tad, etad, idam, and adas

Also known as: demonstrative pronouns

The four pronouns tad, etad, idam, and adas have similar meanings. In theory, here is how they differ:

• We use etad (“this”) for what is near at hand

• We use idam (“this”) for what is slightly further away.

• We use adas (“that”) for what is much further away.

• We use tad (“that”) for what is not present.

Below, we provide the forms for all of these pronouns in all three genders.

tad and etad

Here are the masculine forms for tad:

Again, note that many of these words have English counterparts:

Feminine:

Neuter:

To get the forms for etad, we add an e- to the beginning of each form. The only unusual changes are that saḥ becomes eṣaḥ and sā becomes eṣā. These changes are due to normal sandhi rules:

• स खादति → एष खादति।
  sa khādati → eṣa khādati.
  He eats.
  

• सा खादति → एषा खादति।
  sā khādati → eṣā khādati.
  She eats.
  

idam

Masculine:

Feminine:

Neuter:

adas

Masculine:

Feminine:

Neuter: