11.07.24: level 2; is, ea, id [6]; the “table”: how to handle it – step by step [1]

Take a look at the image

[1] At first sight, it looks like there are thirty of these to learn. Note the ones that are repeated in the table because they apply to all three genders: eius, eī and eīs (which is used for two cases)

[2] A couple of them in red ‘sunk in’ very quickly because, most often, they mean:

• eius: his / her(s) / its i.e. possession
• eōrum / eārum: their

They don’t agree in gender, number or case with the noun possessed.

• pater eius │ his / her father
• fīlia eius │his / her daughter
• pedēs eius │ his / her feet

• Saxum super caput eius ingēns pendēbat. │ A huge rock was hanging above his head.

• Neptūnus igitur in agrōs eius mare mīsit. │Neptune, therefore, sent the sea into his fields.

• Fortasse Eurydicēn ad virum eius remittent. │ Perhaps they will send Eurydice back to her husband.

• cibus eōrum │ their food
• casa eōrum │ their cottage
• oppidum eōrum │ their town
• in librīs eōrum │ in their books
• Ducem eōrum vīcit │ He conquered their leader.

[3] The others that immediately “hit” were eum: him and, by extension, eam (her) and [4] ‘id’: i.e. ‘id est’

 

How eum and eam translate depends on the noun they agree with; if the noun is ‘animate’ i.e. referring to a living human being they will translate as ‘him’ or ‘here’; if they agree with a noun that does not refer to a human being e.g. an object, they will translate as ‘it’:

• Dominus adest, sed eum vidēre nōn vultis. │The master is here but you don’t want to see him.
• Puerī puellaeque innūptae circum equum saltāre et canere gaudēbant et flōribus eum ōrnāre. │ The boys and unmarried girls enjoyed singing and dancing around the horse and decorating it with flowers.

• "Fortasse vōbīs Anna quoque aliquid nārrābit. Eam rogāte." │ Perhaps Anna will tell you something too. Ask her.

• "Mox iterum," inquit, "fābulam legam quod multum eam amō." │ “I’ll read the story again soon,” she said “because I like it a lot.”