SINGULAR
1st Pers. meus, mea, meum my, mine
2d Pers. tuus, tua, tuum your, yours
3d Pers. suus, sua, suum his (own), her (own),
its (own)
PLURAL
1st Pers. noster, nostra, nostrum our, ours
2d Pers. vester, vestra, vestrum your, yours
3d Pers. suus, sua, suum their (own), theirs

NOTE. Meus\ has the irregular vocative singular masculine mi:\, as mi:  fi:li:\, _O my son_.

a. The possessives agree with the name of the thing possessed in
gender, number, and case.  Compare the English and Latin in

      Sextus is calling /his\ boy Sextus } suum puerum vocat
      Julia is calling /her\ boy Iulia }

    Observe that suum\ agrees with puerum\, and is unaffected by the
    gender of Sextus or Julia.

    b. When your, yours, refers to one person, use tuus\; when to
    _more than one_, vester\; as,

      Lesbia, your wreaths are pretty
        Coronae tuae, Lesbia, sunt pulchrae
      Girls, your wreaths are pretty
        Coronae vestrae, puellae, sunt pulchrae

c. Suus\ is a _reflexive_ possessive, that is, it usually stands in the predicate and regularly refers back to the _subject_.  Thus, Vir suos servos vocat\ means The man calls his (own) slaves. Here his (suos) refers to man (vir), and could not refer to any one else.

d. Possessives are used much less frequently than in English, being omitted whenever the meaning is clear without them. (Cf.  Sec. 22.a.) This is especially true of suus, -a, -um\, which, when inserted, is more or less emphatic, like our _his own, her own_, etc.

_99._ EXERCISES

First learn the special vocabulary, p. 286.

I. 1.  Marcus amico Sexto consilium suum nuntiat 2.  Est copia frumenti in agris nostris. 3.  Amici mei bonam cenam ancillae vestrae laudant 4.  Tua lorica, mi fili, est dura. 5.  Scuta nostra et tela, mi amice, in castrls Romanis sunt. 6.  Suntne viri patriae tuae liberi?  Sunt. 7.  Ubi, Corneli, est tua galea pulchra? 8.  Mea galea, Sexte, est in casa mea. 9.  Pilum longum est tuum, sed gladius est meus. 10.  Iulia gallinas suas pulchras amat et gallinae dominam suam amant. 11.  Nostra castra sunt vestra. 12.  Est copia praedae in castris vestris. 13.  Amici tui miseris et aegris cibum et pecuniam saepe dant.

II. 1.  Our teacher praises Mark’s industry. 2.  My son Sextus is carrying his booty to the Roman camp.[1] 3.  Your good girls are giving aid to the sick and wretched.[2] 4.  There are [3] frequent battles in our villages. 5.  My son, where is the lieutenant’s food? 6.  The camp is mine, but the weapons are yours.