Lesson 5:
Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Nominative

These pronouns replace a nominative noun.

They are mi for "I", vi for "you", li for "he", ŝi for "she", oni for "one", ĝi for "it", and ili for "they". There are two more, but they are special: ci for "thou" and ŝli for "he or she". Ci is used with about the same meaning and frequency as the English "thou". Ŝli is slang and thus its use varies.

Mi amas Johanon.

I love John.

Accusative

To form the accusative forms of the pronouns, just add an -n as for nouns. An accusative pronoun replaces a direct object noun.

Johano amas min.

John loves me.

Others

For other words which may be referred to as "pronouns", see Correlatives.

Possesive Adjectives

Formation

These adjectives show who owns the modified noun. These adjectives are formed from the nominative pronouns by adding an -a.

Onia hundo timigus mian katon.

One's dog would scare my cat.

Reflexive

In the first and second persons, the first and second person pronouns are used reflexively. The third person reflexive pronoun is si. This used to refer back to the subject of the verb.

Roberto kisis sian edzinon. Roberto kisis lian edzinon.

Robert kissed his (own) wife. Robert kissed his (Jacob's) wife.