unfoldingWord Greek Grammar

unfoldingWord Greek Grammar

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For questions, comments, feedback, or to find out more information about helping with this project and/or others like it please contact Grant Ailie at grant_ailie@wycliffeassociates.org

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This resource was designed by the unfoldingWord Project and built by the Door43 World Missions Community. At least the following people were instrumental in the creation of the UGG:

• Joe B. Nathan III (BA Missiology, Crown College; MDIV Bethel Seminary)
• Chapel M. Presson (BA Pre-Seminary Studies/Bible, Central Bible College; MDiv, Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary)
• Todd L. Price (BA Biblical Languages, Calvary Bible College; MA Biblical Languages, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; PhD New Testament & Corpus Linguistics, London School of Theology)
• Grant I. Ailie (B.A. Biblical Studies, Criswell College; MDiv, Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary)

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Adjective

Glossary

An adjective is a part of speech which describes a noun or pronoun (or a word functioning as a noun or pronoun).

John 10:11
ἐγώ	εἰμι	ὁ	ποιμὴν	ὁ	καλός
egō	eimi	ho	poimēn	ho	kalos
I	I am	the	shepherd	the	good

I am the good shepherd…

Article

Overview

Adjectives describe (or modify) a noun or a pronoun. Adjectives function (or are used) in four distinct ways;

1. Attributive – giving information about the noun. It tells of an attribute or a quality of the word it modifies.
2. Substantive – taking the place of a noun (or pronoun), acts like a noun
3. Predicate Nominative – asserting something about the subject of the sentence
4. Adverbial – used to modify (or give information) about a verb

Often the final determination as to how an adjective is being used (or its function in the sentence) must be based on context after taking into account the form of the adjective.

Adjectives may also be used as a comparative .

Form

Greek adjectives must match the noun they modify in, number , and gender . Because of this, they can take the form of all three genders: masculine , feminine , and neuter . If the adjective is functioning as an attributive, it will also agree with the noun it modifies in case . An adjective is listed in a lexicon in its nominative, singular, masculine form.

Adjectives will show these these various forms by using the same endings as nouns. See Master Table 1 and Master Table 2 Master Tables . (The set of suffixes used by each adjective is determined by its stem, just as is true with nouns. See adjective_paradigms .

Adjectives will decline according to the stem of the adjective, NOT THE STEM OF THE NOUN THEY ARE MODIFYING. In other words, the feminine dative singular for the adjective πάς will always be πάςῃ. It will not change when modifying any other dative feminine noun.

Example: The final vowel (α) in the feminine declension for the adjective πάς, πάσα, πάν ( *all, each, every *) changes to an (η) in the dative singular.

See Table_A7

The first declension noun εὐλογία does not undergo the same vowel change. As long as the adjective agrees with its noun in number, and gender, the specific form of its endings makes no difference to translation.

Ephesians 1:3
ὁ	εὐλογήσας	ἡμᾶς	ἐν	πάσῃ	εὐλογίᾳ	πνευματικῇ
ho	eulogēsas	hēmas	en	pasē	eulogia	pneumatikē
who	has blessed	us	with	every	blessing	spiritual

who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing

In this example the adjectives πάςῃ and πνευματικῇ are feminine singular and agree with the noun εὐλογιᾳ in gender and number. They also agree in case because they are functioning as an attributive adjective (see below).

Most first declension nouns are feminine (but some are masculine). Most second declension nouns are masculine (but some are feminine or neuter). Third declension nouns may be masculine, feminine, or neuter.

The entry in the lexicon will identify the gender of each noun. However, if the definite article is present in the text, the definite article always agrees with the noun it is modifying in case, number and gender. The definite article (if present) in the text may also serve as an indicator of the gender of the noun.

The adjective (like the article) will always take the form that represents the true gender of the noun. In the example below ποίμην may look like it is feminine because it ends with “ην”, but it is a third declension masculine noun. An adjective modifying ποίμην must therefore decline in the masculine form. In this example both ποιμήν and καλός are nominative masculine singular.

John 10:11
ἐγώ	εἰμι	ὁ	ποιμὴν	ὁ	καλός.
Egō	eimi	ho	poimēn	ho	kalos.
I	I am	the	shepherd	the	good

I am the good shepherd.

Function

Attributive function

This is the most common use of an adjective. Both restrictive adjectives and ascriptive adjectives may have an attributive function.

1. Restrictive adjectives follow a pattern of noun- definite article- adjective or (definite article-noun-definite article-adjective)
2. Ascriptive adjectives follow one of four patterns:
   • Definite article- adjective- noun or
   • Definite Article- noun- adjective or
   • noun- adjective or
   • adjective- noun

An attributive adjective may come before or after the noun it modifies. An attributive adjective will usually have an article. Attributive adjectives must agree with the noun they modify in case, number, and gender. As stated above attributive adjectives will occur in one of several patterns. One of the most common patterns is noun- definite article- adjective (which may also include a definite article in front of the noun). Attributive adjectives following this pattern are restrictive.

