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.

Practice
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!