Verbs in Quenya serve much the same function as they do in other languages, indicating the action of a phrase. Quenya verbs are inflected for tense, number and person, but the “person” inflections come mostly in the form of pronominal subject suffixes and object suffixes, which are discussed under pronouns. Other details of verbal conjugation are discussed in the following entries under verbs.

The basis for most relative pronouns is the root √YA. However, the most common relative pronoun is i, which is probably related to the definite article. The word i is frequently used to introduce a subordinate clause:

Interrogatives in Quenya were derived from the root √MA (PE17/68, 161-162; PM/357). This root also seems to be the basis for the neuter indefinite pronoun ma “something” (PE22/154). There are various interrogative forms derived from this root, many of which are simply the root with various Quenya noun case suffixes added:

Quenya does not have an indefinite article, but it does have a set of indefinite pronouns: mo “some (indefinite) person” and ma “some (indefinite) thing”:

mo, indefinite personal pronoun “somebody, one”.
ma, neuter personal pronoun “something, a thing”.

Like most languages, Quenya had demonstrative elements that could be used to indicate near (“this”) or far (“that”) objects. There are Late Period documents on demonstratives that remain unpublished, so the analysis in this entry must be considered preliminary and incomplete. Tolkien experimented with a variety of forms for the demonstratives throughout his writings, and his use of demonstratives was not entirely consistent. Nevertheless, some broad themes run throughout his changing conceptions of Quenya.

Si aia raiwe, si engwe ya neme ve kuluina andamundo helma ná naitie emma Anaro “palmeo”. I *palantilla Inouye ya tára to Hawaii akárie i emma ya ná venya minya arwa taite alta *askatiéo. *Sastanen i quetta palme imbe *eques-tehtat, an láse naite palme, *aryaquenta náse yasse Anaro úra *hisse ola *nelka ar potai kénima. I palantillo amalta askátie lári otso, epetai ere i kuluine mottoron alta *yúla-olla ve Texas. I mottor nar yasse i úra hisse orya ana Anaro orwe yondi, ta nanunta ter i ammorne astar.

Quenya has a set of reflexive pronouns similar in function to English “myself, yourself, theirselves”. These pronouns are given in a chart written in the late 1960s (VT47/37), and are formed from the (primitive) independent pronouns with the prefix im- along with various appropriate phonetic adjustments.

Quenya expresses possession with suffixes. For ordinary nouns, Quenya uses the possessive noun case -va, but possessive pronouns have their own set of suffixes. For the most part, the possessive suffixes are the same as the long subject suffix, with the e changed to a: -nye “I” vs.

In addition to ordinary independent pronouns, Quenya has a set of emphatic pronouns that resemble the subject suffixes with a vocalic augment, e- or i-: