Pronouns

Overview of Pronouns

• In Greek, a pronoun takes the place of a noun that is already known or can be understood from the context.
• Pronouns have number, gender and case — like the nouns they replace.
• There are several types of pronouns, including personal, demonstrative, relative, possessive, and indefinite.

Personal Pronouns

• Personal pronouns refer to a person or thing. They are ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’, ‘we’ and ‘they’.
• In Greek, unlike English, the subject pronoun is often dropped unless it is needed for emphasis.
• The forms for ‘he’, ‘she’, and ‘it’ are the same; context will usually make it clear to which one the pronoun refers.

Demonstrative Pronouns

• Demonstrative pronouns are used to point to specific nouns. They are ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’ and ‘those’.
• Greek has separate forms for ‘this’ and ‘these’ (near the speaker) and ‘that’ and ‘those’ (away from the speaker).
• The gender, number, and case of a demonstrative pronoun must match the noun it’s referring to.

Relative Pronouns

• A relative pronoun introduces a clause that provides more information about a noun. They are ‘who’, ‘which’, ‘that’, ‘whom’ and ‘whose’.
• In Greek, the relative pronoun ‘ὅς’, ‘ἥ’, ‘ὅ’ comes in a variety of different forms which need to be learned.

Possessive Pronouns

• Possessive pronouns show ownership. They are ‘my’, ‘your’, ‘his’, ‘her’, ‘its’, ‘our’, ‘their’.
• The Greek equivalent possessive pronouns must agree in gender, number, and case with the thing possessed, not with the possessor.

Indefinite Pronouns

• Indefinite pronouns refer to nonspecific persons or things. They are ‘someone’, ‘something’, ‘anyone’, ‘anything’ etc.
• The common indefinite pronouns in Greek include ‘τις’, ‘τι’.

Note

• Pronouns in Greek follow similar declension patterns as nouns.
• Properly using pronouns will greatly improve both your comprehension and your ability to express yourself in Greek.
• Remember that pronouns must agree with the nouns they replace in terms of gender, number, and case.