Demonstratives hic and ille

Demonstratives are the pointing words "this" and "that". Latin has two main ones: hic (this, the one near me) and ille (that, the one over there). They matter for reading because they steer the listener's attention and, since they change their endings to match the noun, they also flag the gender and number of what is being pointed at.

Both come in three genders. Here are the nominative (subject) forms you will meet first:

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
this (sg.)	hic	haec	hoc
that (sg.)	ille	illa	illud

Examples: Hic vir Romanus est. - This man is a Roman. Illa femina regina est. - That woman is a queen. Hoc verbum breve est. - This word is short.

For English speakers: English "this" and "that" never change shape no matter what follows, so you must train yourself to match the Latin form to its noun. A masculine noun takes hic or ille, a feminine noun takes haec or illa, and a neuter noun takes hoc or illud. When a demonstrative and a nearby noun share gender and number, they usually belong together - a handy clue when you are untangling a longer sentence.