns, which, because of the nature of the case, are inflected only in a restricted way (i.e. restricted in person, number or case); II. Pronominal adjectives, which are subject to full inflection. The two major groups are subdivided along conventional lines for the sake of convenience.
255.2 Apart from the personal pronouns (I.I), which must be learned as special cases, pronouns and pronominal adjectives follow models already familiar. Indeed, three of them — the article (ὁ ἡ τό), the interrogative τίς, τί, and the indefinite πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν — have provided the basic models for the whole nominal system. A number of the pronominal adjectives are catalogued with the adjectives (e.g. πᾶς), but are included here to facilitate reference.
I. Pronouns1. Personal Pronouns
256. The pronouns are personal, reflexive, or reciprocal. There are four distinctive personal pronouns:
Singular | Plural |
First Person | Second Person | First Person | Second Person | ||
N | ἐγώ [cf. ego] | σύ | ἡμεῖς | ὑμεῖς | |
G | ἐμοῦ, μου | σοῦ, σου | ἡμῶν | ὑμῶν | |
D | ἐμοί, μοι | σοί, σοι | ἡμῖν | ὑμῖν | |
A | ἐμέ, με | σέ, σε | ἡμᾶς | ὑμᾶς |
2560. Mnemonic hints:
2560.1 Notice that the endings of the oblique cases of the singular forms are identical (-ου, -οι, -ε).
2560.2 The accented forms of the oblique cases in the singular are used for contrast and emphasis and after prepositions (except πρός) ; the unaccented forms are unemphatic and hence enclitic (to be pronounced with the preceding word, §074). Bl-D §279.
2560.3 The plural forms appear to be third declension; the endings are identical for the two persons (-εῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς).
2561. αὐτός, -ή, -ό is used as the third person pronoun, singular and plural. Since, however, it has other functions and is fully inflected, it is included below (II.1, §260) under pronominal adjectives.
2. Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns257. The reflexive pronouns are formed from the personal pronouns (§256) and αὐτός (§260) . They appear, by virtue of their function, only in the oblique cases; they do not agree with the word they modify in gender, number and case (unlike adjectives, §220).
Singular | |
First person | Second Person | Third Person | ||
G | ἐμαυτοῦ, -ῆς | σεαυτοῦ, -ῆς | ἑαυτοῦ, -ῆς, -οῦ | |
D | ἐμαυτῷ, -ῇ | σεαυτῷ, -ῇ | ἑαυτῷ, -ῇ, -ῷ | |
A | ἐμαυτόν, -ήν | σεαυτόν, -ήν | ἑαυτόν, -ήν, -ό | |
Plural: all persons | ||||
G | ἑαυτῶν, -ῶν, -ῶν | |||
D | ἑαυτοῖς, -αῖς, -οῖς | |||
A | ἑαυτούς, -άς, -ά |
2570. Mnemonic hints:
2570.1 The reflexive pronouns are declined exactly like the article (note the third person neut. acc. sing, in -ο).
2570.2 ἐμ- is combined with the oblique cases of αὐτός to form the first person; σε- with αὐτός to form the second person; and ἑ- (the third person sing, personal pronoun in Homer was εἷο [ἕο] [gen.], ἑοῖ [οἷ] [dat.], ἑέ [ἕ] [acc.]) with αὐτός to form the third.
2570.3 ἑαυτῶν does duty for all persons in the plural. The classical forms ἡμῶν αὐτῶν and ὑμῶν αὐτῶν for the first and second persons plural (i.e. ἡμεῖς, ὑμεῖς plus αὐτός written separately) are occasionally found in hellenistic Greek (Bl-D §288(1)).
258. The reciprocal pronoun, ἀλλήλων is formed by doubling ἄλλος other, another (ἀλλ-αλλο-, with the second element simplified) . It appears, like the reflexives, only in the oblique cases, and is restricted, by virtue of its function, to the plural.
ἀλλήλων one another, each otherM | F | N | ||
G | ἀλλήλων | ἀλλήλων | ἀλλήλων | |
D | ἀλλήλοις | ἀλλήλαις | ἀλλήλοις | |
A | ἀλλήλους | ἀλλήλας | ἄλληλα |
2580. Mnemonic hints:
2580.1 ἀλλήλων is inflected exactly like the article.
2580.2 ἑαυτῶν is sometimes used in a reciprocal sense (Bl-D §287).
II. Pronominal Adjectives259.1 Pronominal adjectives are declined a) like the article, b) like τίς, τί, or c) as third-first declension adjectives of three endings (e.g. πᾶς).
259.2 Most pronominal adjectives come under a); b) is confined to forms of τίς, τί and the numeral adjectives τρεῖς, τέσσαρες; c) includes only πᾶς and the numeral adjective εἷς.
259.3 Pronominal adjectives declined like the article always have -ς‚ in the nom. masc. sing, (like the relative pronoun, ὅς ἥ ὅ, §123) . At only one point is there ever any other variation: the neut. nom. and acc. sing, sometimes have -ν (like neut. nouns of class II.3, §1360.2; adjectives of groups I and II, §§221, 224, 225), sometimes not (like the article and the relative pronoun, §§121, 123).
1. αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό260. αὐτός is employed a) as a personal pronoun of the third person, both numbers, b) as an intensive pronoun (ὁ λόγος αὐτός the word itself), or c) as a pronominal adjective of identity (ὁ αὐτὸς λόγος the same word) Cf. §§719-722.
261. It is declined like the relative pronoun:
Singular | Plural |
M | F | N | M | F | N | ||
N | αὐτός | αὐτή | αὐτό | αὐτοί | αὐταί | αὐτά | |
G | αὐτοῦ | αὐτῆς | αὐτοῦ | αὐτῶν | αὐτῶν | αὐτῶν | |
D | αὐτῷ | αὐτῇ | αὐτῷ | αὐτοῖς | αὐταῖς | αὐτοῖς | |
A | αὐτόν | αὐτήν | αὐτό | αὐτούς | αὐτάς | αὐτά |
262. The possessive adjectives are declined like adjectives of group II.1 (§224, e.g. ἀγαθός, ἀγαθή, ἀγαθόν), which in fact they are.
3. Demonstrative Pronounsἐμός, ἐμή, ἐμόν my, mine [cf. ἐγώ, ἐμοῦ]
σός, σή, σόν your (thy, thine) [cf. σύ]
ἡμέτερος, ἡμετέρα, ἡμέτερον our [cf. ἡμεῖς]
ὑμέτερος, ὑμετέρα, ὑμέτερον your [cf. ὑμεῖς]
ἴδιος, ἰδία, ἰδίον one 's own [cf. idiom]
ἀλλότριος, ἀλλοτρία, ἀλλότριον belonging to another [cf. ἄλλος]
263. The article, ὁ ἡ τό, is a weakened demonstrative pronoun (§§120, 710-7160; cf. Bl-D §§249ff.). The other chief demonstratives are οὗτος this and ἐκεῖνος that. They are both declined like the relative pronoun.
οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο this | ||||
Singular | Plural |
M | F | N | M | F | N | ||
N | οὗτος | αὕτη | τοῦτο | οὗτοι | αὗται | ταῦτα | |
G | τούτου | ταύτης | τούτου | τούτων | τούτων | τούτων | |
D | τούτῳ | ταύτῃ | τούτῳ | τούτοις | ταύταις | τούτοις | |
A | τοῦτον | ταύτην | τοῦτο | τούτους | ταύτας | ταῦτα |
2630. Mnemonic hints:
2630.1 Rough breathing occurs in place of τ in four forms — precisely where it does in the article.
2630.2 Wherever α/η appears in the ending, the stem vowel is changed to α (assimilation of vowel sounds).
264. ἐκεῖνος, ἐκείνη, ἐκεῖνο conforms to the declension of the relative pronoun.
↓ 2640. Some demonstratives are compounds with the article or οὗτος as the head term.
2640.1 ὅδε, ἥδε, τόδε this (here), is made up of the article (declined as usual) and the indeclinable suffix -δε (cf. the particle δέ).
2640.2 The following are compounds with οὗτος:
τοσοῦτος, τοσαύτη, τοσοῦτο (ν) so great, so much
τοιοῦτος, τοιαύτη, τοιοῦτο (ν) such as this
τηλικοῦτος, τηλικαύτη, τηλικοῦτο (ν) so great
b) The neut. nom. and acc. sing, vary between -ο and -ον.
↑2640.3 τοιόσδε, τοιάδε, τοιόνδε (from τοίος, cf. οἷος §272, and -δε), such as this, occurs once in the literature represented in Bauer (2 Pet 1:17).
4. Interrogative Pronouns265. The interrogative pronouns are:
265.1 τίς, τί, who? which? what?, the declension of which is given in §151 as the model for nouns of the third declension.
265.2 A group declined like adjectives of group II.1 (§224).
5. Indefinite Pronounsπόσος, -η, -ον how great? how much?
ποῖος, -α, -ον of what kind? what?
πηλίκος, -η, -ον how large?
ποταπός, -ή, -όν of what sort, kind?
266. The chief indefinite pronoun is τις τι, someone, something, any one, anything. It is of course declined like τίς τί except for accent (§153).
267. A group of pronominal adjectives, which function also as indefinite pronouns, are declined for the most part like adjectives of group II.1 (§224):
ἄλλος, -η, -ο other, another
ἕτερος, -α, -ον other, another
ἕκαστος, -η, -ον each, every
ἑκάτερος, -α, -ον each (of two), both
ἀμφότεροι, -αι, -α both, all
πολύς, πολλή, πολύ much, many
2670. Notes:
2670.1 ἄλλος is declined like the relative pronoun, i.e. without ν in the neut. nom. and acc. sing, πολύς belongs to adjective group V (§236), which, except for four forms, is declined like adjectives of group II.1.
2670.2 Strictly speaking, ἄλλος means other (of several), ἕτερος other (of two), but they are not always correctly used (§§755-760).
