Lesson 17 · Review
This lesson's new words — and the star of the show, is, ea, id, the demonstrative (“this, that”) that also does the work of the personal pronoun “he, she, it.”
English keeps “that” and “he” as separate words. Latin folds both into one set of forms, is, ea, id. Learn its declension and its two uses (pointer and pronoun), then watch the one place it collides with the reflexive suus.
A demonstrative singles out an object definitely — this, that, these, those. is, ea, id is the commonest one, and it works both as an adjective (with a noun) and as a pronoun (standing alone).
is vir — that man (adjective) · Is est servus — he (that one) is a slave (pronoun).
The base is e- (shifting to i- in a few plural forms). Two singular forms are shared by all three genders: the genitive eius and the dative eī. The rest mark gender: acc. eum, eam, id; abl. eō, eā, eō; plural eī, eae, ea · eōrum, eārum, eōrum · eōs, eās, ea.
Sg. is, eius, eī, eum, eō · ea, eius, eī, eam, eā · id, eius, eī, id, eō.
Beyond pointing things out, is, ea, id is the regular Latin word for the personal pronoun: is = he, ea = she, id = it, and in the plural eī (iī), eae, ea = they.
Magister eōs laudat — the teacher praises them.
When “his/her/its/their” points back to the SUBJECT, use the reflexive suus, -a, -um (“his own”). When the owner is someone ELSE, use the genitive of is: eius for his/her/its, and eōrum (masc./neut. antecedent) or eārum (fem.) for their.
Galba suum fīlium vocat — Galba calls his (own) son. · Galba eius fīlium vocat — Galba calls his (another man's) son.
The genitive singular eius is pronounced ehyus. In the plural the forms with two i's — iī and iīs — are preferred, and the two i's are run together as one (so iī sounds like ī, iīs like īs).
eī or iī (they) · eīs or iīs (to/for them; with them).
Six out of six before you start the exercises.
Question 1
In the genitive singular, all three genders of is, ea, id share the single form —
Right. eius is the genitive singular for masculine, feminine, and neuter alike (Rule 2). eōrum is genitive plural; eī is the dative singular.
Not quite — you want the genitive SINGULAR, the one form that serves every gender (and is pronounced ehyus).
Question 2
And the dative singular, again for every gender, is —
Right. The dative singular is eī for all three genders (Rule 2). eō is the masculine/neuter ablative; eam is the feminine accusative.
Not quite — like the genitive, the dative singular is a single ending shared by masculine, feminine, and neuter.
Question 3
Besides pointing out “this” or “that,” is, ea, id is regularly used as —
Right. Latin has no separate word for “he/she/it”; it presses the demonstrative into service — is = he, ea = she, id = it (Rule 3).
Not quite — Latin lacks a dedicated word for “he, she, it” and reuses this demonstrative for the job.
Question 4
“Galba calls his (own) son”: Galba ___ fīlium vocat. The right word is —
Right. “His own” points back to the subject Galba, so Latin uses the reflexive suum (Rule 4). eius would mean someone else's son.
Not quite — the son belongs to the subject of the sentence. That calls for the reflexive possessive, not the genitive of is.
Question 5
“The woman calls her son” — meaning ANOTHER woman's son, not her own: Fēmina ___ fīlium vocat.
Right. The owner is NOT the subject, so we use the genitive of is, eius (Rule 4). suum would make it her own son; eam is accusative “her,” the wrong job here.
Not quite — since “her” refers to someone other than the subject, you need the genitive of is, ea, id, not the reflexive.
Question 6
For a group of MEN, “their” (not their own) is eōrum. For a group of WOMEN it becomes —
Right. The genitive plural marks the antecedent's gender: eōrum for masculine/neuter, eārum for feminine (Rule 4). suārum would be reflexive — “their own.”
Not quite — the genitive plural of is agrees in gender with the people it refers to. Which form is feminine?
Answered correctly: 0 / 6