Noun Basics

Understanding Nouns

Nouns have three declensions (patterns) of word endings to learn. The first and second declensions are explained here. Greek noun endings communicate case and number. Greek nouns appear in four primary cases—nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative—indicating the noun’s grammatical function. There is also a fifth case, the vocative, used for direct address, which we will examine later. Number indicates if the noun is singular or plural.

First Declension Nouns

The first declension is used for most feminine nouns. There are two main types of feminine nouns, either η-ending or α-ending. The plural endings for both of these types is exactly the same and the singular forms vary only slightly from each other.

The Greek language does not have an indefinite article, a or an, but does have a definite article, the. The definite article declines to match the noun in case, number, and gender. The paradigm for the feminine article is shown below along with representative examples of η-ending and α-ending nouns.

Feminine Article

Declension of ζωή (η-type)

Declension of καρδία (α-type)

There are also exceptions when the noun stem ends in a consonant. These nouns follow the alpha type in the nominative and accusative but the eta type in the genitive and dative. These should be easy to recognize if you learn the paradigms above, but they are important to look out for.

Declension of δόξα (mixed-type)

Feminine Vocabulary

Vocabulary is always given in the lexical or dictionary form. For nouns, that means the is given noun in the nominative singular form. Each vocabulary word is listed with its article (e.g., ἡ, ὁ, τό) to indicate its gender, which is essential for determining its declension. The words are also given a gloss, a simple English translation. For some words, there are multiple possible translations. The context usually makes clear which sense of the word was intended by the author.

Second Declension Nouns

The second declension encompasses most masculine and neuter nouns and is characterized by a set of distinct and regular endings. Masculine second declension nouns typically end in -ος in the nominative singular, while neuter second declension nouns end in -ον.

Notably, in neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are identical in both singular and plural. The genitive singular for both masculine and neuter is -ου, the dative singular is -ῳ, the genitive plural is -ων, and the dative plural is -οις. Recognition of these endings is essential for identifying the role of nouns in Greek syntax.

Masculine Definite Article: ὁ

Masculine Second Declension: ὁ λόγος

Masculine Vocabulary

Neuter Definite Article: τὸ

Neuter Second Declension: τὸ δῶρον

Neuter Vocabulary

Case Law

Case Functions

Examples

The Son of God gave gifts to men - "The Son" is the subject of the sentence representing the nominative case. "Of God" represents the genitive case which often reflects source or possession. "Gifts" is the direct object of the verb "gave" representing the accusative case. "To men" represents the dative case which is often the indirect object of the verb.

καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων (John 1:4) - καὶ is a coordinating conjunction which is often translate and, but, or even. ἡ ζωὴ is the nominative singular form of the noun we learned above. ἦν means was. τὸ φῶς is a second declension noun meaning light in the accusative singular form. τῶν ἀνθρώπων is a second declension noun meaning man in the genitive plural form. Translation: And the life was the light of men.

ὁ θεός δίδωσιν χαρὰν τῇ καρδίᾳ - ὁ θεός δίδωσιν means God gives. What does God give? The accusative form χαρὰν of the noun χαρά lets us know what it is. So now we know that God gives, χαρὰν, but who or what does God give it to? The dative form τῇ καρδίᾳ tells us. Translation: God gives joy to the heart.