Pronouns

[download pdf]

Paradigms for the Old Norse pronouns are not hard to get by. However, if you have an understanding of Old and Modern English it can be rather useful to see the inflections in these three languages side by side. As you compare the paradigms for some of the most common pronouns below, remember that both Old English and Old Norse pronouns have fed into our modern system, as the Norse speakers in the Danelaw had a profound impact on the English language. Note that not all variants of Old English forms have been included in these paradigms.

If you'd like to test your knowledge of these paradigms, head over to the flashcards for paradigms, phrases and simple clauses, or actual sentences.

Personal pronouns

First person ("I, we")
OE ic
sg. dual pl.
nom. ic wit wē
acc. mē unc ūs
gen. mīn uncer ūre
dat. mē unc ūs
ON ek
sg. dual pl.
nom. ek vit vér
acc. mik okkr oss
gen. mín okkar vár
dat. mér okkr oss
MnE I
sg. dual pl.
nom. I -- we
acc. me -- us
gen. my (mine) -- our
dat. me -- us

Second person ("you")
OE þū
sg. dual pl.
nom. þū ġit ġē
acc. þē inc ēow
gen. þīn incer ēower
dat. þē inc ēow
ON þú
sg. dual pl.
nom. þú (þ)it (þ)ér
acc. þik ykkr yðr
gen. þín ykkar yðar
dat. þér ykkr yðr
MnE you
sg. dual pl.
nom. you -- you (ye)
acc. you -- you
gen. your -- your
dat. you -- you

Third person ("he, she, it")
OE masc. hē
sg. pl.
nom. hē hīe
acc. hine hīe
gen. his heora
dat. him him
ON masc. hann
sg. pl.
nom. hann þeir
acc. hann þá
gen. hans þeir(r)a
dat. honum þeim
MnE masc. he
sg. pl.
nom. he they
acc. him them
gen. his their
dat. him them
OE fem. hēo
sg. pl.
nom. hēo hīe
acc. hīe hīe
gen. hire heora
dat. hire him
ON fem. hon
sg. pl.
nom. hon þær
acc. hana þær
gen. hennar þeir(r)a
dat. henni þeim
MnE fem. she
sg. pl.
nom. she they
acc. her them
gen. her their
dat. her them
OE neut. hit
sg. pl.
nom. hit hīe
acc. hit hīe
gen. his heora
dat. him him
ON neut. þat
sg. pl.
nom. þat þau
acc. þat þau
gen. þess þeir(r)a
dat. þ(v)í þeim
MnE neut. it
sg. pl.
nom. it they
acc. it them
gen. its their
dat. it them

Demonstrative pronouns

Distal ("that")

OE masc. se
sg. pl.
nom. se þā
acc. þone þā
gen. þæs þāra
dat. þām þām
inst. þȳ --
ON masc. sá
sg. pl.
nom. sá þeir
acc. þann þá
gen. þess þeir(r)a
dat. þeim þeim
MnE that
sg. pl.
nom. that those
acc. that those
gen. its their
dat. that those
OE fem. sēo
sg. pl.
nom. sēo þā
acc. þā þā
gen. þǣre þāra
dat. þǣre þām
ON fem. sú
sg. pl.
nom. sú þær
acc. þá þær
gen. þeir(r)ar þeir(r)a
dat. þeir(r)i þeim
MnE that
sg. pl.
nom. that those
acc. that those
gen. its their
dat. that those
OE neut. þæt
sg. pl.
nom. þæt þā
acc. þæt þā
gen. þæs þāra
dat. þām þām
inst. þȳ --
ON neut. þat
sg. pl.
nom. þat þau
acc. þat þau
gen. þess þeir(r)a
dat. þ(v)í þeim
MnE that
sg. pl.
nom. that those
acc. that those
gen. its their
dat. that those

Proximal ("this")

OE masc. þes
sg. pl.
nom. þes þās
acc. þisne þās
gen. þisses þissa
dat. þissum þām
inst. þȳs --
ON masc. sjá/þessi
sg. pl.
nom. sjá/þessi þessir
acc. þenna þessa
gen. þessa þessa
dat. þessum þessum
MnE this
sg. pl.
nom. this these
acc. this these
gen. its their
dat. this these
OE fem. þēos
sg. pl.
nom. þēos þās
acc. þās þās
gen. þisse þissa
dat. þisse þām
ON fem. sjá/þessi
sg. pl.
nom. sjá/þessi þessar
acc. þessa þessar
gen. þessar þessa
dat. þessi þessum
MnE this
sg. pl.
nom. this these
acc. this these
gen. its their
dat. this these
OE neut. þis
sg. pl.
nom. þis þās
acc. þis þās
gen. þisses þissa
dat. þissum þām
inst. þȳs --
ON neut. þetta
sg. pl.
nom. þetta þessi
acc. þetta þessi
gen. þessa þessa
dat. þessu þessum
MnE this
sg. pl.
nom. this these
acc. this these
gen. its their
dat. this these

Interrogative pronoun
OE masc./fem. hwā
nom. hwā
acc. hwone
gen. hwæs
dat. hwām
inst. hwȳ
ON masc./fem. hverr
nom. hverr
acc. hvern
gen. hvess
dat. hveim
MnE masc./fem. who
nom. who
acc. whom
gen. whose
dat. whom
OE neut. hwæt
nom. hwæt
acc. hwæt
gen. hwæs
dat. hwām
inst. hwȳ
ON masc./fem. hvat
nom. hvat
acc. hvat
gen. hvess
dat. hví
MnE masc./fem. what
nom. what
acc. what
gen. whose
dat. what

Application

To learn pronominal declension, it may be useful to bring the pronouns together into a series of simple sentences. To this end, you will need to learn the present indicative forms of three verbs: one for each of the oblique cases. We'll also add in an impersonal verb for good measure. The strong verb classes are identified with Roman numerals, the weak with Arabic numerals. The differences between the classes are of limited relevance to the present exercise; simply study the forms of these individual verbs for now.

sjá V "see" (+acc.)
# sg. pl.
1 ek sé vér sjám
2 þú sér (þ)ér séð
3 hann sér þeir sjá
hefna 1 "avenge" (+gen.)
# sg. pl.
1 ek hefni vér hefnum
2 þú hefnir (þ)ér hefnið
3 hann hefnir þeir hefna
segja 3 "say" (to +dat.)
# sg. pl.
1 ek segi vér segjum
2 þú segir (þ)ér segið
3 hann segir þeir segja
langa 2 "long for" (+acc. for til +gen.)
# sg. pl.
1 mik langar oss langar
2 þik langar yðr langar
3 hann langar þá langar

Given these paradigms, and the knowledge that dual pronouns take plural verbs, you can now form simple sentences like the following:

With just the personal pronouns and these four verbs, you are now able to read or form 423 different Old Norse sentences! With the above paradigms close at hand, head over to set 1 of the flashcards to practise doing just that.