John 2:1
Καὶ	τῇ	ἡμέρᾳ	τῇ	τρίτῃ	γάμος	ἐγένετο
Kai	tē	hēmera	tē	trite	gamos	egeneto
And	on the	day	the	third	wedding	there was

and there was a wedding on the third day

Another pattern for attributive adjectives is: definite article – adjective- noun.

Matthew 12:35
ὁ	ἀγαθὸς	ἄνθρωπος	ἐκ	τοῦ	ἀγαθοῦ	θησαυροῦ
ho	agathos	anthrōpos	ek	tou	agathou	thēsaurou
the	good	man	out	of the	good	treasure

The good man from the good treasure..

Attributive adjectives may also occur with no definite article. The pattern for attributive adjectives without an article is generally: noun-adjective

1 John 2:7
οὐκ		ἐντολὴν	καινὴν	γράφω	ὑμῖν	ἀλλ’		ἐντολὴν	παλαιὰν
ouk		entolēn	kainēn	graphō	hymin	all’		entolēn	palaian
not	a	commandment	new	I am writing	to you	but	an	commandment	old

I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment…

Note: if there is NO article, the adjective could be functioning as a predicate nominative. See Predicate Function below.

Substantive Function

Adjectives functioning as a Substantive are parsed as a Noun Substantive in the Unfolding_Word_Greek_New_Testament

Sometimes, an adjective is used, but there is no noun nearby that it agrees with in case, number,and gender. There is therefore no noun that it could be modifying. When this occurs the adjective is functioning as a noun. In this case, the reader understands that the writer is referring to some unnamed person or object in the sentence. The unnamed person or object is simply identified by the adjective. An adjective functioning in this way is called a substantive (because the substance of a noun is implied by the adjective). A substantive adjective will usually have an article immediately preceding the adjective.

If an adjective is functioning as a substantive , its case will be determined by its function within the clause. Its number and gender will be determined by the person or thing it represents.

Romans 1:17
καθὼς	γέγραπται	ὁ	δὲ	δίκαιος		ἐκ	πίστεως	ζήσεται
kathōs	gegraptai	ho	de	dikaios		ek	pisteōs	zēsetai
as	it has been written	the	but	righteous	[man/person]	from	faith	he will live

as it has been written, “But, the righteous will live by faith.”

Predicate Function

Adjectives functioning as a Predicate are parsed as a Noun Predicate in the Unfolding_Word_Greek_New_Testament

If an adjective does not have an article, but the modified noun does have an article, the adjective is probably functioning as a predicate. Predicate adjectives are adjectives that describe nouns using a linking verb. Often the linking verb is not present in the Greek text and must be supplied when translating in English. Predicte adjectives must agree with the noun they are modifying in gender and number. Some languages need a verb in every sentence, so the understood verb may be added to the translation in order to make the sentence grammatically correct in the target language.

Predicate adjectives never have the article preceding them. The absence of the article is a big clue that an adjective is a predicate adjective. However, a final determination must be based on context. If the noun has an article, and the adjective does not have an article, then the adjective is functioning as a predicate adjective. If there is no article before the noun or the adjective, the function of the adjective must be determined based on context. Predicate adjectives occur in three basic patterns.

The first pattern is: adjective-definite article-noun

Matthew 5:3
Μακάριοι		οἱ	πτωχοὶ	τῷ	πνεύματι
makarioi		hoi	ptōchoi	tō	pneumati
Blessed	are	the	poor	in the	spirit

Blessed are the poor in spirit

A second pattern is: definite article-noun-adjective

John 3:33
ὁ	θεὸς	ἀληθής	ἐστιν
ho	Theos	alēthēs	estin
the	God	true	he is

God is true

A third pattern occurs when no article is present

James 1:12
Μακάριος		ἀνὴρ	ὃς	ὑπομένει	πειρασμόν
makarios		anēr	hos	hypomenei	peirasmon
Blessed	is the	man	who	he endures	a trial

Blessed is the man who endures testing.

Adverbial Function

Some adjectives can be used as an adverb. In this case the adjective will usually be in the neuter gender and accusative (or dative) case. The most common adjectives used as an adverb are: βραχύ (short), ἲδιον (one’s own), μίκρον (small), ὀλίγον (little), μόνον (alone), πολύ (many), πρῶτον (first), ὕστερον (second).

Matthew 6:33
ζητεῖτε	δὲ	πρῶτον	τὴν	βασιλείαν
zēteite	de	proton	tēn	basileian
you seek	but	first	the	kingdom

But seek first his kingdom

Comparisons

Adjectives may be used to make a comparison between two nouns.

