Pronoun – 3s

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The morphology and syntax of 3s pronouns
• The syntax of subject-pronoun deletion

VocabularyVocabulary

MorphologyMorphology: Pronoun – 3s

• To form the 3s pronouns, just add an initial αὐ- to the forms of the article you already know (see 3.2.3.1).
• The only exceptions to this are the nom masc and fem forms. These forms have the typical 1st (-η) and 2nd (-ος) declension endings attached to αὐτ-.1

1 I present the chart as if the masculine and feminine nominative singular forms are a combination of αὐτ with the ending rather than αὐ combining with the article. This is technically incorrect, but it facilitates learning. In all cases, αὐ attaches to the article, though this ends up appearing differently in the masculine and feminine nominative singular forms.

SyntaxSyntax: Subject pronoun deletion

You may have noticed that the subject of the sentence in Greek is marked both on the verb and on the noun or pronoun in nom case. Because the subject is marked on the verb itself, the pronoun is often not necessary to give explicitly. For example, in a sentence like βλέπω τὴν ἀδελφήν, we know the subject ἐγώ because of the ω ending on the verb even if ἐγώ is not given. Because of this double marking, the subject in Greek is sometimes left implied, and the pronoun is not explicitly given, so you might see either ἐγὼ βλέπω τὴν ἀδελφήν or βλέπω τὴν ἀδελφήν. In linguistics, this is called pro-drop.