Latin/Relative and Indefinite Pronouns Lesson 3

Salvēte omnēs! Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity. Here you can peruse a new lesson in Latin, in a simple format. If you would like to catch up, you can find a directory of lessons, a classified vocabulary list, and Memrise courses at the links on the right.

The vocabulary list linked above is the new link: for some reason the old link had become inaccessible to most people, so I went ahead and created a new post. This lesson continues with some new Latin pronouns and adjectives. We have learned the relative pronouns (qui, quae, quod) and interrogative pronouns (quis, quis, quid). Now, we will explore the indefinite pronouns. Most of them are formed as compounds of other pronoun forms that we have studied. It’s a little complicated because there are multiple ways of expressing similar ideas in Latin, and there are adjective forms as well as pronoun forms, but I will try to give some simple examples that cover the basics. There is a very helpful and thorough explanation here that might help as well.

I’m introducing a few new adjectives in this lesson as well: they have some irregularities in form and they also are used in some interesting constructions. We are overdue for a more in-depth study of adjectives, so I may just have a few sentences this lesson and save more for later on. We are in an area of Latin where there are many possibilities when it comes to syntax. The same thought may have many equivalent translations in both English and Latin.

New Vocabulary

Latin	English	Audio (Classical)	Notes
aliquis, aliquid (indef. pronoun)	someone, somebody, something, anyone, anybody, anything
aliquot (indecl. adj.)	a number, some, a few
alius, alia, aliud (adj.)	other, another (of more than two)
alter, altera, alterum (adj.)	the one, the other (of two)
ambō, ambae, ambō	both
nūllus, a, um (adj.)	no, none
nōnnūllī, ae, a (adj.)	a few, some (lit. “not none”)
paucī, ae, a (adj.)	few
quidam, quiddam/ quidam, quaedam, quoddam	a certain one, a certain thing		Used like the indefinite article in English
quisquis, quidquid (indef. pron.)	whoever, whatever, everyone who, everything which
(ūnus)quisque, (ūna)quaeque, (ūnum)quodque	each one, every one
uterque, utraque, utrumque	each, either, both (of two)

New Sentences

Latin	English	Notes
Aliquis venit.	Someone is coming.
Aliquis aliquid edit.	Someone is eating something.
Marcus aliquem videt.	Marcus sees someone.
Paula aliquid vīdit.	Paula saw something.
Aliquis ex vōbīs dēbet hoc facere.	One of you should do this.
Dīxistīne aliquid?	Did you say something?
Aliquid bonī invēnērunt.	They found something good.	Frequently the genitive is used to complete the meaning.
Lūcia alicui pecūniam dedit.	Lucia gave someone the money.
Ab aliquō factum est.	It was done by someone.
Gāius aliquōs librōs volēbat.	Gaius wanted some books.
Nēmō ambulat (nūllī ambulant), sed aliquī currunt.	No one is walking, but some are running.
Aliquī mortuī sunt.	Some people died.
Aliquī credunt terram esse plānam.	Some people believe that the earth is flat.	Accusative with infinitive construction
Hoc fit in aliquibus locīs.	This is done in some places.
Quisquis in viā ambulat, altus est.	Whoever is walking on the road is tall.
Quidquid agis, bonum est.	Whatever you do is good.
Lūciae nūllī līberī sunt.	Lucia has no children.	Literally, no children are for Lucia.
Dicunt “pāx, pāx,” sed nūlla est pāx.	They say “peace, peace,” but there is no peace.
Nūllus puer cafeam bibit.	None of the boys drink coffee.	lit. No boy drinks coffee.
Nēmō vestrum in scholā erat.	None of you were in school. (note singular in Latin, plural in English)
Ubī sunt aliī?	Where are the others? (alii masc., aliae fem.; presumably other people: alia neut. implies other things)
Aliam viam habēmus nūllam.	We have no other way.	From Caesar’s Gallic Wars, where the Helvetians try to convince Caesar to let them trek through Roman territory.
Aliī vīxērunt, aliī mortuī sunt.	Some lived, others died.
Alter mānsit, alter abīit.	One remained, the other went away.
Uterque canis fēlem videt. Ambō canēs fēlem vident.	Both dogs see the cat.	With a form of uterque, the translation could be in the singular: each dog sees the cat.
Ambās puellās cognōvī. Utramque puellam cognōvī.	I know both girls.
Utraque fīlia mea fortis est. Ambae fīliae meae fortēs sunt.	Both of my daughters are strong.
Aliquis aliquot annōs in illā casā habitat.	Someone has been living in that cottage for some years.
Ūnusquisque prō sē.	Every man for himself.
Paucī discipulī erant parātī.	Few students were ready.
Quidam vir trēs fīliōs habēbat.	A certain man had three sons.
Alter ego est amīcus.	A friend is another (a second) self.
et al. (et aliī, aliae, alia)	and others
Cuique suum	To each his own.

Practice

Practice and learn the words and phrases in this lesson
Step one	First learn the words using this lesson: Relative and Indefinite Pronouns vocabulary
Step two	Next try learning and writing the sentencing using this: Relative and Indefinite Pronouns Sentences
Note that the Memrise stage covers the content for all lessons in each stage. If you are skipping previous stages you may need to manually "ignore" the words in previous levels (use the 'select all' function)

If you are starting to feel that indefinite pronouns (and adjectives) are quite confusing, we agree. We've tried to keep the sentences simple; comment on the discussion page and we will do our best. Next lesson we’ll move along to adjectives, including some of the irregular ones we have seen this lesson, and comparative and superlative forms as well. Thank you all for your patience as this lesson took a long time to prepare, and best wishes in your studies. Valēte et bonam fortūnam!

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Adjectives 2 Lesson 1 →