• The positive degree of an adjective makes a simple assertion about the kind or quality of an object.
• The comparative degree asserts that the person or thing described by it has this quality in a higher degree than some other person or thing.
• The superlative degree asserts that the person or thing described by it has the highest degree or more of the stated quality than all the others in a group.

Comparative degree form

When an adjective is used to compare its noun to another noun, it is functioning as a comparative adjective. Comparatives are formed by adding -τερος (masc.), -τερα (fem.), or -τερον (neut.) to the end of the adjective. (Some irregular adjectives take the suffixes -(ι)ων or -ον instead.)

Caution:

• Some adjectives use the positive form to indicate a comparative degree.
• Some adjectives use a comparative form to indicate a superlative degree.

Therefore the translator must be observant of the context and take the context into account when translating the text.

John 13:16
οὐκ	ἔστιν	δοῦλος	μείζων	τοῦ	κυρίου	αὐτοῦ
ouk	estin	doulos	meizōn	tou	kyriou	autou
not	he is	a slave	greater	than	master	his

a servant is not greater than his master

Superlative degree form

An adjective that compares a noun to two or more other nouns is a superlative adjective. The suffixes that show the superlative form are: -τατος (masculine), -τατη (feminine), and -τατον (neuter), or -ιστος (masculine), -ιστη (feminine), and -ιστον (neuter).

Caution:

• Sometimes adjectives use the comparative form of an adjective to express a superlative quality.
• At other times the superlative form may be used to simply make a comparison

1 Corinthians 15:9
ἐγὼ	γάρ	εἰμι	ὁ	ἐλάχιστος	τῶν	ἀποστόλων
egō	gar	eimi	ho	elachistos	tōn	apostolōn
I	for	I am	the	least	of the	apostles

For I am the least of the apostles.

Elative

Both comparative and superlative adjectives may be used with an elative sense. When an adjective is used as an elative the quality expressed by the adjective is intensified, but no comparison is intended.

Mark 4:1
καὶ	συνάγεται	πρὸς	αὐτὸν	ὄχλος	πλεῖστος
kai	synagetai	pros	auton	ochlos	pleistos
and	it is gathered	to	him	crowd	very large

and a large crowd gathered around him

Luke 1:3
κράτιστε	Θεόφιλε
kratiste	Theophile
most excellent	Theophilus

most excellent Theophilus

Adjective ascriptive

Glossary

For the Unlocked Greek Grammar and Unfolding_Word_Greek_New_Testament, Ascriptive Adjectives are adjectives that (1) are NOT classified as a noun, and (2) DO NOT follow the pattern Noun-Article-Adjective.

Article

Adjectives occur in five basic patterns when modifying a noun:

1. Noun-article adjective or with an article before the noun (article-noun-article-adjective)
2. Article-adjective-noun
3. Article-noun-adjective
4. Adjective-noun
5. Noun-adjective

Patterns 2, 3, 4, and 5, are classified as ascriptive in the Unlocked Greek Grammar.

INCORRECT DEFINITION OF ASCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVE FOR UNLOCKED GREEK GRAMMAR Some resources will describe an adjectival clause as restrictive if it narrows down (or identifies) the noun it is modifying. In other words it directs the reader to a specific person or thing (or persons or things) from a larger group. In contrast an ascriptive adjective provides additional information about a person or thing that has already been clearly identified. For the purposes of the Unlocked Greek Grammar, the terms “ascriptive” and “restrictive” are NOT being used in this manner. Restrictive adjectives are adjectives that are not functioning as a noun and follow the pattern Noun-Article-Adjective, or (article-noun-article-adjective). All other adjectives are classified as ascriptive if they are not functioning as a noun.

Adjective restrictive

Glossary

For the Unlocked Greek Grammar, Restrictive Adjectives are adjectives that are NOT classified as a noun, and DO follow the pattern Noun-Article-Adjective.

Article

Adjectives occur in five basic patterns when modifying a noun:

1. Noun-article-adjective or with the article before the noun (article-noun-article-adjective)
2. Article-adjective-noun
3. Article-noun-adjective
4. Adjective-noun
5. Noun-adjective

Pattern 1 is classified as restrictive in the Unlocked Greek Grammar and the

Unfolding_Word_Greek_New_Testament.

Patterns 2, 3, 4, and 5, are classified as ascriptive in the Unlocked Greek Grammar and the Unfolding Word Greek New Testament.

INCORRECT DEFINITION OF RESTRICTIVE ADJECTIVE FOR UNLOCKED GREEK GRAMMAR Some resources will describe an adjectival clause as restrictive if it narrows down (or identifies) the noun it is modifying. In other words it directs the reader to a specific person or thing (or persons or things) from a larger group. In contrast an ascriptive adjective provides additional information about a person or thing that has already been clearly identified. For the purposes of the Unlocked Greek Grammar, the terms “ascriptive” and “restrictive” are NOT being used in this manner. Restrictive adjectives are adjectives that are not functioning as a noun and follow the pattern Noun-Article-Adjective or with an article before the noun (article-noun-article-adjective) .