2670.3 ἀμφότεροι both (of two), has come to be used like οἱ πάντες, all (Bl-D §275(8)).
268. Following the pattern of third-first and third declension adjectives are the following:
268.1 πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν every, each, all (group III.l., §231)
268.2 εἷς, μία, ἕν, one (numeral adjective and indefinite pronoun), someone, anyone; the one (-the other) is declined:
M | F | N | ||
N | εἷς | μία | ἕν | |
G | ἑνός | μιᾶς | ἑνός | |
D | ἑνί | μιᾷ | ἑνί | |
A | ἕνα | μίαν | ἕν |
2680. Notes:
2680.1 εἷς is from ἐν-ς (ν is lost and the preceding vowel lengthened); the masc. and neut. forms are therefore regular third declension.
2680.2 μία is from the original stem σμ-, from which the σ was lost (indicated in the masc. and neut. by rough breathing; cf. Smyth §119); the feminine is regular first declension.
269.1 Declined like εἷς, μία, ἕν are: οὐδείς, οὐδεμία, οὐδέν and μηδείς, μηδεμία, μηδέν no one, nobody, nothing (οὐδέ and μηδέ compounded with εἷς) .
269.2 The numeral adjective and pronoun δύο, two [cf. dual], is only partially inflected: δύο (nom. and gen.), δυσί (ν) (dat.), δύο (acc.).
269.3 The numeral adjectives and pronouns, τρεῖς, τρία, three [cf. trio] and τέσσαρες τέσσαρα, four [cf. tessara, a square piece of marble or glass used in mosaics] are declined:
M-F | N | M-F | N | |||||
N | τρεῖς | τρία | τέσσαρες | τέσσαρα | ||||
G | τριῶν | τεσσάρων | ||||||
D | τρισί (ν) | τέσσαρσι (ν) | ||||||
A | τρεῖς | τρία | τέσσαρες | τέσσαρα |
2690. Notes:
2690.1 τρεῖς and τέσσαρες do not have distinctive fem. forms (like adjectives of group IV).
2690.2 The masc.-fem. nom. and acc. forms of τρεῖς are identical (cf. πόλις, Ill.V.b, §200); τέσσαρες (masc.-fem. acc.) is occasionally found in the form τέσσαρες (like the nom.; Bl-D §46(2)).
2691. The classical indefinite pronoun, ὁ δεῖνα, such a one, is found only at Mt 26:18 (Bauer); it is declined δεῖνα, δεῖνος, δεῖνι, δεῖνα.
6. Relative Pronouns270. The definite relative pronoun is ὅς ἥ ὁ who, which, what. For its inflectional relation to the article see §123; on its use as a paradigmatic reference for other pronouns §259.3. ὅσπερ is a combination of ὅς and περ, an intensive and extensive particle; ὅσπερ is inflected like ὅς.
271. The indefinite relative is ὅστις, ἥτις, ὅ τι, whoever, whatever. It is compounded from ὅς and τις, both of which are declined. It appears, however, only in the following forms:
Singular | Plural |
M | F | N | M | F | N | |||
N | ὅστις | ἥτις | ὅ τι | οἵτινες | αἵτινες | ἅτινα | ||
A | ὅ τι |
2710. Notes:
2710.1 ὅ τι is written as separate words by some modern authors to distinguish it from the conjunction ὅτι.
2710.2 ὅτου (genitive) is found rarely in fixed expressions: ἀφ᾿ ὅτου, ἕως ὅτου, μέχρι ὅτου.
2710.3 ὅς and ὅστις are no longer clearly distinguished (Bl-D §293).
272. Other relatives are declined like adjectives of group II.1 (§224):
ὅσος, -η, -ον as great as
οἵος, -α, -ον of what sort, such as
ὁποῖος, -α, -ον of what sort, as
ἡλίκος, -η, -ον how great
Note: ὁπόσος, -η, -ον, how great, how much, appears in the Gospel of Peter 8:28 (Bauer).
273. Certain pronouns appearing under the headings of demonstrative (§2640.2), interrogative (§265.2) and relative (§272) are strikingly similar in form. They may be arranged in a table as follows:
Demonstrative | Interrogative | Relative | ||||
Quantity | τοσοῦτος | so great so much |
πόσος | how great? how much? |
ὅσος | as great as as much as |
Quality | τοιοῦτος | such as this | ποῖος | of what kind? what? |
οἷος | of what sort such as |
ὁποῖος | of what sort such as |
|||||
Size | τηλικοῦτος | so great | πηλίκος | how large? | ἡλικός | how great |
274. The numeral adjectives from one to four were considered in §§268.2-2690. The numerals (cardinals) from five to one hundred are indeclinable; those from two hundred up are declined like adjectives of group II.1 (§224). The ordinals (πρῶτος first, δεύτερος second, τρίτος third, etc.) are also declined like adjectives of group II. 1. The numeral adverbs (ἅπαξ, πρῶτως once, first time, δίς twice, τρίς three times, etc.) are, of course, not declined.