Lesson 2

Learning Basic Nouns

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. Unlike English, Greek nouns carry much more grammatical information. Each noun communicates not only its identity (such as word or man), but also its gender, case, and number, which together determine how it functions in a sentence. This system allows Greek to be highly inflected, meaning the endings of words change to show their role in grammar, rather than relying heavily on word order as English does.

Gender

Every Greek noun has a grammatical gender. This does not necessarily correspond to biological sex, but rather to a system of classification. The three genders are masculine, feminine, and neuter. For example, λόγος (“word”) is masculine, γραφή (“scripture” or “writing”) is feminine, and δῶρον (“gift”) is neuter. The gender of a noun determines what kind of article it will take and how it will decline (that is, what pattern of endings it will follow).

Number

Greek nouns also carry number, indicating whether they are singular or plural. For instance, ἄνθρωπος means “man” in the singular, while ἄνθρωποι means “men” in the plural. The form of the noun itself, as well as the article attached to it, will show this distinction.

Case System

Perhaps the most critical feature of Greek nouns is the case system. Greek employs different cases to mark the function of a noun within a sentence. There are five cases; however, the vocative is less common and will typically be set apart by a comma making it obvious, so it will not be focused on. The following represent typical ways each case is used without getting too detailed at this stage:

• Nominative Case: Indicates the subject of the sentence, the one performing the action. For example, in ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ δίδωσιν (“the Son of God gives”), ὁ υἱός is nominative because it is the subject performing the action of giving.
• Genitive Case: Expresses possession, origin, or source, and is typically translated with “of.” For example, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ means “the Son of God.” τοῦ θεοῦ is genitive, indicating that the Son belongs to God or comes from God.
• Dative Case: Generally marks the indirect object and is often translated with “to” or “for.” For example, in ὁ υἱὸς δίδωσιν δῶρα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις (“the Son gives gifts to men”), τοῖς ἀνθρώποις means “to men,” showing who the gifts are being given to.
• Accusative Case: Marks the direct object, the noun receiving the action of the verb. In the example above, δῶρα (“gifts”) is accusative. It specifies what is being given making it the direct object of the verb "gives."
• Vocative Case: Used in direct address, as when calling out or speaking directly to someone. For instance, ὦ ἄνθρωπε means “O man!”

Mastery of these cases is essential to reading and understanding Greek, as word order is much more flexible than in English. The case endings, rather than primarily word order, reveal their grammatical relationship.

Definiteness and the Greek Article

A unique feature of Greek is the use of the definite article (ὁ, ἡ, τό and their various forms). The article corresponds roughly to the English word “the.” For example, ὁ ἄνθρωπος means “the man.” Greek, however, has no equivalent for the English indefinite article “a” or “an.” Indefiniteness must be inferred from the absence of the article and the context of the passage. For instance, ἄνθρωπος without the article can mean “a man” depending on how it is used in a sentence.

Parsing

One of the most important skills in learning Biblical Greek is parsing, the process of analyzing a word by breaking it into its grammatical parts. Parsing allows the reader to identify the gender, case, and number of a noun, and therefore its role in the sentence. For example, consider the phrase τῷ λόγῳ. The article τῷ and the noun ending -ῳ both indicate that this form is dative singular masculine. The root λόγ- comes from λόγος, meaning “word.” Putting this information together, τῷ λόγῳ will probably be translated either as “to the word” or “for the word,” depending on the context.

The process of parsing involves identifying three key elements:

• The root or stem of the noun, which provides its basic meaning (e.g., λογ- = “word”).
• The ending, which indicates case, number, and sometimes gender (e.g., -ῳ = dative singular).
• The article, which agrees with the noun in case, number, and gender, reinforcing its grammatical role and indicating definiteness.

Now that the conceptual foundations have been laid, we will learn vocabulary and first and second noun declensions. First declension paradigms will allow us to parse feminine nouns, and second declension paradigms will allow us to parse masculine and neuter nouns.

First Declension Nouns

First declension nouns are primarily feminine. They typically end in -α or -η in the nominative singular (the lexical or dictionary form). Below are the paradigms for the first declension, including the definite article and two common noun types: η-type and α-type.

Feminine Definite Article (ἡ)

Second Declension Nouns

Second declension nouns are primarily masculine ending in -ος or neuter ending in -ον.

Exceptions

The first exception is feminine nouns with a consonantal stem. Notice how, in the singular forms, the stem combines with alpha type endings in the nominative and accusative and eta type endings in the genitive and dative. The plural forms do not change.

Feminine Consonantal Stem – δόξα ("glory")

The second exception is masculine first declension nouns. Although most first declension nouns are feminine, some masculine nouns follow this pattern, such as προφήτης. Its genitive singular form ends in -ου, like second declension masculine nouns, while the other endings follow the first declension.

Masculine First Declension – προφήτης ("prophet")