Adverb

Glossary

An adverb is a part of speech which modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It often answers the question of how something is done (and may refer to the time, intensity, or manner).

Example: PHP 4:10

Ἐχάρην δὲ ἐν κυρίῳ μεγάλως

Echarēn de en kyriō megalōs

I rejoice but in (the) Lord greatly

I greatly rejoice in the Lord

Article

Adverb correlative

Glossary

Correlative adverbs modify a verb by correlating (or corresponding) two or more aspects or descriptors of the verb. The correlative adverb is followed by a correlative conjunction or conjunctions. Example: “whether we are awake or asleep”; “either of Sin… or of death”

Example: 1 Thessalonians 5:10

..εἴτε γρηγορῶμεν εἴτε καθεύδωμεν ἅμα σὺν αὐτῷ ζήσωμεν

..eite grēgorōmen eite katheudōmen hama syn autō zēsōmen

..whether we are awake or we are asleep together with him we will live

..whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

Article

Attic

Glossary

Attic is the Greek dialect spoken by Athenians in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. It differs from the Hellenistic (or Koine) Greek in which the New Testament was written.

Article

Case

Glossary

The Greek language uses a system called Case to indicate the function or relationship of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, articles, and participles to other words in the sentence. Case endings (or suffixes) are added to the end of the noun, pronoun, adjective, article, or participle to indicate its function or relationship to the other words in the sentence. There are five cases in the Greek language; Nominative, Vocative, Genitive, Dative, and Accusative.

Article

Languages such as Greek, Japanese, German, and Russian have a case system. English for the most part does not use a case system except for pronouns. Instead English mostly uses word order to indicate the function of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives within a sentence. In the example below, the first person singular pronoun changes depending on its function in the sentence.

Subject case		I am speaking
Possessive case		It is my ball
Object case		The ball hit me.

Other languages, such as Hebrew, do not use a case system.

The Nominative case is used to indicate the subject of the sentence, but it can also indicate a predicate nominative, and can be used to indicate apposition. It is also used for adjectives and participles modifying the subject of the sentence. See Nominative case for more detail.

The Vocative case is the case of Direct Address. See Vocative Case for more detail.

The Genitive case indicates possession, but can also be used to indicate separation or relation. In limited situations, it can also indicate the subject or the object of the verb in the sentence among other uses. Adjectives and participles modifying an object in the genitive case will also be in the genitive case. Some prepositions take their object in the genitive case. See Genitive case for more details.

The Dative case is used to indicate, location, means, agency, or the indirect object. Adjectives and participles modifying an object in the dative case will also be in the dative case. Some prepositions take their object in the dative case. See Dative Case for more details.

The Accusative case is the case for the Direct Object among other uses. Adjectives and participles modifying an object in the accusative case will also be in the accusative case. Some prepositions take their object in the accusative case. See Accusative case for more details.

Form

The case of a noun, pronoun, adjective, article, or participle is indicated by the case ending (or suffix) attached to the end of the word. These changes follow three basic patterns called “First declension,” “Second declension,” and “Third declension.”

First declension nouns have a feminine gender for the most part and in the nominative singular end in an alpha or an eta. See First Declension . A few masculine nouns end in an -ας or –ης. These words also follow a first declension pattern.

Second declension nouns end in –ος or –ον in the nominative singular. Almost all words ending in –ος in the nominative singular are masculine gender. All words that end in –ον in the nominative singular are neuter gender. See Second Declension .

Third declension nouns have stems that end in a consonant or the vowels (ι, υ, ευ). They are made up of all three genders. See Third Declension .

Adjectives and pronouns agree in case and number with the noun they are modifying (or to which they are referring). Sometimes, the changes may be more significant. [for example the first person singular pronoun ἐγώ in the nominative case changes to μου when it is in the genitive case] See Adjective_paradigm or Pronoun_paradigm .

Order of Words

Because the Greek language has a case system, the order of the words in a sentence can be changed to place an emphasis on a particular word or clause. The normal word order is conjunction – verb – subject – object. When this order is changed there is probably a slight emphasis being made on the words that are moved forward.

Example: Satan tempting Jesus

Matthew 4:3
Εἰ	υἱὸς	εἶ	τοῦ	θεοῦ	εἰπὲ	ἵνα	οἱ	λίθοι	οὗτοι	ἄρτοι	γένωνται.
Ei	huios	ei	tou	theou	eipe	hina	hoi	lithoi	houtoi	artoi	genōntai.
If	son	you are	of	God	order	that	the	stones	these	bread	they become.

If you are the son of God, order that these stones become bread.

