https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Latin_for_beginners_(1911)/Part_II/Lesson_XIV
[i] This is my shield.
[ii] This shield is mine.
In the first sentence my is a possessive
adjective; in the second mine is a possessive pronoun, for it
takes the place of a noun, this shield is mine being
equivalent to this shield is my shield. Similarly, in Latin the
possessives are sometimes adjectives and sometimes pronouns.
Images #1 - #3: the possessives my, mine, your,
yours, etc. are declined like adjectives of the first and second
declensions.
Singular
meus, mea, meum: my, mine
tuus, tua, tuum: your, yours
eius: his, her(s), its
suus, sua, suum: his (own), her (own), its (own)
Plural
noster, nostra, nostrum: our, ours
vester, vestra, vestrum: your, yours
eōrum, eārum: their(s)
suus, sua, suum: their (own), theirs
Notes:
[i] meus has the irregular vocative singular
masculine mī, as mī fīlī, O my son.
[ii] When your, yours, refers to one person,
use tuus; when to more than one, vester:
Lesbia, your wreaths are pretty │ Corōnae tuae, Lesbia,
sunt pulchrae
Girls, your wreaths are pretty │Corōnae vestrae, puellae,
sunt pulchrae
[iii] the possessives, as in, for example, French, German
and Russian, agree with the name of the thing possessed in
gender, number, and case. Compare the English and Latin in:
Sextus magistrum suum videt. │ Sextus sees his teacher.
Iūlia magistrum suum videt. │ Julia sees her teacher.
suum agrees with magistrum, and is unaffected
by the gender of Sextus or Julia
[iv] Suus is a reflexive possessive
and regularly refers back to the subject.
Vir suōs servōs vocat │ The man calls his (own) slaves.
Here his (suōs) refers to man (vir),
and could not refer to any one else (see [v] below).
[v]
eius: his / her(s) / its; eius does not change
according to gender or case
eōrum [masculine / neuter]; eārum [feminine]: their(s); it
also does not change according to case
Compare the difference in usage from [iv] above:
Vir suōs servōs vocat │ The man calls his (own) slaves.
Vir servōs eius vocat │ The man calls his (somebody else’s)
slaves.
[vi] Possessives are used much less frequently than in
English, being omitted whenever the meaning is clear without them. When
translating from Latin into English, the inclusion of his, her etc. may
often be necessary even if the original Latin does not use the equivalents. This
is especially true of suus, -a, -um which, when inserted, is more
or less emphatic, like our his own, her own, etc.
Vocabulary
auxilium, auxiliī [2/n]: help, aid
castrum, -ī [2/n]: fort; (plural) camp
cibus, -ī [2/m]: food
cōnsilium, cōnsiliī [2/n]: plan
dīligentia, -ae [1/f]: diligence, industry
magister, magistrī [2/m]: master, teacher
aeger, aegra, aegrum: sick
crēber, crēbra, crēbrum: frequent
miser, misera, miserum: wretched,
unfortunate
Exercise
Translate the following sentences:
- Mārcus amīcō Sextō cōnsilium suum nūntiat.
- Est cōpia frūmentī in agrīs nostrīs.
- Amīcī meī bonam cēnam ancillae vestrae laudant.
- Tua lōrīca, mī fīlī, est dūra.
- Scūta nostra et tēla, mī amīce, in castrīs Rōmānīs sunt.
- Suntne virī patriae tuae līberī? Sunt.
- Ubi, Cornēlī, est tua galea pulchra?
- Mea galea, Sexte, est in casā meā.
- Pīlum longum est tuum, sed gladius est meus.
- Iūlia gallīnās suās pulchrās amat et gallīnae dominam suam
amant.
- Nostra castra sunt vestra.
- Est cōpia praedae in castrīs vestrīs.
- Amīcī tuī miserīs et aegrīs cibum et pecūniam saepe dant.
- Magister noster dīligentiam Mārcī laudat.
- Fīlius meus Sextus praedam suam in castra Rōmāna portat.
- Puellae tuae bonae aegrīs et miserīs auxilium dant.
- Sunt proelia crēbra in vīcīs nostrīs.
- Ubi, mī fīlī, est cibus lēgātī?
- Castra sunt mea, sed tēla sunt tua.
