Learning Greek
Grammar Basics
This first section is the basic starting point — cases and articles.
Cases
| Masc. | = | Masculine gender |
| Fem. | = | Feminine gender |
| Neu. | = | Neuter gender |
As for general patterns of noun gender:
Most masculine nouns end –ος, –ης, –ας, or –έας.
Most feminine nouns end –η, –α, or –ος.
Most neuter nouns end –ο or –ι.
| Nom. | = | Nominative, or Subjective case The dog drinks the water. Ο σκύλος πίνει το νερό. |
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| Obj. | = | Objective, or Accusative case The dog drinks the water. Ο σκύλος πίνει το νερό. |
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| Gen. | = | Genitive, or Possessive case, or indirect object I see the dog's water. Or, literally: I see the water of the dog. Βλάπω το νερό του σκύλου. Or, Athena gives water to the dog.
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Definite Article, "the"
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Masc. | Fem. | Neu. | Masc. | Fem. | Neu. | ||
| Nom. | ό | ή | τό | οί | οί | τά | |
| Obj. | τό(ν) | τή(ν) | τό | τούς | τίς | τά | |
| Gen. | τού | τής | τού | τών | τών | τών | |
The (ν) only needs to be used when the following word
begins with a vowel or with a few specific consonants:
τό
σκύλο /
τόν
άντρα
To err on the side of caution and formality,
you can always use it.
Proper names take the definite article: Ο Αλέξανδρος, Η Αθήνα
Indefinite Article, "a" or "one"
| Masc. | Fem. | Neu. | |
| Nom. | ένας | μία / μιά | ένα |
| Obj. | ένα(ν) | μία(ν) / μιά(ν) | ένα |
| Gen. | ενός | μιάς / μίας | ενός |