Note: In this sentence the phrase “if you are the son of god” has been moved to the first position in the sentence. The movement of the phrase to the front of the sentence places a slight emphasis or stress on the condition.

Case accusative

Glossary

Accusative is the case used to indicate the object of a verb (including participles) and of some prepositions. It also is used to indicate the subject of infinitives.

Example Mark 1:3

ἑτοιμάσατε	τὴν	ὁδὸν	Κυρίου
hetoimasate	tēn	hodon	Kyriou
prepare	the	way	of the Lord

make ready the way of the Lord

Article

The accusative case is sometimes referred to as the case of “limitation.” It limits the verb as to extent, direction, or end (the goal) of an action. The principle uses of the accusative case are to:

1. Indicate the direct object of a verb (or participle) [see Accusative_Direct_Object ]
2. Indicate the object of certain prepositions [See Object_of_Prepositions ]
3. Indicate the subject of an infinitive [See Subject_of_Infinitive ]
4. Adverbial accusative [See Adverbial_Accusative ]

Form

The Accusative case is formed by adding the accusative case ending to the stem of a word (often with a connecting vowel).

Accusative Case Endings
	First and Second declensions				Third declension
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine/Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Accusative	ν	ν	ν		α/ν	-
Plural
Accusative	υς	ς	α		ας	α

Note: The hyphen (-) indicates that there is no case ending for the third declension accusative singular neuter nouns and adjectives.

See NounParadigm for a complete listing of the noun paradigms and AdjectiveParadigm for the adjective paradigms.

Accusative_Direct Object

The accusative case is used to indicate the direct object of the transitive verb. A direct object is the person(s) or thing(s) which receive the action of transitive verbs. Because most verbs are transitive almost every sentence will have the object of the verb in the accusative case. However, there are a few verbs that can take their object in the Genitive Case [see Genitive Case ] or Dative_Direct_Object .]

Example: John 3:16

οὕτως	γὰρ	ἠγάπησεν	ὁ	Θεὸς	τὸν	κόσμον
houtōs	gar	ēgapēsen	ho	Theos	ton	kosmon
thus/so	for	he loved	the	God	the	world

For God so loved the world

Example: Matthew 11:10

ἀποστέλλω	τὸν	ἄγγελόν	μου
apostellō	ton	angelon	mou
I am sending	the	messenger	my

I am sending my messenger

Example John 1:29

ἴδε	ὁ	Ἀμνὸς	τοῦ	Θεοῦ	ὁ	αἴρων	τὴν	ἁμαρτίαν	τοῦ	κόσμου
ide	ho	Amnos	tou	Theou	ho	airōn	tēn	hamartian	tou	kosmou
Behold	the	Lamb	of	God	who	is taking away	the	sin	of the	world

Look, there is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Note: In this example, ἁμαρτίαν * is the dirct object of the participle *αἴρων.

Double Accusative

Some verbs may require two or more objects to complete their meaning. These verbs will require two or more objects, a person (or persons) and/or a thing (or things)in the accusative case to complete their thought. In this case, the translator may wish to use an implied preposition in their translation in order to make a smoother translation.

Matthew 1:21

καὶ	καλέσεις	τὸ	ὄνομα	αὐτοῦ	Ἰησοῦν
kai	kaleseis	to	onoma	autou	Iēsoun
and	you will call	the	name	of him	Jesus

and you will call his name Jesus

[In this instance the two objects are ὄνομα and Ἰησοῦν]

Example: John 14:26

ἐκεῖνος	ὑμᾶς	διδάξει	πάντα
ekeinos	hymas	didaxei	panta
That one	you	he will teach	all things

he will teach you everything

[This could be translated with the implied preposition; “ He will teach to you everything.”

Another example of a double accusative is the accusative that is used with an oath. The preposition “by” may be used to assist in the translation.

Example: Mark 5:7

ὁρκίζω	σε	τὸν	Θεόν	μή	με	βασανίσῃς
horkizō	se	ton	Theon	mē	me	basanisēs
I implore/beg	you	by	God	not	me	torment

I beg you by God, do not torment me

Note: In this example, σε and με are Accusative Direct Objects.

Object of Certain Prepositions

Certain prepositions take their object in the accusative case such as είς, δία, πρός, and ὑπό. Caution: Use the lexicon to determine the meaning of a preposition when it is followed by a word in a particular case.

Often the meaning of the preposition is specific first to the preposition itself and then to the case of the noun it is used with. Therefore, the basic meaning of the case cannot be trusted to arrive at a proper understanding of the meaning of the preposistion and a lexicon must be consulted. In some cases the meaning of the preposition will conform to the basic meaning of the case such as ἀπό with the Genitive case (from, out from) but in other cases such as when ὑπό is used with the accusative case it has the basic meaning of “below” or “under” and when used with the genitive case AND AN ACTIVE VERB ὑπό has the basic meaning of “with” or “by” .

Therefore, a lexicon must be consulted to arrive at the meaning of the preposition. [See - Preposition _.]

Subject of Infinitives

The subject of an infinitive may also be the subject of the sentence. If this is the case, the subject of the sentence (and of the infinitive) will be in the nominative case. If the subject of the infinitive is not the subject of the sentence, it will almost always be in the accusative case. Therefore, the accusative case is considered to be the case for the subject of an infinitive.

Infinitives can have both a subject and an object. If this is the case both will be in the accusative case. In this instance, usually word order and context will clarify which word is the subject and which is the object of the infinitive.

If there are two words in the accusative case, and context by itself does make clear (1) which word is the subject of the infinitive, and (2) which word is the object of the infinitive, then the reader may use the following rule as a helpful guideline.

If one of the two words is a pronoun, proper name, or has the definite article, then it will probably be the subject.

This same basic principle may also be used to help identify the subject from the predicate nominative. [see Nominative-Predicate ].

Example: John 1:12

ἔδωκεν	αὐτοῖς	ἐξουσίαν	τέκνα	Θεοῦ	γενέσθαι
edōken	autois	exousian	tekna	Theou	genesthai
He gave	to them	authority	children	of God	to be

he gave them the right to become children of God.

[Note: The subject of the infinitive γενέσθαι is τέκνα.]

In the following example a single word serves as the object of a participle and at the same time as the subject of the infinitive. με serves as the object of the participle clause ὁ πέμψας με , and at the same time serves as the subject of the infinitive βαπτίζειν.

Example: John 1:33

ὁ	πέμψας	με	βαπτίζειν	ἐν	ὕδατι
ho	pempsas	me	baptizein	en	hydati
he	who sent	me	to baptize	in	water

he who sent me to baptize in water

Example: Luke 9:2

καὶ	ἀπέστειλεν	αὐτοὺς	κηρύσσειν	τὴν	Βασιλείαν	τοῦ	Θεοῦ
kai	apesteilen	autous	kēryssein	tēn	Basileian	tou	Theou
and	he sent	them	to preach	the	kingdom	of	God

he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God

[Note: αὐτοὺς is the subject of the infinitive (κηρύσσειν) and the accusative-direct object for the verb ἀπέστειλεν. Note also that τὴν Βασιλείαν is the object of the infinitive (κηρύσσειν).]

Example: John 5:18

μᾶλλον	ἐζήτουν	αὐτὸν	οἱ	Ἰουδαῖοι	ἀποκτεῖναι
mallon	ezētoun	auton	hoi	Ioudaioi	apokteinai
even more	they were seeking	him	the	Jews	to kill

the Jews sought even more to kill him

[Note: οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι is the subject of the sentence and serves at the subject of the infinitive. It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.]

Adverbial Accusative

An Adverbial Accusative occurs when an adjective or number in the accusative case is used to quantify (or limit) the action of a verb. Some words such as μᾶλλον and σχεδόν have become adverbs because of their exclusive use in this manner. An adverbial accusative may be used to express a limitation by indicating:

• the measure or distance of an action (How long? or How far?)
• the time of an action
• the manner of an action
• to indicate a reference point for the action.

Example: Mark 12:34 Adverbial Accusative of Measure

εἶπεν	αὐτῷ	οὐ	μακρὰν	εἶ	ἀπὸ	τῆς	Βασιλείας	τοῦ	Θεοῦ
eipen	autō	ou	makran	ei	apo	tēs	Basileias	tou	Theou
he said	to him	not	far	you are	from	the	Kingdom	of	God

he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Example: Matthew 20:6 Adverbial Accusative of time

τί	ὧδε	ἑστήκατε	ὅλην	τὴν	ἡμέραν	ἀργοί?
ti	hōde	hestēkate	holēn	tēn	hēmeran	argoi?
Why	here	are you standing	whole	the	day	idle?

‘Why do you stand here idle all the day long?’

Example: Matt 10:8 Adverbial Accusative of Manner

δωρεὰν	ἐλάβετε	δωρεὰν	δότε
dōrean	elabete	dōrean	dote
freely	you received	freely	you give

Freely you have received, freely give.

Example: Romans 10:5 Adverbial Accusative of Reference

Μωϋσῆς	γὰρ	γράφει	τὴν	δικαιοσύνην	τὴν	ἐκ	νόμου
Mōusēs	gar	graphei	tēn	dikaiosynēn	tēn	ek	nomou
Moses	for	he writes	the	with reference to righteousness	the	from	law

For Moses writes about the righteousness that comes from the law:

Case dative

Glossary

Dative is a case which has a wide range of uses. It can indicate the recipient or reference of a verbal action. The dative case also is used to indicate the location, instrument, relation, or manner in which something occurs. Some verbs take their object in the dative case.

