Interrogative pronouns. Relative pronouns. Demonstrative pronouns.

Interrogative pronouns.

There are three common interrogative pronouns: hwā, the ancestor of Modern English who/what; hwelċ/hwilċ/hwylċ, which gives Modern English which; and hwæðer 'which of two'. Hwā has only a singular form; there is no distinction between masculine and feminine. The instrumental form is the ancestor of Modern English why, and is used to mean 'why'.

The other two interrogative pronouns mentioned above are inflected as strong adjectives.

Relative pronouns.

There are several ways to make a relative pronoun. One is simply with the indeclinable particle ðe:

Ðā bēoð ēadiġe ðe ġehyrað Godes word [They are blessed who obey God's word]

Another is to use a form of the demonstrative se with ðe:

Hē lifode mid ðām Gode ðām ðe hē ær ðēowode [He lived with that God whom he earlier had served]

A third way is to use a form of the demonstrative pronoun alone, without ðe:

Danai ðere ēa, sēo is irnende of norðdæle [the river Don, which flows from the north]

When a demonstrative is used, its case and number will usually be appropriate to the following adjective clause. That is the case with both of the examples above, since ðēowian takes the dative and nominative sēo is the subject of the clause that it introduces. Sometimes, though, the demonstrative will agree with the word that the adjective clause modifies:

Uton wē hine ēac biddan ðæt hē ūs ġescylde wið grimnysse myssenlicra yfela and wīta ðāra ðe hē on middanġeard sendeð for manna synnum.

[Let us also entreat him that he shield us from the severity of various evils and punishments that he sends to the earth because of men's sins.]

The relative pronoun ðāra ðe agrees with the genitive plural noun phrase myssenlicra yfela and wīta, which lies outside the adjective clause (ðāra ðe . . . synnum).

Demonstrative pronouns.

The family of demonstratives (this/that/these/those/such) can behave either as pronouns or as determiners. There are two demonstrative pronouns, se/ðæt/sēo and ðes/ðis/ðēos. The first does the job of Modern English that/those and also that of the definite article the. The second does the same job as Modern English this/these. As with the third-person pronouns, gender is distinguished only in the singular.

There were two demonstrative pronouns in OE: ðes Masc., ðeos Fem., ðis Neut. and ðas pl. They were declined like adjectives according to a five-case system:

Declension of sē, sēo, ðæt:

Modern English that comes from the neuter nominative/accusative form. Notice that the same patterns occur here as in the third-person pronouns: neuter nominative and accusative forms are the same, masculine and neuter forms are the same in the genitive and dative cases, and feminine genitive and dative forms are the same.

The instrumental case is distinguished only in the masculine and neuter singular; elsewhere you will see the dative instead.