Chapter 2: Pronouns

Definition

A pronoun substitutes for a noun or noun phrase. It refers to an entity without naming it directly.

The soldier fought bravely. He was wounded. — He refers back to the soldier.

Pronouns are closely related to nouns — they function in the same grammatical positions (subject, object, etc.) and in case languages, they decline for case, number, and gender just as nouns do.

Pronoun Categories

Personal Pronouns

Definition: Refers to the speaker (1st person), addressee (2nd person), or others (3rd person).

English Personal Pronouns

Both genitive columns show possession, but they differ in use: - Before noun: My book is here. - Standalone: The book is mine.

French Personal Pronouns

Examples: - Je le vois. — I see him. - Elle lui donne un livre. — She gives him a book. - C’est pour moi. — It’s for me.

French possessives have two genitive forms, like English:

• Before noun: Mon livre est ici. — My book is here.
• Standalone: Le livre est le mien. — The book is mine.

Spanish Personal Pronouns

Examples: - Lo veo. — I see him. - Le doy el libro. — I give him the book. - Es para mí. — It’s for me.

Note: Spanish has regional variation: lo/la (direct object) vs. le (leísmo in parts of Spain).

Spanish possessives have two genitive forms, like English and French:

• Before noun: Mi libro está aquí. — My book is here.
• Standalone: El libro es el mío. — The book is mine.

German Personal Pronouns

Examples: - Ich sehe ihn. — I see him. - Ich gebe ihm das Buch. — I give him the book.

German possessives have two forms, like English, French, and Spanish:

• Before noun: Mein Buch ist hier. — My book is here.
• Standalone: Das Buch ist meins. — The book is mine.

Latin and Greek are different: they use the same form for both functions. Latin meus and Greek ἐμός serve as both determiner and pronoun without changing.

Latin Personal Pronouns

First person:

Second person:

Third person: Latin uses demonstrative pronouns (is, ea, id or ille, illa, illud) for third person reference.

Greek Personal Pronouns

First person:

Second person:

Note: The shorter forms (με, μου, μοι, etc.) are enclitic — unstressed and attached to the preceding word.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Definition: Points to a specific referent, distinguishing by proximity to speaker or addressee.

French examples: - Ce livre est bon. — This/That book is good. - Cette maison est grande. — This/That house is big. - Ce livre-ci — This book (near). Ce livre-là — That book (far).

Spanish examples: - Este libro es bueno. — This book is good. - Ese libro es bueno. — That book (by you) is good. - Aquel libro es bueno. — That book (over there) is good.

Latin hic, haec, hoc (this)

Latin ille, illa, illud (that)

Note: Ille is the ancestor of the Romance definite articles (el, le, il, lo) and third-person pronouns (él, il, lui).

Relative Pronouns

Definition: Introduces a relative clause and refers back to a noun (the antecedent) in the main clause.

The book which I read was excellent. — which refers to book.

Relative Pronouns Across Languages

Examples:

Latin quī, quae, quod (who, which)

Agreement rule: The relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in gender and number, but takes its case from its function in the relative clause.

Greek ὅς, ἥ, ὅ (who, which)

Interrogative Pronouns

Definition: Used to ask questions.

Examples:

Latin quis, quid (who? what?)

Note: Quis is the substantive (used alone); quī is the adjective (modifies a noun). - Quis vēnit? — Who came? - Quī vir vēnit? — Which man came?

Reflexive Pronouns

Definition: Refers back to the subject of the clause.

When to use reflexive pronouns: A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject. Use it only when subject and object are the same person:

• ✓ He hurt himself. (he = himself)
• ✓ I taught myself Latin. (I = myself)

Do not use reflexive pronouns as substitutes for ordinary pronouns:

• ✗ Please contact John or myself. → ✓ Please contact John or me.
• ✗ Myself and Sarah went to the meeting. → ✓ I and Sarah went… or Sarah and I went…
• ✗ The report was written by myself. → ✓ The report was written by me.

The reflexive myself has become fashionable in business English, perhaps because speakers feel it sounds more formal or modest than me or I. It doesn’t — it’s simply wrong. Use I for subjects and me for objects.

Compound subjects and objects: The same rule applies when pronouns are joined with and. Remove the other person to test:

• ✓ John and I went to the meeting. (Test: I went ✓, not me went)
• ✓ She invited John and me. (Test: She invited me ✓, not She invited I)
• ✗ She invited John and I. — hypercorrection
• ✗ Me and John went to the meeting. — wrong case

The hypercorrection “John and I” as object has become widespread, perhaps because speakers were corrected as children for saying “me and John” as subject. The solution is not to use I everywhere, but to learn when each form is correct: I for subjects, me for objects.

Etiquette note: It is polite to put the other person first (John and I, not I and John; you and me, not me and you), but this is a matter of courtesy, not grammar. The case must still be correct.

Latin Third-Person Reflexive

Note: Sē is the same for singular and plural: Sē vident = They see themselves.

Indefinite Pronouns

Definition: Refers to non-specific persons or things.

Impersonal Pronouns

English, French, German, and Spanish all have impersonal pronouns for general statements:

French on and German man are common in everyday speech. English one is more formal; colloquial English often substitutes you or they: You never know / They say it’s true. French on frequently replaces nous for “we” in casual speech.

Latin and Greek lack a dedicated impersonal pronoun but express the same idea through: - Passive constructions: Latin Dīcitur… (It is said…) - Indefinite quis/τις: Sī quis hoc dīcat… (If one should say this…)

Clitics: Unstressed Pronouns

Definition

A clitic is an unstressed word that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word. Object pronouns in French, Spanish, and Italian are clitics — they cannot stand alone and must attach to a verb.

Comparison with English: - English: I see him. — pronoun stands alone after verb - French: Je le vois. — pronoun attaches before verb - Spanish: Lo veo. — pronoun attaches before verb

Why Clitics Matter

Clitics differ from independent pronouns in several ways: 1. Fixed position: They cannot move freely in the sentence 2. Cannot be stressed: They cannot receive emphasis 3. Cannot stand alone: They cannot answer questions by themselves

English (independent pronoun): - Q: Who did you see? A: Him. — pronoun can stand alone - I saw HIM, not her. — pronoun can be stressed

Spanish (clitic): - Q: ¿A quién viste? A: A él. — must use stressed form, not clitic - Lo vi a él, no a ella. — stressed form needed for emphasis

Clitic Position in French

French object clitics appear before the finite verb (except in affirmative imperatives):

Clitic Position in Spanish

Spanish clitics appear before finite verbs but after (and attached to) infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives:

Clitic climbing: With auxiliary + infinitive constructions, Spanish allows the clitic to “climb” to before the auxiliary: - Quiero verlo. OR Lo quiero ver. — both mean “I want to see it”

Clitic Ordering

When multiple clitics appear together, they follow a strict order.

French clitic order:

Examples: - Elle me le donne. — She gives it to me. (indirect + direct) - Je le lui donne. — I give it to him. (direct + indirect) - Il y en a. — There are some (of them there).

Spanish clitic order:

Examples: - Me lo dio. — He gave it to me. (indirect + direct) - Te las envío. — I send them to you.

The se replacement rule: When two third-person clitics would appear together (le lo, les la, etc.), the indirect object becomes se: - Le doy el libro. → Se lo doy. — I give it to him. (NOT le lo doy) - Les envío las cartas. → Se las envío. — I send them to them.

Greek Enclitics

Ancient Greek has enclitic pronouns — unstressed forms that attach to the preceding word:

Unlike French and Spanish clitics, Greek enclitics: - Attach to the preceding word, not the following verb - Affect the accentuation of the preceding word - Can appear in various positions (second position in clause is common)

English Historical Context

Modern English retains a reduced inflectional system inherited from Old English (a fully inflected Germanic language).

Old English Noun Declension (c. 900 AD): cyning (king)

Singular:

Plural:

Note the distinct endings: -∅ (nom. sg.), -es (gen. sg.), -e (dat. sg.), -as (nom./acc. pl.), -a (gen. pl.), -um (dat. pl.).

Collapse to Modern English

What survived: - Nominative/accusative distinction: lost (both → king/kings) - Genitive: retained as -’s (singular) and -s’ (plural) - Dative: lost (replaced by preposition to) - Article inflection: lost (se/þone/þæs/þǣm → the)

Pronouns retained more:

The accusative–dative distinction collapsed (hine + him → him), but nominative–accusative remains (he ≠ him).

Why the Apostrophe?

The genitive -’s derives from Old English -es:

þæs cyninges hors → the kinges hors → the king’s horse

The apostrophe marks the lost e. This explains: - it’s (= it is) vs. its (possessive): possessive pronouns (his, its, hers) never took the -es suffix - the kings’ horses: the apostrophe follows the plural -s, since kings already ends in s

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Next: Chapter 3: Verbs