Usor:Robert.Baruch/Composition Exercises 2

Personal pronouns. Ego and tu. Never use them except for emphasis or when you need to in order to make clear which person is being referred to. In phrases including more than one person, in Latin the first person pronoun always comes first, then the second person, then the third.

Demonstrative pronouns. Hic/haec/hoc (this), is/ea/id, ille/illa/illud, iste/ista/istud (that).

• Hic/haec/hoc is used to refer to what is near the speaker, whether it be time, space, thought, or on the page. When it refers to something just mentioned, it means the latter, because that's what was written nearest to where you're reading now (i.e. what the author is "currently" writing).

• Is/ea/id refers to that he/she/it that was just mentioned, or about to be mentioned in a relative phrase (is qui...: he who...).

• Ille/illa/illud refers to what is far from the speaker, again whether it be time, space, thought, or on the page. When it refers to something just mentioned, it means the former, because that's what was written farthest to where you're reading now. It also means, in apposition to another name, the famous or the well-known. Illud can also mean the following thing.

• Iste/ista/istud refers to something between hic and ille, and often denotes contempt.

Possessive pronouns. Meus/tuus/suus. They are adjectives. For the third person, if the possessor is the subject of the phrase, use suus. But if the possessor is not the subject, use the genitive of a demonstrative such as eius. So He sees his (own) father becomes Patrem suum videt, but He sees his (someone else's) father becomes Patrem eius videt.

Reflexive pronouns. Se. It is a noun that has no nominative. It means himself/herself/itself/themselves, always referring to the subject of the phrase. He sees himself is Se videt.

Intensive pronouns. Ipse/ipsa/ipsum. This is an adjective and intensifies a personal pronoun or a noun. When intensifying a pronoun, it means myself, yourself, himself (but not in a reflexive way). When intensifying a noun, it means the very or itself (again, not in a reflexive way). So He himself did the deed is Ipse factum fecit, and We ourselves did the deed is Nos ipsi factum fecerunt. The very land trembled, or The land itself trembled, is Terra ipsa tremuit.

Examples.

• I am a man.
  • Homo sum.
• Marcus and I are men.
  • Ego et Marcus homines sumus.
• I am a man, but you are a beast.
  • Ego homo sum sed tu belua es.
• My father and I (we) saw you.
  • Ego et pater te vidimus.
• You saw your father? My father and I also saw (your father)!
  • Vidistine patrem tuum? Ego et pater meus quoque vidimus!
• Metellus was a blacksmith, and he constructed his own tools. This man was very strong.
  • Metellus ferrarius faber erat, et instrumenta sua fabricavit. Hic validissimus erat.
• Manlius imitates my deeds.
  • Manlius facta mea imitatur.
• I made my bed; now I lie in it.
  • Lectum meum fabricatus sum; nunc in eo cubo.

Translate. Leave your answers in Discussion, but try to answer them yourself!

1. I saw my idiot neighbor today, and he said, "You seem like a squirrel."
2. My aunt Chlamydia's father Sarcastus says that she is becoming fat.
3. Chlamydia herself does not think so.
4. She thinks herself (to be) slim.
5. Sometimes Chlamydia thinks her (own) father (is) an idiot.
6. The latter, however, saw the scales himself.
7. His own eyes did not deceive him.
8. I told my friend Androgynus about this, and he told his brother, and they thought both Chlamydia and Sarcastus (to be) idiots. Especially, though, the former.
9. I myself could not agree more.
10. That (famous) orator Cicero himself would not disagree.
11. Sarcastus himself is fat. Perhaps, in this tale, that is important.
12. He who always sees something, rarely recognizes that very thing.