Pronouns · entry 1 of 6

Personal Pronouns (Strong Forms)

The strong (emphatic) personal pronouns are εγώ (I), εσύ (you), αυτός / αυτή / αυτό (he / she / it), and in the plural εμείς, εσείς, αυτοί / αυτές / αυτά. Because a Greek verb already shows who acts through its ending, these standalone subject pronouns are used for emphasis or contrast - you say εγώ only when you mean “I (as opposed to someone else)”.

The rule

The strong (emphatic) personal pronouns are εγώ / εσύ / αυτός (I / you / he), with αυτή / αυτό for she / it, and in the plural εμείς / εσείς / αυτοί (αυτές / αυτά). Because the verb ending already encodes the subject (γράφω = “I write”), these are used for emphasis or contrast - Εγώ γράφω = “I write (not someone else)”. Drop them for a neutral sentence.

Paradigm

PersonSingularPlural
1stεγώεμείς
2ndεσύεσείς
3rdαυτόςαυτοί