Grammar 1b: Pronoun

HOW TO TRANSLATE A NOUN OR PRONOUN

(repeated at the start of lesson 1a and 1 b; the lesson follows this section)

Look up the word. Look up its context-specific meaning. Then consider:

Nominative?
Write the noun or pronoun, then the verb.It’s the subject (unless it’s in a letter’s “from” or “greeting”).

If it’s singular, it needs a “he/she/it …” verb form.
If it’s plural, it needs a “they …” verb form.

If 2 nominatives and a “be/become” verb:
Write the 1^st one, verb, 2^nd one.
(the 2^nd one is called a “predicate nominative”)

Follows a preposition and completes its meaning?

Write the preposition, then the noun or pronoun,

plus descriptive words (if any).

It’s the object of the preposition.

Otherwise

Genitive? Write of, then the noun or pronoun.
It’s a description.

Dative? Write to/with/in/by (twib), then the noun or pronoun.

It’s “to or for whom an action is done” (indirect object).

Accusative? Write the verb (or participle), then the noun or pronoun.

It’s “upon what an action is done” (direct object).
Check: did you end up with an extra helping word (of, twib)?
If so, the verb works with genitive or dative direct objects.
The helping word is not needed.

Two side-by-side
The 2^nd is in apposition: describes or identifies the 1^st.

Pronoun notes           
Personal 
nominative I you he/she/it we you they
genitive my your his/hers/its our your their
dative/accusative me you him/her/it us you them

Relative
who/whom/which/that
                                    
Demonstrative this/that/these/those

A nominative personal pronoun may add emphasis or contrast.
How much? Consider the context.

A pronoun agrees in gender and number with its antecedent.

One may also check:
Its case agrees with its function in a word group
(or its case agrees with what it describes, if it’s a
demonstrative functioning as an adjective).

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Working with pronouns

1. Is it a personal pronoun?
- Nominative: I, you, he/she/it; we, you, they (check context for emphasis or contrast)
- Genitive: my, your, his/her/its; our, your, their
- Dative, Accusative: me, you, him/her/it; us, you, them

...and what is its antecedent (for what does it stand in)?
- Agrees in number (and gender for he/she/it; they)

2. Is it a relative pronoun?
- Nominative: who, which, that
- Genitive: whose, which, that
- Dative, accusative: whom, which, that

And if so, what is its antecedent?
- Agrees in gender and number
- Agrees in case with its function within a relative clause

3. Is it a demonstrative pronoun?

- Singular: this, that

- Plural: these, those

And if so, what is its antecedent?

- Agrees in gender and number

- Agrees in case with its function in a word group (or its case agrees with what it describes, if it's a demonstrative functioning as an adjective).

4. Indefinite pronoun: anyone, anything

Take into account the verse, its context, and other passages.


LESSON

A pronoun may be one of four kinds:
- Personal pronoun
- Relative pronoun
- Demonstrative pronoun
- Indefinite pronoun

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personal pronoun

A personal pronoun is one that stands in for a person:
- Nominative: I, you, he/she/it; we, you, they
- Genitive: my, your, his/her/its; our, your, their
- Dative, Accusative: me, you, him/her/it; us, you, them

1st person singular: I
- 4 forms, one for each case (no gender)
- ἐγώ, μου, μοι, με
- for emphasis
- ἐμοῦ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ

2nd person singular: you
- 4 forms, one for each case (no gender)
- σύ, σου, σοι, σε

3rd person singular: he, she, it
- 12 forms (4 cases x 3 genders)
- nominative forms: αὐ¦τός, αὐ¦τή, αὐ¦τό

1st person plural: we
- 4 forms, one for each case (no gender)
- ἡ¦μεῖς, ἡ¦μῶν, ἡ¦μῖν, ἡ¦μᾶς

2nd person plural: you
- 4 forms, one for each case (no gender)
- ὑ¦μεῖς, ὑ¦μῶν, ὑ¦μῖν, ὑ¦μᾶς

3rd person plural
- 12 forms (4 cases x 3 genders)
- nominative forms: αὐ¦τοί, αὐ¦ταί, αὐ¦τά

A personal pronoun agrees with the noun it stands in for, in number and case
--and for 3rd person forms, it matches in gender, too.

