Kilo Lingo

#25 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

I

Examples

.

It was not I who did this.

Da .

Give me the book.

.

He saw me.

mecum .

Come with me to the city.

.

You and I want the same thing.

"I", but you will meet the other cases far more often than this one. The forms are ego (subject), me (object and ablative), mihi (to or for me) and mei (of me), and Latin normally leaves the nominative out altogether, because the verb ending already says who is speaking: "venio" is a complete sentence meaning "I come".

That makes the appearance of "ego" meaningful. When a writer does put it in, it is for EMPHASIS or contrast, so "ego hoc feci" is closer to "I am the one who did this" than to a flat "I did this".

Note "mecum" for "with me": the preposition "cum" attaches to the back of the pronoun rather than standing in front of it, and the same happens with "tecum", "nobiscum" and "secum". The plural of "ego" is not a plural form of the same stem but a separate word, "nos".

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Latin · Free printables

ego: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "ego" (I): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 1.