Example: Luke 24:42

οἱ	δὲ	ἐπέδωκαν	αὐτῷ	ἰχθύος	ὀπτοῦ	μέρος
hoi	de	epedōkan	autō	ichthyos	optou	meros
They	and	they gave	to him	of a fish	broiled	part

They gave him a piece of a broiled fish

Article

The Dative case serves three primary functions. It may also indicate the direct object for some verbs

1. Indirect object or personal interest - It serves as the case of personal interest by indicating the indirect object of the verb. It points to whom something was done or for whom something was done. It can also be used to indicate someone or something that is being referred to by the verb, including possession. [See Dative_Indirect Object]
2. Location - It may indicate the location (in place, sphere, or time) of an event. [See Dative_location]
3. Instrumental - It may indicate the means, cause, manner, agent of an action. [See Dative_Instrumental]
4. Direct object- Some verbs take their direct object in the dative case. [See Dative_Direct_Object]

Note: An indirect object is the person(s) or thing(s) toward which the verbal action of a verb or verb form is directed.

Form

The Dative case is formed by adding the Dative case ending to the stem of a word (often with a connecting vowel).

Dative Case Ending
	First and Second Declension				Third Declencion
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine/Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Dative	ι	ι	ι		ι	ι
Plural
Dative	ις	ις	ις		σι (ν)	σι (ν)

[Note]

• The iota (ι) in the first and second singular declension will often subscript because it is a short vowel.
• The Nu (ν) in the third declension plural is a movable Nu and may or may not be present.

The movable Nu may be present when (1) it appears at the end of a sentence or (2) when the following word begins with a vowel. However, sometimes it appears when the following word begins with a consonant. There is no fixed rule that determines when a moveable Nu will be present. The reader/translator must be aware that it may or may not be present. [ For example there are early Greek manuscripts that include or exclude the moveable Nu for Acts 20:34 “καὶ τοῖς οὖσι μετ’ ἐμοῦ or καὶ τοῖς οὖσιν μετ’ ἐμοῦ.”

See NounParadigm for a complete listing of the noun paradigms and AdjectiveParadigm for the adjective paradigms.

Dative – Indirect object /personal interest

The Dative- Indirect object will only occur with a transitive verb. The noun or pronoun in the dative case receives the object of the verb. Example: He hit the ball to Tom. In this example, “ball” is the object of the verb. “Tom” would be in the dative case and receives the object of the verb.

However, if the verb is passive, the word in the dative case will receive the subject of the verb. [See the second example below for further explaination.]

The Dative-Indirect Object/personal Interest is the most common use of the dative case when a preposition is not used. Often, the translator will use the key words “to” or “for” in the translation. As an indirect object, the dative case is used to point out the person “to whom” or “for whom” something is done. If the dative case is treating an object as if it were a person, then the dative case is used to point out the thing “to which” or “for which” something is done.

Example: John 6:29

ὁ	Ἰησοῦς	καὶ	εἶπεν	αὐτοῖς
ho	Iēsous	kai	eipen	autois
The	Jesus	and	he said	to them

and Jesus said to them,

Example: 2 Corinthians 12:7

ἐδόθη	μοι	σκόλοψ	τῇ	σαρκί
edothē	moi	skolops	tē	sarki
it was given	to me	thorn	in the	flesh

a thorn in the flesh was given to me

Note: In this example the verb (ἐδόθη) is in the passive voice. Σκὀλοψ is in the nominative case and is the subject of the sentence. μοι is in the dative case. The word in the dative case μοι receives the subject of the clause (σκόλοψ) which is in the nominative case. “τῃ σαρκί” is an example of Dative_Locative which is described below. In 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul receives the “thorn” in his body

Indirect Object of Advantage (or Disadvantage)

A sub-category of the Dative of Indirect Object is the Indirect Object of Advantage or (Disadvantage). It may be to the advantage (or disadvantage) of the person who receives the object. If it is to the persons advantage, it is referred to as the Indirect Object of Advantage. If it is to their disadvantage (or harm), it is referred to as the Indirect Object of Disadvantage.

Example: Indirect Object of Advantage

Example John 4:5

πλησίον	τοῦ	χωρίου	ὃ	ἔδωκεν	Ἰακὼβ	τῷ	Ἰωσὴφ
plēsion	tou	chōriou	ho	edōken	Iakōb	tō	Iōsēph
near	the	land	that	he gave	Jacob	to	Joseph

near the piece of land that Jacob had given to Joseph

Example: Indirect object of Disadvantage

Example: 1 Corinthians 11:29

ὁ	γὰρ	ἐσθίων	καὶ	πίνων	κρίμα	ἑαυτῷ	ἐσθίει	καὶ	πίνει
ho	gar	esthiōn	kai	pinōn	krima	heautō	esthiei	kai	pinei
the	for	he who is eating	and	he who is drinking	judgment	to himself	he is eating	and	he is drinking

For he who eats and drinks …, eats and drinks judgment to himself.