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nominative personal pronouns

A verb has the pronouns--I, you (singular), he/she/it, we, you (all), they--already built in.

When a pronoun is needed, it's already there in the verb form.

1 Thes 1:2
Εὐ¦χα¦ρι¦στοῦ¦μεν...
We give thanks

Sometimes, in addition to what the verb has built into it, you'll find something extra: a personal pronoun in the nominative case.

1 Thes 1:6
καὶ  ὑ¦μεῖς  μι¦μη¦ταὶ  ἡ¦μῶν  ἐ¦γε¦νή¦θη¦τε  καὶ  τοῦ  κυ¦ρί¦ου...
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord

In that verse, the personal pronoun in the nominative case is ὑ¦μεῖς.

A nominative personal pronoun most often expresses emphasis; at times, the emphasis might also include a sense of contrast. When you encounter a nominative personal pronoun, consider context to gauge how much emphasis (and possibly also contrast) is present.

At Bible GT, when color-coding is turned on, the site displays such pronouns in bold, to signal to the reader to carefully consider context, to see if that word might carry some sense of emphasis or contrast.

When reading aloud for a group, you could provide such emphasis (and contrast, if present) audibly--without mentioning Greek at all, yet benefiting from what nominative personal pronoun provides in context.

2 Sam 12:7
...σὺ  εἶ  ὁ  ἀ¦νὴρ...
you are the man

Matt 26:39
...οὐχ  ὡς  ἐ¦γὼ  θέ¦λω  ἀλλ'  ὡς  σύ...
not as I will but as you

John 10:10
...ἐ¦γὼ  ἦλ¦θον  ἵ¦να  ζω¦ὴν  ἔ¦χω¦σιν...
I came that they might have life

1 Thes 1:6
καὶ  ὑ¦μεῖς  μι¦μη¦ταὶ  ἡ¦μῶν  ἐ¦γε¦νή¦θη¦τε  καὶ  τοῦ  κυ¦ρί¦ου...
and you became imitators of us and of the Lord

1 John 4:10-11, 19
...οὐχ  ὅ¦τι  ἡ¦μεῖς  ἠ¦γα¦πή¦σα¦μεν  τὸν  θε¦όν,  ἀλλ'  ὅ¦τι  αὐ¦τὸς  ἠ¦γά¦πη¦σεν  ἡ¦μᾶς...

...καὶ  ἡ¦μεῖς  ὀ¦φεί¦λο¦μεν  ἀλ¦λή¦λους  ἀ¦γα¦πᾶν...  ἡ¦μεῖς  ἀ¦γα¦πῶ¦μεν,  ὅ¦τι  αὐ¦τὸς  πρῶ¦τος  ἠ¦γά¦πη¦σεν  ἡ¦μᾶς.

not that we loved God
but that He loved us...

also we ought to love one another...
we love, because He first loved us.

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3rd person
nominative personal pronouns

Consider the third person, personal pronoun: αὐ¦τός.

It has the basic meaning of he/she/it or they.

When in the nominative case, αὐ¦τός may be translated as himself, herself, or itself (or if plural, as themselves).

1 Thes 1:9
αὐ¦τοὶ  γὰρ  πε¦ρὶ  ἡ¦μῶν  ἀ¦παγ¦γέλ¦λου¦σιν...
for they themselves report about us
The verb means they report. The nominative pronoun adds they, resulting in: they themselves report.

