Pronouns (sabbanāma)

Pronouns (sabbanāma)

I, we, you, you all, he, she, it, they, them, all of them, some, a certain, one of them, which of them, whoever, whatever, the former, the next, the other, another, both, who, what, which, such and such, so-and-so.

These are all pronouns which stand in the place of a noun.

When used by themselves, they behave like a noun.

na sabbe dhammaṃ jānissanti.

Not everyone will understand the dhamma

When they are used with another noun, they behave like an adjective

na sabbe manussā dhammaṃ jānissanti.

Not all people will understand the dhamma

Pronouns are declined in all three genders when standing by themselves.

When used together with other nouns, they agree with the noun in gender, case, and number.

tā bhikkhuniyo	fem.nom.pl	those nuns
ko āhāro	masc.nom.sg	what food?
imaṃ kāyaṃ	masc.acc.sg	this body
asmā lokā	masc.abl.sg	from this world
amukasmiṃ gāme	masc.loc.sg	in such and such a village
etassa bhāsitassa	nt.gen.sg	of this speech
etaṃ cakkhu’ndriyaṃ	nt.acc.sg	this faculty of sight

ta “he, that” masculine

1.nom	so	te
2.acc	taṃ	te
3.inst	tena	tehi
4.dat	tassa	tesaṃ
5.abl	tamhā tasmā	tehi
6.gen	tassa	tesaṃ
7.loc	tamhi tasmiṃ	tesu

tehi pañcahi bhikkhusatehi	with those 500 monks
tamhi tamhi satta-nikāye	in whichever class of beings (literally: in that in that)
tesaṃ bhikkhūnaṃ etadahosi	this occurred to those monks
namo tassa bhagavato	homage to him, to the Blessed One
tamhā gāmā nikkhamitvā	having left from that village
tesu dhammesu	in those teachings

ta “she, that” feminine

1.nom	sā	tā tāyo
2.acc	taṃ	tā tāyo
3.inst	tāya	tāhi
4.dat	tassā	tāsaṃ tāsānaṃ
5.abl	tāya	tāhi
6.gen	tassā	tāsaṃ tāsānaṃ
7.loc	tissaṃ tassaṃ tāyaṃ	tāsu

tā āpattiyo	those offences
tā bhikkhuniyo	those nuns
tāya sīla-sampadāya	with that moral attainment
tassā rattiyā	of that night
tāyaṃ velāyaṃ	at that point in time
tāhi devatāhi saddhiṃ	together with those devas

ta “it, that” neuter

1.nom	taṃ tad	te tāni
2.acc	taṃ tad	te tāni
3.inst	tena	tehi
4.dat	tassa	tesaṃ tesānaṃ
5.abl	tamhā tasmā	tehi
6.gen	tassa	tesaṃ tesānaṃ
7.loc	tamhi tasmiṃ	tesu

eta “this man, this woman, this thing”

ta generally refers to something that is absent or distant.

eta generally refers to something that is present or close at hand.

It is declined exactly like ta, but with an initial “e”.

etad ahosi	lit. this was (this thought occurred)
etena brāhmaṇo hoti	he is a Brahman by this
etassa bhāsitassa attho	the meaning of this saying

ima “this” masculine

1.nom	ayaṃ	ime
2.acc	imaṃ	ime
3.inst	iminā	imehi
4.dat	assa imassa	imesaṃ
5.abl	asmā imamhā imasmā	imehi
6.gen	assa imassa	imesaṃ
7.loc	asmiṃ imamhi imasmiṃ	imesu

Grammars give many forms, but these are the most common ones in the Tipiṭaka.

ayaṃ loko	this world
ime sattā	these beings
iminā ariyena saṃvarena	with this noble restraint
imehi pañcahi aṅgehi	with these five factors
imassa bhāsitassa attho	the meaning of this saying
asmā lokā	from this world
imesaṃ akusalānaṃ dhammānaṃ	of these unskilful states
asmiṃ padese	in this region
imamhi saṅghe	in this community
imesu āyasmantesu	in (among) these venerables

ima “this” feminine

1.nom	ayaṃ	imā imāyo
2.acc	imaṃ	imā imāyo
3.inst	imāya	imāhi
4.dat	assā imissā imāya	imāsaṃ
5.abl	imāya	imāhi
6.gen	assā imissā imāya	imāsaṃ
7.loc	imissaṃ imāyaṃ	imāsu

imā aṭṭha parisā	these eight assemblies
imāhi gāthāhi	with these verses
imāya dhammadesanāya	from this dhamma talk
imissā pathaviyā	of this earth
imāsaṃ dvinnaṃ diṭṭhīnaṃ	of these two views
imāsu chasu dhātūsu	in these six elements

