Pronouns
If we didn’t have pronouns in English, we’d have to talk like this:
My brother lives in Maryland. My brother works for the government. My brother is married, and my brother’s wife works as a paralegal. I visit my brother and my brother’s wife twice a year.
Ye cats! Aren’t we lucky we have pronouns–words that take the place of a noun–to simplify our life and avoid that horrible, lengthy repetition:
My brother lives in Maryland. He works for the government. He is married, and his wife works as a paralegal. I visit him and his wife twice a year.
Pronouns have person, which tell us who’s talking or whom we’re talking about. Here’s a chart of the English pronouns:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First Person | I | we |
| Second Person | you | you |
| Third Person | he she it | they |
Notice that English does make a nod to gender in the third person singular. Now, here’s the corresponding table in Greek:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First Person | εγώ I |
εμείς we |
| Second Person | εσύ you |
εσείς you |
| Third Person | αυτός he αυτή she αυτό it |
αυτοί they (m) αυτές they (f) αυτά they (n) |
You’ll note that first and second person don’t have different forms for masculine, feminine, and neuter. That’s because when two people are talking with one another (using “I” and “you”) their gender is known, and they don’t need any different forms to give them a hint.
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