Eph 2:14
...αὐ¦τὸς  γάρ  ἐσ¦τιν  ἡ  εἰ¦ρή¦νη¦ἡ¦μῶν...
for he is our peace

1 John 4:10
...οὐχ  ὅ¦τι  ἡ¦μεῖς  ἠ¦γα¦πή¦σα¦μεν  τὸν  θε¦όν,
ἀλλ'  ὅ¦τι  αὐ¦τὸς  ἠ¦γά¦πη¦σεν  ἡ¦μᾶς...
not that we loved God, but that He loved us

1 John 4:18
ἡ¦μεῖς  ἀ¦γα¦πῶ¦μεν,  ὅ¦τι  αὐ¦τὸς  πρῶ¦τος  ἠ¦γά¦πη¦σεν  ἡ¦μᾶς.
we love, because He first loved us

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Sometimes an αὐ¦τός form adds an extra "it" side-by-side with a noun, pointing out that noun--and understood in this way: the same.

1 Cor 1:10
...ἐν  τῷ  αὐ¦τῷ  νο¦ῒ  καὶ  ἐν  τῇ  αὐ¦τῇ  γνώ¦μῃ...
in the same mind and in the same judgment

1 Cor 12:4-6
...τὸ  δὲ  αὐ¦τὸ  πνεῦ¦μα... καὶ  ὁ  αὐ¦τὸς  κύ¦ρι¦ος...  ὁ  δὲ  αὐ¦τὸς  θε¦ός...
but the same spirit...and the same Lord...but the same God

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relative pronoun

A relative pronoun--who, whom, which, that--connects a noun or pronoun with a word group that describes which one, what kind, or how many.

A relative pronoun and an article look somewhat similar. Yet a relative pronoun is easy to spot:
- No initial τ
- A rough breathing mark
- An accent mark

The colors make it easy to distinguish: pronouns are blue; articles are black.

1 Thes 1:8
...ὁ λό¦γος...
- the Word
- ὁ is the article, meaning the

1 Thes 2:13
...λό¦γον  θε¦οῦ,  ὅς  καὶ  ἐ¦νερ¦γεῖ¦ται  ἐν  ὑ¦μῖν  τοῖς  πισ¦τεύ¦ου¦σιν.
- Translation: the Word of God, which also works in you, the believing ones
- ὅς is the relative pronoun, meaning which
- What kind of Word? The one which works in you, the believing ones.

Articles and relative pronouns each have 24 forms.

Here are the nominative forms for each:

nominative singular
- article: ὁ, ἡ, τό
- relative pronoun: ὅς, ἥ, ὅ

nominative plural: masc, fem, neut
- article: οἱ, αἱ, τά
- relative pronoun: οἵ, αἵ, ἅ

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relative pronoun: agrees and identifies

Usually:
- A relative pronoun's gender and number agrees with what it describes.
- A relative pronoun's case identifies the relative pronoun's function within a relative clause (a word group that begins with a relative pronoun).

Col 1:27

...τὸ  πλοῦ¦τος  τῆς  δόξ¦ης  τοῦ  μυ¦στη¦ρί¦ου  τού¦του

ἐν  τοῖς  ἔθ¦νε¦σιν,

ὅ  ἐ¦στιν  Χρι¦στὸς  ἐν  ὑ¦μῖν,  ἡ  ἐλ¦πὶς  τῆς  δόξ¦ης·

the riches of the glory of this mystery
in the Gentiles
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

What does ὅ refer to?
- It's singular, neuter.
- It does not agree with δόξ.ης -- singular, feminine

- What might it agree with?

     μυ¦στη¦ρί¦ου -- singular, neuter

     πλοῦ¦τος -- singular, neuter

- By context, and by considering other passages (Eph 3:6),

     ὅ agrees with πλοῦ¦τος

which [the riches] is Christ in you, the hope of glory

How does ὅ function in the relative clause?
- It's nominative.
- It is the subject of the relative clause.