ima “this” neuter

1.nom	idaṃ imaṃ	ime imāni
2.acc	idaṃ imaṃ	ime imāni
3.inst	iminā	imehi
4.dat	assa imassa	imesaṃ
5.abl	asmā imamhā imasmā	imehi
6.gen	assa imassa	imesaṃ
7.loc	asmiṃ imamhi imasmiṃ	imesu

ya “whoever” masculine

1.nom	yo	ye
2.acc	yaṃ	ye
3.inst	yena	yehi
4.dat	yassa	yesaṃ yesānaṃ
5.abl	yamhā yasmā	yehi
6.gen	yassa	yesaṃ yesānaṃ
7.loc	yamhi yasmiṃ	yesu

ya “whoever” feminine

1.nom	yā	yā yāyo
2.acc	yaṃ	yā yāyo
3.inst	yāya	yāhi
4.dat	yassā yāya	yāsaṃ yāsānaṃ
5.abl	yāya	yāhi
6.gen	yassā yāya	yāsaṃ yāsānaṃ
7.loc	yassaṃ yāyaṃ yāya	yāsu

ya “whoever” neuter

1.nom	yaṃ yad	ye yāni
2.acc	yaṃ yad	ye yāni
3.inst	yena	yehi
4.dat	yassa	yesaṃ yesānaṃ
5.abl	yamhā yasmā	yehi
6.gen	yassa	yesaṃ yesānaṃ
7.loc	yamhi yasmiṃ	yesu

The good news is that all the rest of the pronouns follow the same declension pattern as ya, (-a pron) which is very similar to the normal declension of masculine, feminine and neuter nouns, with a few exceptions. So keep this table in mind!

Comparison table for pronouns masc

	ta	ima	ya	ta	ima	ya
		singular			plural
1.nom	so sa	ayaṃ	yo	te	ime	ye
2.acc	taṃ	imaṃ	yaṃ	te	ime	ye
3.inst	tena	iminā anena	yena	tehi	imehi	yehi
4.dat	tassa	assa imassa	yassa	tesaṃ	imesaṃ	yesaṃ yesānaṃ
5.abl	tamhā tasmā	asmā imamhā imasmā	yamhā yasmā	tehi	imehi	yehi
6.gen	tassa	assa imassa	yassa	tesaṃ	imesaṃ	yesaṃ yesānaṃ
7.loc	tamhi tasmiṃ	asmiṃ imamhi imasmiṃ	yamhi yasmiṃ	tesu	imesu	yesu

Comparison table for pronouns fem

	ta	ima	ya	ta	ima	ya
		singular			plural
1.nom	sā	ayaṃ	yā	tā tāyo	imā imāyo	yā yāyo
2.acc	taṃ	imaṃ	yaṃ	tā tāyo	imā imāyo	yā yāyo
3.inst	tāya	imāya	yāya	tāhi	imāhi	yāhi
4.dat	tassā	assā imissā imāya	yassā yāya	tāsaṃ tāsānaṃ	imāsaṃ	yāsaṃ yāsānaṃ
5.abl	tāya	imāya	yāya	tāhi	imāhi	yāhi
6.gen	tassā	assā imissā imāya	yassā yāya	tāsaṃ tāsānaṃ	imāsaṃ	yāsaṃ yāsānaṃ
7.loc	tissaṃ tassaṃ tāyaṃ	imissaṃ imāyaṃ	yassaṃ yāyaṃ	tāsu	imāsu	yāsu

Comparison table for pronouns nt

	ta	ima	ya	ta	ima	ya
		singular			plural
1.nom	taṃ tad	idaṃ imaṃ	yaṃ	te tāni	ime imāni	ye yāni
2.acc	taṃ tad	idaṃ imaṃ	yaṃ yad	te tāni	ime imāni	ye yāni
3.inst	tena	anena iminā	yena	tehi	imehi	yehi
4.dat	tassa	assa imassa	yassa	tesaṃ tesānaṃ	imesaṃ	yesaṃ yesānaṃ
5.abl	tamhā tasmā	asmā imamhā imasmā	yamhā yasmā	tehi	imehi	yehi
6.gen	tassa	assa imassa	yassa	tesaṃ tesānaṃ	imesaṃ	yesaṃ yesānaṃ
7.loc	tamhi tasmiṃ	asmiṃ imamhi imasmiṃ	yamhi yasmiṃ	tesu	imesu	yesu

Some common pronouns (in the nominative case)

ahaṃ	I
mayaṃ	we
tvaṃ	you
tumhe	you all
so	he, that
te	those (men)
sā	she
tā	those (women)
taṃ	that (thing)
te	those (things)
eso	this
ete	those
ayaṃ	this
ime	those
amu	so and so
sabbo	all, every
ubho	both
kati	how many?
yo	whoever
ko	who? which?
koci	someone, anything
sa	one’s own
pubbo	the previous
itaro	the other
aññatara	a certain, the
añña	another
kataro	which (of the many)?
katamo	which (of the many)?
aparo	the next, the following
kiṃ	who? what? which?