Lesson 14 - "Personal Pronouns" in Ancient Greek - "From Alpha to Omega" by Anne Groton

Personal Pronouns in Greek 

(This content is adapted from Anne Groton’s “From Alpha to Omega” 3rd edition)

A personal pronoun is a word that replaces a noun and refers to specific people or things. It replaces names and nouns to avoid repetition. “Personal pronouns distinguish the ONE SPEAKING (first person) from the ONE SPOKEN TO (second person) and the ONE SPOKEN ABOUT (third person).” 

	FIRST PERSON SINGULAR			SECOND PERSON SINGULAR			THIRD PERSON SINGULAR
Nominative	ἐγώ	I		σύ	you		αὐτός αὐτή αὐτό	he/she/it
Genitive	ἐμοῦ/μου	of me/my		σοῦ/σου	of you		αὐτοῦ αὐτῆς αὐτοῦ	of him/her/it
Dative	ἐμοί/μοι	to/for me		σοί/σοι	to/for you		αὐτῷ αὐτῇ αὐτῷ	to/for him/her/it
Accusative	ἐμέ/με	me		σέ/σε	you		αὐτόν αὐτήν αὐτό	him/her/it
	FIRST PERSON PLURAL			SECOND PERSON PLURAL			THIRD PERSON PLURAL
Nominative	ἡμεῖς	we		ὑμεῖς	you		αὐτοί αὐταί αὐτά	they
Gentive	ἡμῶν	of us/our		ὑμῶν	of you		αὐτῶν αὐτῶν αὐτῶν	of them
Dative	ἡμῖν	to/for us		ὑμῖν	to/for you		αὐτοῖς αὐταῖς αὐτοῖς	to/for them
Accusative	ἡμᾶς	us		ὑμᾶς	you		αὐτούς αὐτάς αὐτά	them

RULE: “When two forms are listed, the first (with persistent accent) is emphatic, the second is an enclitic and less emphatic. For objects of prepositions, the emphatic forms are preferred.” 

More About αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό 

(This content is adapted from Anne Groton’s “From Alpha to Omega” 3rd edition)

This word has THREE different meanings depending on how it is used grammatically. 

NOTE: “If you see a form of αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό in the nominative case, it cannot be the third-person pronoun; it must mean either ‘-self’ or (in the attributive position) ‘same.’” 

Meaning One - Attributive Position 

When it is used in the attributive position as a adjective modifying a noun (whether that noun is expressed or αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό is being used as a substantive for the noun) it means “same”. 

Example, 

ἡ αὐτῇ κόpη τῷ αὐτῷ φίλῳ τὰ αὐτὰ βιβλία πέμπει. 

The same maiden sends the same books to the same friend.

ἡ αὐτῇ τῷ αὐτῷ τὰ αὐτὰ πέμπει. 

The same [woman] sends the same [things] to the same [man/person]. 

Meaning Two - Predicate Position 

When modifying a noun of any case in the predicate position, αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό acts as “an intensive adjective meaning “-self” or “the very”. 

Example, 

αὐτὸς ὁ νεανίας τῇ φίλῃ αὐτῇ τὰ βιβλία αὐτὰ πέμπει.

The youth himself sends the books themselves to the friend herself. 

The very youth sends the very books to the very friend. 

When modifying an implied noun in the nominative case and in the predicate position, this also applies. 

Example, 

αὐτὸς τὰ βιβλία πέμπει.

[He] himself sends the books. 

Meaning Three - By Itself in the Gen, Dat, or Acc Case 

As taught above, “when used by itself in the genitive, dative, or accusative case, it is a substitute for the third-person pronoun, meaning ‘him,’ ‘her,’ ‘it,’ or ‘them’.” 

Example, 

αὐτοῖς αὐτὸ πέμπω. 

I send it to them. 

αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτῆς ἀκούω.

I hear him and her. 

The Dative of Possession

"To show possession, Greek often uses a third-person form of εἰμί, a noun in the dative case identifying the possessor(s), and a noun in the nominative case identifying the thing(s) possessed; e.g., ὁ ἵππος ἐμοί ἐστι ("the horse is [i.e., belongs] to me") = ἔχω τὸν ἵππον ("I possess the horse")."