Latin Personal Pronouns and Verb Endings: Ego, Tū, Nōs, Vōs
The Latin personal pronouns, how verb endings show the person, and why Latin usually omits the subject pronoun.
In English we say "I love, you love, she loves". Latin says it with one word, because the ending shows who is acting.
Personal endings
For amō (I love), present tense:
| Person | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | amō | I love |
| 2nd singular | amās | you love |
| 3rd singular | amat | he/she/it loves |
| 1st plural | amāmus | we love |
| 2nd plural | amātis | you (all) love |
| 3rd plural | amant | they love |
The endings are -ō, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt, and they appear in nearly every tense.
Subject pronouns
Because the ending shows the person, the subject pronoun is normally left out. It's added for emphasis:
| Pronoun | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ego | I |
| tū | you (singular) |
| is, ea, id | he, she, it |
| nōs | we |
| vōs | you (plural) |
| eī, eae, ea | they |
- Amō. — I love.
- Ego amō, tū nōn amās. — I love, you don't love.
Object forms
Pronouns have cases like nouns:
| Case | I | you (sing.) | we | you (pl.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ego | tū | nōs | vōs |
| Accusative | mē | tē | nōs | vōs |
| Genitive | meī | tuī | nostrum | vestrum |
| Dative | mihi | tibi | nōbīs | vōbīs |
| Ablative | mē | tē | nōbīs | vōbīs |
Examples:
- Tē amō. — I love you.
- Mihi librum dat. — He gives me a book.
- Mēcum venit. — He came with me.
Attached -cum
With the ablative of personal pronouns, cum ("with") is attached at the end: mēcum (with me), tēcum (with you), nōbīscum (with us).
Possessive adjectives
meus (my), tuus (your), noster (our), vester (your, plural). They agree with the noun, not the owner:
- mea māter — my mother
- meus pater — my father
Tips
- Learn the six endings.
- Learn ego, tū, nōs, vōs.
- Use the dictionary to check pronoun forms.
English Latin Dictionary
Offline English–Latin dictionary for students, classics and word-origin lookups
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