The Basic Grammar of Ido/Function Words/Pronouns

Pronouns are function words used to take the place of nouns. When a pronoun is used, the definite article "la" is omitted, as the pronoun itself acts as a determiner. For example, "La kato esas miniona" (The cat is cute) and "Mea kato esas miniona" (My cat is cute). Personal Pronouns Personal pronouns are function words used to replace nouns. They are used to refer to things already known in a conversation. For example, in the sentence "The cat is sitting, it is eating fish", the word "it" here is a personal pronoun, standing in for "the cat". +Personal pronouns in Ido1st2nd personthird personindefinitereflexivefamiliarformalmasc.fem.non-humanneuterSingularMeTuVuIl(u)El(u)Ol(u)LuOn(u)SuPluralNiViIliEliOliLi +English1st2nd personthird personindefinitereflexivefamiliarformalmasc.fem.non-humanneuterSingularIYouHeSheItTheypeopleHim/Her/It-self, ThemselvesPluralWeThey The "u" in the pronouns Ilu, Elu, Olu and Onu is optional. However, when a ending is to be attached to them, the full form with the "u" must be used. The pronoun "onu" refers to an unspecified person or people. Possessive Pronouns Possessive pronouns express ownership, such as "my", "your" and "their". In Ido, personal pronouns can be converted into possessive pronouns simply by adding the ending "a" at the end. +Possessive pronouns in Ido1st2nd personthird personindefinitereflexivefamiliarformalmasc.fem.non-humanneuterSingularMeaTuaVuaIluaEluaOluaLuaOnuaSuaPluralNiaViaIliaEliaOliaLia Reflexive Pronouns The reflexive pronouns "su" and "sua" are used to refer to a third-person noun within the same sentence. They can be translated as "himself", "herself" or "themselves". They cannot be used as the subject (the initiator of the action) and can only modify a third-person subject within the same sentence. Examples of personal pronouns: "Il amas su" means "He loves himself", whilst "Il amas il" means "He loves him"; it is unclear whether the object (the receiver of the action) is the same person or someone else. Example of possessive pronouns: "El amas sua kato" means "She loves her own cat", whilst "El amas elua kato" means "She loves her cat", without it being possible to tell whether the cat belongs to the person who loves it or to someone else. Demonstrative Pronouns Demonstrative pronouns are words used to refer to one or more specific things or places. Such as "this" and "that". Here are the demonstrative pronouns in Ido: Closeness (here)Distance (there)Person / individualSingularIcaItaPluralIciItiNon-humanIcoItoDemonstrative adjectivesIcaIta The "i" in demonstrative pronouns can be omitted for phonetic reasons, becoming ca, ci, co, ta, ti or to. Demonstrative adjectives Demonstrative adjectives are placed before the noun to refer to it. For example: "this cat" and "that cat". Relative Pronouns Relative pronouns are used in questions and subordinate clauses, such as "which" and "who". In Ido, there are three relative pronouns: Singular: Human: Qua Non-human: Quo Plural: Qui Examples Tu lektis qui libri ? (What books did you read?) Ol pensas quo ? (What does he think?) La persono qua kantas. (The person who sings) Indefinite Pronouns Indefinite pronouns are used to refer to unspecified people or things. They have a specific root and end in one of the following three endings: "a", "o" and "u". Among the indefinite pronouns, the ending "a" is used for adjectives, the ending "o" to refer to non-human things, whilst the ending "u" is used to refer to people. Furthermore, when referring to people in the plural, the ending "u" is replaced by "i". For example, "Omna homo bezonas drinkar aqui" means "Everyone needs to drink water". Here, "omna" modifies "homo" (man). Meanwhile, "Omnu bezonas drikar aqui" also means "Everyone needs to drink water". Here, "omnu" refers to people. In addition, the use of the ending "e" is used to express a method. For example, "Ule" means "in one way or another". +Essential indefinite pronounsRootMeaningUl-SomeIrg-AnySingl-EachOmn-EveryNul-NoneAltr-Other Exercises Try to understand the meaning of the following sentences. The meanings of the word roots are given below: Ulu manjis mea kuko ! Esis qua ? Manj: to eat Kuk: cake Es : to be Answers * Someone ate my cake! Who was it?