- 1.2.3.1 Object “Accusative” and Independent “Nominative”
- 1.2.3.2 Subject Suffixes
- 1.2.3.3 Possessive
- 1.2.3.4 Section Summary
- Exercise 1.2

Pronouns are small words that substitute for nouns. Some common pronouns in English are “I”, “you” and “he, she”. When used as objects, though, the English pronouns become “me”, “you” and “him, her”, whereas possessive pronouns become “my”, “your” and “his, her”. For example:
- “You [subject] watch [verb] me [direct object]”
- “He [subject] finds [verb] my [possessive] house [direct object]”
Sindarin pronouns have independent, subject (suffixed to the verb), object, dative and possessive:
Nominative | Subject Suffixes | Accusative | Dative | Possessive | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st: Singular | *ni “I/me” | -n “I” | nin “me” | annin “to me” | nín “my” |
2nd: Singular Familiar | ci “you” | -g “you” | *cin “you” | *echin “to you” | *cín “your” |
2nd: Singular Formal | le “you” | -l, †-dh “you” | *len “you” | *allen “to you” | lín “your” |
3rd: Singular | *te “he/she” | — “he/she” | *ten “him/her” | *athen “to he/she” | tín “his/her” |
1st: Plural Inclusive | *pe “we/us” | -b “we” | *pen “us” | *aphen “to us” | *pín “our” |
1st: Plural Exclusive | *me “we/us” | -f “we” | men “us” | ammen “to us” | mín “our” |
2nd: Plural Formal | de “you” | -dh, †-dhir “you” | *den “you” | *annen “to you” | *dín “your” |
3rd: Plural | ti “they/them” | -r “they” | *tin “them” | *ethin “to them” | *tín “their” |
- Tiril nin. “You (-l) watch me (nin)”
- Hîr e·mbâr nín. “He (-) finds my (-nín) house.”
The suffixed verb and noun forms are written as a single word. However, this course sometimes inserts dashes within Sindarin words to break down their elements for purposes of analysis. This makes it easier to give a literal English translation of the Sindarin form, with parenthesis around the English words that correspond to a single Sindarin element:
- Tiri-l nin. “watch-you me”
- Hîr i·mbair nín. “finds-he the-house-my”
1.2.3.1 Object “Accusative” and Independent “Nominative”
One major complication with Sindarin pronouns is that some attested pronouns end in n such as: nin “me”, men “us”, ten “*it”, whereas others do not: ci “you”, le “you”, ti “*they” (with ten and ti only attested in mutated form den and di). One common assumption in descriptions of Neo-Sindarin is that the pronouns without n are nominative forms, and the pronouns with n are accusative or oblique forms. However, most of the attested uses of independent pronouns (both with and without n) are functionally objects.
- ci pron. “you”
- le pron. “you”
- de pron. “y'all”
- ti pron. “they/them”
- nin pron. “me”
- men pron. “us”
Example sentences:
- Ci nîn. “You are wet.”
- Ni rochben. “I am a rider.”
- Te hothron. “He/she is a captain.”
- en·Orch vâd din. “The orc eats them.”
- Hirin den. “I found him/her/it.”
1.2.3.2 Subject Suffixes
As mentioned before nominative pronouns are usually suffixes on the verbs.
- -n suf. “I”
- -l suf. “you”
- - no suf. “him/her/it”
For example:
- Tirin en·orch. “I watch the orc.”
- Medil in·aew. “You eat the birds.”
- Sâf vegil. “he/she has a sword.”
1.2.3.3 Possessive
Sindarin has a set of possessive pronouns that seem to be very similar to and possibly based on the forms of independent pronouns. Only a subset of the possible pronominal forms are attested and they are:
- nín pron. “my”
- mín pron. “our”
- lín pron. “your”
- tín pron. “his/her/its”
- e·mbâr nín “my house”
- e·'il nín “my star”
- e·daur gín “your forest”
- en·aran lín “your king”
- en·aew dín “his/her bird”
- e·vegill dín “his/her sword”
If the possessed noun is plural, then the noun undergoes nasal mutation and vowels i-affection.
- i·mbair nín “my houses”
- in·erain gín “your kings”
- in·aew dín “his/her birds”
In the last example you can tell it is plural because of the definite article “in”.
1.2.3.3a Possessive Continued:
One thing in Sindarin is the reflexive possessive pronoun ín (himself), as seen in the sentence: ar e aníra ennas suilannad mhellyn în phain “and he desires to greet there all his friends.” ✧ AotM/62; SD/129
Consider the following example to illustrate how I use it.:
Elrond loves his dog.
Who does his refer to? It could be that Elrond loves his own dog, or his friend's dog (Celebrimbor's dog).
- Elrond vêl e·chû ín. (Elrond loves his (own) dog.)
- Elrond vêl e·chû dín. (Elrond loves his (Celebrimbor's) dog.)
Additional examples:
- Arwen dâg e·'annel ín. (Arwen fixes her (own) harp.)
- Arwen dâg e·'annel dín. (Arwen fixes her harp (someone else's harp.))
Plural subject examples:
- Melir e·chû ín. (They love their own dog.)
- Melir e·chû dín. (They love their dog (it could be their friend's dog.))
With multiple subjects:
- Te ah e·hell ín dorthar v’ Imladris. (He and his daughter live in Rivendell.)
- Te ah e·vellon dín menir n’e·'obel. (He and his friend go to the village.)
- Arwen ah i·chenair ín dorthar v’ Imladris. (Arwen and her brothers live in Rivendell.)
1.2.3.4 Section Summary
Here is a simplified chart of the pronouns discussed in this chapter.
Object | Subject | Possessive |
---|---|---|
nin “me” | -n “I” | nín “my” |
len “you” | -l “you” | lín “your” |
ten “him, her” | - “he, she” | tín “his, her” |
- Sindarin pronouns, substituting for nouns, include various forms like object pronouns (e.g., “nin” for “me”), subject pronouns (often suffixed to verbs), and possessive pronouns (e.g., “nín” for “my”). They sometimes end in “n”, indicating accusative or oblique forms.
- In Sindarin, nominative pronouns are typically verb suffixes, such as “-n” for “I”, “-l” for “you”, and no suffix for "he/she", integrating directly into the verb structure of sentences.
- Possessive pronouns in Sindarin, like “nín” (my) and “lín” (your), follow the noun they modify and cause soft mutation. They are often used with a definite article, and the noun undergoes nasal mutation if plural.
- Example sentences illustrate the use of Sindarin pronouns in various forms, showing their functional application in object, subject, and possessive contexts, such as “Ci nîn.” (You are wet) and “i-mâr nín.” (my house).