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Eph 1:7-8
...κα¦τὰ  τὸ  πλοῦ¦τος  τῆς  χά¦ρι¦τος  αὐ¦τοῦ,
ἥς  ἐ¦πε¦ρίσ¦σευ¦σεν  εἰς  ἡ¦μᾶς...
according to the riches of His grace

which He has abounded to us

What does ἥς refer to?
- It's singular, feminine.
- It does not agree with πλοῦ¦τος -- singular neuter
- It agrees with χά¦ρι¦τος -- singular feminine

...ἥς  ἐ¦πε¦ρίσ¦σευ¦σεν  εἰς  ἡ¦μᾶς...
which [His grace] He has abounded toward us

How does ἥς function in the clause?
- It is genitive, yet appears to be functioning as the direct object of ἐ.πε.ρίσ.σευ.σεν
- Could it be this verb works with genitive direct objects?
- Yes. Bible GT's "long definition" (Thayer) confirms this.

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relative pronoun:
a tip when translating into shorter sentences
One can express the sense of a relative pronoun (in Greek) as a personal pronoun (in English)--and end up with shorter sentences.

Eph 1:8
...ἥς  ἐ¦πε¦ρίσ¦σευ¦σεν  εἰς  ἡ¦μᾶς...
- Translation: which He has abounded to us
- Another translation: He has abounded it to us

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is that "that" a demonstrative pronoun
or a relative pronoun?

In English, the way to tell if a "that" is a demonstrative pronoun or a relative pronoun is by context.
- A demonstrative pronoun points something out--this, that, these, those.
- A relative pronoun usually connects a word group (with a verb form) to some noun--that (connecting a noun with what follows) or which (connecting a noun with what follows).

In Greek, the language uses different words, so there are no "that" mix ups.
- οὕ¦τος and ἐ¦κεῖ¦νος are demonstrative pronouns.
- ὅς, ἥ, ὅ are relative pronouns.

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demonstrative pronoun

A demonstrative pronoun is one that demonstrates something: this, that, these, those.

The two major demonstrative pronouns are οὕ¦τος (this) and ἐ¦κεῖ¦νος (that). 
A third, infrequently used demonstrative pronoun is ὅ¦δε (this).

Here are the nominative forms (that is to say, 6 of the 24 forms) of οὕ¦τος (this) and ἐ¦κεῖ¦νος (that):

nominative singular: masc, fem, neut

this: οὕ¦τος, αὕ¦τη, τοῦ¦το

that: ἐ¦κεῖ¦νος, ἐ¦κεί¦νη, ἐ¦κεῖ¦νο

nominative plural: masc, fem, neut
these: οὗ¦τοι, αὗ¦ται, ταῦ¦τα

those: ἐ¦κεῖ¦νοι, ἐ¦κεῖ¦ναι, ἐ¦κεῖ¦να

A demonstrative pronoun matches this way:

- Gender and number: match what it refers to

- Case matches:

- (1) What it describes, when functioning as an adjective

- (2) Or how it functions within the sentence.

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nominative demonstrative pronoun,
functioning as a personal pronoun

A nominative demonstrative pronoun (especially ἐ¦κεῖ¦νος), when functioning as a third person personal pronoun (αὐ¦τός), indicates some emphasis.
How much added emphasis? Consider the context. Here is an example:

1 John 4:17
 ...ὅ¦τι  κα¦θὼς  ἐ¦κεῖ¦νός  ἐ¦στιν  καὶ  ἡ¦μεῖς  ἐσ¦μεν  ἐν τῷ  κόσ¦μῳ  τού¦τῳ.

rough: because as this it is, also we we are in this world

smooth: because as He is, also we are in this world

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indefinite pronoun

The indefinite pronoun is τις: anyone, anything.

1 Thes 1:8
 ... λα¦λεῖν  τι·

to speak anything

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Little Notes

Antecedent: the noun that a pronoun is standing in for.

That, which: When translating ὅς, use that when what follows restricts; use which otherwise.

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