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Latin grammar Part of Chapter 1

CEFR A1-A2

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Test yourself (26 questions)

Latin Demonstratives: Hic, Haec, Hoc and Ille Charts

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 11 October 2026

, , means this; , , means that. Each is one word in three genders, and it agrees with its noun in gender, number and case, all at once: , this god; , this land; , this name. English says this and that; Latin -inflects the pointer every time.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Now the accusative singular: every noun here is the object of some verb. Pick the form of hic that agrees.

  1. deum

  2. terram

  3. nomen

masculinefeminineneuteraccusativeWhat do the colours mean?
A speaker stands on the grass pointing at a cup right beside them; a listener a little way off has a second cup by their feet; a third, tiny cup sits far away on top of a green hill.

Hoc is the thing by me (ego), istud the thing by you (tu), illud the thing far off on the hill. The neuter is how Latin points at a thing with no noun: this thing, that thing.

The forms that matter

In real sentences the nominative and accusative do most of the pointing, so drill these first. Read each row as masculine, feminine, neuter:

thisMasc.Fem.Neut.
Nom sg
Acc sg
Nom pl
Acc pl
thatMasc.Fem.Neut.
Nom sg
Acc sg
Nom plillae
Acc pl

In these four cases runs on the endings of with two exceptions: the masculine nominative is , not illus, and the neuter singular ends in -d. So it is , that name, never .

is craggier, with a -c welded onto most singular forms. Its accusative looks like an -um ending plus -c, with the m turned to n before it.

Agreement, worked

Take , masculine. As a subject it is ; as an object, . The demonstrative changes because the noun's case changes:

hic deus becomes hunc deum as the object
JobLatinEnglish
subject .This god sees.
object .I see this god.
subject .This land is large.
object .I see this land.
subject .This name is good.
object .I say this name.

The last two rows show the neuter rule: every neuter uses one form for nominative and accusative, so never changes between subject and object.

Plurals run the same race:

  • - these days
  • - these lands
  • - these names

Yes, is both feminine singular ( , this land) and neuter plural ( , these names). The noun beside it settles which.

The two traps

Agreement runs on a noun's grammatical gender, a fact from the dictionary, not something you can read off the ending. The nouns that punish guessing sit in your first hundred words:

NounGenderthisthat
masculine
feminine
feminine
neuter

looks like and is masculine anyway: . - This day is good. sits in the mostly masculine fourth declension and is feminine anyway. Learn a noun's gender with the noun and the demonstratives look after themselves.

The full tables: hic and ille in all five cases

The genitive and dative singular are the same for all three genders: and , and .

hicSingularPlural
Nom, , , ,
Acc, , , ,
Gen (all), ,
(all) (all)
Abl, , (all)
illeSingularPlural
Nom, , , illae,
Acc, , , ,
Gen (all), ,
(all) (all)
Abl, , (all)

Watch the ablative singular: there is a different case from the neuter nominative, and exists nowhere else in the table.

  • - at this time
  • - on this night

What the two words mean in use

  • this one, near methis one, near me
  • that one, over therethat one, over there

is the thing near the speaker, and by extension the one just mentioned. is the thing over there, and by extension the one everybody knows about:

  • - that king, the famous one

As a contrasted pair they mean the latter (, the nearer, so the one mentioned last) and the former ():

  • : , . - Father and son: the son speaks, the father answers.

iste, ipse and idem

Three more words of the same family decline on the same - / -i pattern. They have their own page, ipse, idem and iste; in brief:

WordMeaningExampleEnglish
that of yours that business of yours
himself, very the king himself
the same at the same time

Common mistakes

WrongRightWhy
is masculine
(object) a neuter accusative = nominative
the neuter of ends in -d
always fem. it is also neuter plural: these words

The workhorse pronoun , , , the personal pronouns and the relative are in the Latin pronouns article; the agreement these words follow is in adjectives and agreement.

What to do next

  1. Say , , with , and until the match is instant.
  2. Run the drill below: sort by gender, then mind the case.
  3. Learn every new noun's gender with the noun.

Practise: test yourself

Sort into groups

0/8

Which form of hic (this) goes with each noun? Sort by the noun's gender.

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Pick the right one

0/5

Now the accusative singular: every noun here is the object of some verb. Pick the form of hic that agrees.

  1. deum

  2. terram

  3. nomen

  4. diem

  5. partem

Pick the right one

0/5

Nominative singular with ille. Pick the form that agrees with each noun's gender.

  1. dies

  2. domus

  3. mare

  4. res

  5. nomen

Spot the mistake

0/3

One demonstrative does not agree with its noun. Tap it.

Pick the right one

0/5

Nominative plural: every noun here is a plural subject. Pick the plural form of hic that agrees.

  1. dies

  2. terrae

  3. nomina

  4. partes

  5. tempora

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Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. The forms that matter
  3. The forms that matter
  4. Agreement, worked
  5. The two traps
  6. The full tables: hic and ille in all five cases
  7. The full tables: hic and ille in all five cases
  8. iste, ipse and idem
  9. Common mistakes

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

What do hic, and mean in Latin?
All three mean this: hic is the masculine form, the feminine, the neuter. They are one word wearing three genders, not three words. Latin picks the form that matches the gender of the noun it points at, so this god is , this land is , and this name is . The same three-way split runs through every case and both numbers, and through , , (that) as well.
How do Latin demonstratives agree with nouns?
In gender, number and case, all three at once, exactly like any Latin adjective. Gender: , , . Number: , this day, against hi dies, these days. Case: when the phrase is a subject, when it is an object, as in , I see this god. The demonstrative -agrees every time the noun's job changes.
What is the difference between hic and ?
Distance. Hic points at what is near the speaker: this one here. points away: that one over there, and often that well-known one, so can mean that famous king. Grammatically they behave the same, agreeing with their noun in gender, number and case: , , in the accusative singular where hic has , , .
Why is both nominative and accusative?
Because every neuter in Latin, noun or pronoun or adjective, uses one form for both cases. (this name is good) and (I say this name) use the same , and the same holds for and for the neuter plurals and . It is not an irregularity of the demonstratives; it is the rule of the neuter gender.
Is dies masculine in Latin?
Yes, almost always, and it is the classic trap in agreement drills because fifth-declension nouns look feminine and its neighbour genuinely is. This day is , not . The mirror-image trap is , which belongs to the largely masculine fourth declension but is feminine: this house is .