Latin/Demonstratives Lesson 2
Salvēte omnēs! Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity. Here you can peruse a new lesson in Latin, in a simple format. If you would like to catch up, you can find a directory of lessons, a classified vocabulary list, and Memrise courses at the links on the right.
New Grammar edit
If you want to skip the grammar, please feel free to jump to the sentences below and try them out.
In this series of lessons we’re looking at the Latin demonstrative forms
- hic / haec / hoc = this (these); and
- ille / illa / illud = that (those).
Last lesson, we learned the demonstrative pronoun forms used for nominative and accusative cases. This time, let’s look at the genitive (possessive), the dative, and the ablative. It may be a little easier because Latin does not always differentiate between genders for these cases. Check here for a table of the demonstrative pronoun forms.
Here is our attempt at just the forms of hic, haec, hoc and ille, illa, illud we’ll be practicing today:
| huius (hujus)(m/f/n) | of this |
| hōrum (m) / hārum (f) / hōrum (n) | of these |
| illīus (m/f/n) | of that |
| illōrum (m) / illārum (f) / illōrum (n) | of those |
| huic (m/f/n) | to/for this |
| hīs (m/f/n) | to/for these |
| illī (m/f/n) | to/for that |
| illīs (m/f/n) | to/for those |
| hōc (m)/ hāc (f)/ hōc (n) | by/with/from this |
| hīs (m/f/n) | by/with/from these |
| illō (m)/ illā (f)/ illō (n) | by/with/from that |
| illīs (m/f/n) | by/with/from those |
New Sentences edit
| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tunica huius puellae est rosa. | This girl’s shirt is pink. | |
| Quid est nōmen illīus virī? | What is the name of that man? | |
| Habetne Mārcus satis huius vīnī? | Does Marcus have enough of this wine? | |
| Nōnne ea est māter illīus puerī? | Isn’t she the mother of that boy? | |
| Pater hārum puellārum sum. | I am the father of these girls. | |
| Māter hōrum līberōrum est. | She is the mother of these children. | |
| Magistra illōrum discipulōrum multum labōrat. | The teacher of those students works a lot. | |
| Domus illārum fēminārum magnae sunt. | The houses of those women are large. | |
| Mārcus huic puellae crūstulum dat. | Marcus gives this girl a cookie. | |
| Gāius illī puerō duō crūstula dat. | Gaius gives that boy two cookies. | |
| Mūrus altus huic oppidō est. | This town has a high wall. (lit. A high wall is for this town.) | |
| Tria cubicula illī domuī sunt. | That house has three bedrooms. (lit. There are three bedrooms for that house). | |
| Imperātor hīs mīlitibus pecūniam dat. | The general gives money to these soldiers. | |
| Tū omnibus illīs placēs. | All those people like you. (lit. You are pleasing to all those people). | |
| Magister hīs discipulīs placet. | These students like the teacher. | |
| Illīs pecūniam dō. | I give money to those people/ them. | |
| Dē hāc rē cogitō. | I am thinking about this thing (matter/subject). | |
| Lūcia ab hōc ursō currit. | Lucia runs away from this bear. | |
| Paula ab illō serpente currit. | Paula runs away from that snake. | |
| In hōc oppidō sunt multī hominēs. | There are many people in this town. | |
| Mārcus in illā urbe habitat. | Marcus lives in that city. | |
| Cum hīs mīlitibus pugnant. | They are fighting with these soldiers. | |
| Avus meus cum illīs canibus lūdit. | My grandfather is playing with those dogs. | |
| Rēx dē hīs rebus cōnsilium capit. | The king takes counsel (makes a plan) about these matters. | |
| Lūcia prō illīs līberīs agit. | Lucia acts on behalf of those children. | |
| (in) illō tempore | at that time | |
| hōc diē/ hodiē (adv.) | on this day, today | Here you have a glimpse at how an ablative phrase was transformed into an adverb |
| prō hāc vice | for this occasion only | In legal Latin. These are some real-world Latin quotes you may have seen |
| In hōc signō vincēs | In this sign you will conquer | From Constantine’s vision of the cross |
| ad hōc | to this; addressing a specific issue or problem |
Practice edit
| Practice and learn the words and phrases in this lesson | |
|---|---|
| Step one | First learn the words using this lesson: |
| Step two | Next try learning and writing the sentencing using this: |
| Note that the Memrise stage covers the content for all lessons in each stage. If you are skipping previous stages you may need to manually "ignore" the words in previous levels (use the 'select all' function) | |
Once you master all the various forms of the demonstrative pronouns plus the “regular” 3rd person pronouns, you’ll see some instances where a Latin passage can use hic, ille, and is to describe three separate entities, with much less confusion than would occur in English when pronouns conflict. For example, Hic ei librum illīus dat. = He gives him his book, or, Marcus gives Gaius Henry’s book. Just a little different: Hic illī librum suum dat. = He gives him his book, or Marcus gives Gaius his own (Marcus’) book. We don’t recommend these sentences for the beginning level, but think of them as a teaser for intermediate/advanced Latin syntax!
As always, we hope these lessons are helpful. Please leave any comments or questions on the talk page. Valēte et bonam fortūnam!