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Pronouns · demonstratives

Demonstrative pronouns

The four Sanskrit demonstratives — tad, etad, idam, adas — each in three genders. Click a tab to study one paradigm and practise its forms.

The base demonstrative — “that” — and the model for every Sanskrit pronoun.

	tad Masculine · that, he/she/it
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	saḥ	tau	te
Acc.	tam	tau	tān
Ins.	tena	tābhyām	taiḥ
Dat.	tasmai	tābhyām	tebhyaḥ
Abl.	tasmāt	tābhyām	tebhyaḥ
Gen.	tasya	tayoḥ	teṣām
Loc.	tasmin	tayoḥ	teṣu

	tad Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	sā	te	tāḥ
Acc.	tām	te	tāḥ
Ins.	tayā	tābhyām	tābhiḥ
Dat.	tasyai	tābhyām	tābhyaḥ
Abl.	tasyāḥ	tābhyām	tābhyaḥ
Gen.	tasyāḥ	tayoḥ	tāsām
Loc.	tasyām	tayoḥ	tāsu

	tad Neuter
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	tat	te	tāni
Acc.	tat	te	tāni
Ins.	tena	tābhyām	taiḥ
Dat.	tasmai	tābhyām	tebhyaḥ
Abl.	tasmāt	tābhyām	tebhyaḥ
Gen.	tasya	tayoḥ	teṣām
Loc.	tasmin	tayoḥ	teṣu

Note. Irregular cells: nom. sg. m. saḥ, nom. sg. f. sā, nom. pl. m. te — inherited IE s- stem. Everything else begins with t-.

Rule

The pronominal endings -smai, -smāt, -sya, -smin (m./n. sg.) and -syai, -syāḥ, -syām, -sām (f.) are the backbone of every Sanskrit pronoun paradigm. Master them here.

Exercise

Fill in the full paradigm in all three genders — 63 forms. Each cell validates as you type.

	tad Masculine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

	tad Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

	tad Neuter
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

0 / 63 correct

Proximate demonstrative — “this right here”. Identical to tad with an e- prefix.

	etad Masculine · this, this-here
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	eṣaḥ	etau	ete
Acc.	etam	etau	etān
Ins.	etena	etābhyām	etaiḥ
Dat.	etasmai	etābhyām	etebhyaḥ
Abl.	etasmāt	etābhyām	etebhyaḥ
Gen.	etasya	etayoḥ	eteṣām
Loc.	etasmin	etayoḥ	eteṣu

	etad Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	eṣā	ete	etāḥ
Acc.	etām	ete	etāḥ
Ins.	etayā	etābhyām	etābhiḥ
Dat.	etasyai	etābhyām	etābhyaḥ
Abl.	etasyāḥ	etābhyām	etābhyaḥ
Gen.	etasyāḥ	etayoḥ	etāsām
Loc.	etasyām	etayoḥ	etāsu

	etad Neuter
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	etat	ete	etāni
Acc.	etat	ete	etāni
Ins.	etena	etābhyām	etaiḥ
Dat.	etasmai	etābhyām	etebhyaḥ
Abl.	etasmāt	etābhyām	etebhyaḥ
Gen.	etasya	etayoḥ	eteṣām
Loc.	etasmin	etayoḥ	eteṣu

Note. Take every form of tad, add e- at the front. The three irregular cells (saḥ, sā, te) become eṣaḥ, eṣā, ete by internal sandhi (a + s = aiṣ → eṣ). Everything else is mechanical.

Rule

Used when pointing at something physically or mentally near. Whitney §497. Very frequent in classical prose: eṣaḥ brāhmaṇaḥ “this brahmin here”.

Exercise

Fill in the full paradigm in all three genders — 63 forms. Each cell validates as you type.

	etad Masculine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

	etad Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

	etad Neuter
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

0 / 63 correct

Irregular proximate demonstrative — four separate stems across the paradigm. Memorise it whole.

	idam Masculine · this
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	ayam	imau	ime
Acc.	imam	imau	imān
Ins.	anena	ābhyām	ebhiḥ
Dat.	asmai	ābhyām	ebhyaḥ
Abl.	asmāt	ābhyām	ebhyaḥ
Gen.	asya	anayoḥ	eṣām
Loc.	asmin	anayoḥ	eṣu

	idam Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	iyam	ime	imāḥ
Acc.	imām	ime	imāḥ
Ins.	anayā	ābhyām	ābhiḥ
Dat.	asyai	ābhyām	ābhyaḥ
Abl.	asyāḥ	ābhyām	ābhyaḥ
Gen.	asyāḥ	anayoḥ	āsām
Loc.	asyām	anayoḥ	āsu

	idam Neuter
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	idam	ime	imāni
Acc.	idam	ime	imāni
Ins.	anena	ābhyām	ebhiḥ
Dat.	asmai	ābhyām	ebhyaḥ
Abl.	asmāt	ābhyām	ebhyaḥ
Gen.	asya	anayoḥ	eṣām
Loc.	asmin	anayoḥ	eṣu

Note. Four stems at work: ayam/iyam/idam (three distinct nom. sg. forms), im- (acc. and nom. du./pl.), a-/an- (sg. and du. obliques), e-/ā- (pl. obliques, e- for m./n., ā- for f.). There is no productive rule — the paradigm is suppletive.

Rule

Whitney §501; MacDonell §110. Used for the more emphatic “this” — often right in front of the speaker or in the speaker's own discourse.

Exercise

Fill in the full paradigm in all three genders — 63 forms. Each cell validates as you type.

	idam Masculine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

	idam Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

	idam Neuter
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

0 / 63 correct

Distal demonstrative — “yonder, the one over there”. Three stems, nom. sg. identical in masculine and feminine.

	adas Masculine · that (yonder), the far one
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	asau	amū	amī
Acc.	amum	amū	amūn
Ins.	amunā	amūbhyām	amībhiḥ
Dat.	amuṣmai	amūbhyām	amībhyaḥ
Abl.	amuṣmāt	amūbhyām	amībhyaḥ
Gen.	amuṣya	amuyoḥ	amīṣām
Loc.	amuṣmin	amuyoḥ	amīṣu

	adas Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	asau	amū	amūḥ
Acc.	amūm	amū	amūḥ
Ins.	amuyā	amūbhyām	amūbhiḥ
Dat.	amuṣyai	amūbhyām	amūbhyaḥ
Abl.	amuṣyāḥ	amūbhyām	amūbhyaḥ
Gen.	amuṣyāḥ	amuyoḥ	amūṣām
Loc.	amuṣyām	amuyoḥ	amūṣu

	adas Neuter
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.	adaḥ	amū	amūni
Acc.	adaḥ	amū	amūni
Ins.	amunā	amūbhyām	amībhiḥ
Dat.	amuṣmai	amūbhyām	amībhyaḥ
Abl.	amuṣmāt	amūbhyām	amībhyaḥ
Gen.	amuṣya	amuyoḥ	amīṣām
Loc.	amuṣmin	amuyoḥ	amīṣu

Note. Three stems: asau / amu- (singular), amū- (dual and feminine plural), amī- (masculine plural obliques). The nom. sg. asau is identical for masculine and feminine — the only place in the Sanskrit pronoun system where this happens.

Rule

Whitney §502; MacDonell §111. Less frequent than the other three demonstratives — used for things remote in space, time, or in the flow of discourse.

Exercise

Fill in the full paradigm in all three genders — 63 forms. Each cell validates as you type.

	adas Masculine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

	adas Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

	adas Neuter
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.

0 / 63 correct

Whitney §495–503 · MacDonell §110–112 · Monier-Williams s.v. tad, etad, idam, adas

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