Dative of Reference

The Dative of Reference is a subcategory of the Indirect Object of Personal Interest. Sometimes the meaning is better conveyed with a key word; “concerning”, “about”, “in regard to”, “with reference to”, or “in respect to”. The Dative of Reference is often used when describing the effect of the action on a thing or a personification of something.

Example: Romans 6:2

οἵτινες	ἀπεθάνομεν	τῇ	ἁμαρτίᾳ	πῶς	ἔτι	ζήσομεν	ἐν	αὐτῇ?
hoitines	apethanomen	tē	hamartia	pōs	eti	zēsomen	en	autē?
We	we have died	to	sin	how	still	will we live	in	it

We who died to sin, how can we still live in it?

Note: This verse could easily be translated “With reference to sin, we have died.” or “in respect to sin”

See also:

Romans 6:11

λογίζεσθε	ἑαυτοὺς	εἶναι	νεκροὺς	μὲν	τῇ	ἁμαρτίᾳ	ζῶντας	δὲ	τῷ	Θεῷ
logizesthe	heautous	einai	nekrous	men	tē	hamartia	zōntas	de	tō	Theō
You reckon	yourselves	to be	dead	on the one hand	to	to sin	alive	but	to	to God

you also must consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God.

Dative of Possession

Possession is a form of personal interest. Therefore, the dative case, in some instances, is used to indicate possession. Possession is generally indicated by use of the genitive case, but in some instances the dative case is used.

Example: Luke 1:7

καὶ	οὐκ	ἦν	αὐτοῖς	τέκνον…
kai	ouk	ēn	autois	teknon
and	not	it/there was	to them	a child

But they had no child

Note: In this instance, our smooth translation drops the indirect object of possession. It is awkward to say “And there was not to them a child.” The sentence is entirely rephrased to result in a smooth translation.

Dative -Locative (location)

• Locative of place - The dative case may be used to indicate the location (or place) of an object in the physical world.
• Locative of Sphere - When the place is more metaphorical or logical, it is referred to as the Locative of Sphere
• Locative of Time - The dative case may also be used to indicate the location of an object in time.

Example for Locative of place (Note: the place is a physical location - “in a boat”)

Example: John 21:8

οἱ	δὲ	ἄλλοι	μαθηταὶ	τῷ	πλοιαρίῳ	ἦλθον
hoi	de	alloi	mathētai	tō	ploiariō	ēlthon
the	but	other	disciples	in	a boat	they came

The other disciples came in the boat

Example for Locative of Sphere (Note: the location is metaphorical or logical in nature)

Example: Matthew 5:3

μακάριοι	οἱ	πτωχοὶ	τῷ	πνεύματι
makarioi	hoi	ptōchoi	tō	pneumatic
Blessed	the	poor	in	spirit

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Example for Locative of time

John 2:1

καὶ	τῇ	ἡμέρᾳ	τῇ	τρίτῃ	γάμος	ἐγένετο	ἐν	Κανὰ
kai	tē	hēmera	tē	tritē	gamos	egeneto	en	Kana
and	the	day	the	third	a wedding	there was	in	Cana

Three days later, there was a wedding in Cana

Note: In this instance “on the third day” is translated “Three days later…”

Dative – Instrumental

The Dative-Instrumental may be used to indicate the Means, Cause, Manner, or Agent by which an event occurs. The Dative-Instrumental may also be used to indicate an association with the main subject of the action. Making distinctions between Means, Cause, Manner, Agent, or Association can be very difficult and often the choice between one category and another is a matter of personal interpretation.

Instrumental of Means

The Instrumental of Means is used to indicate the means (or the process or method) by which the action of the verb is accomplished.

Example: Matthew 8:16

καὶ	ἐξέβαλεν	τὰ	πνεύματα	λόγῳ
kai	exebalen	ta	pneumata	logo
and	he cast out	the	spirit	with a word

He drove out the spirits with a word

Instrumental of Cause

The Instrumental of Cause is used to indicate the cause, the motivating event, or reason something occurred. Therefore, the key word “because” may help in translation.

Example: Romans 11:20

τῇ	ἀπιστίᾳ	ἐξεκλάσθησαν
tē	apistia	exeklasthēsan
because (of)	unbelief	they were broken off

Because of their unbelief they were broken off

Instrumental of Manner

The Instrumental of Manner is used to indicate the method or manner used to accomplish something. This is very closely related to the Instrumental of Means.

Example: 1 Corinthians 11:5

πᾶσα	δὲ	γυνὴ	προσευχομένη	ἢ	προφητεύουσα	ἀκατακαλύπτῳ	τῇ	κεφαλῇ
pasa	de	gynē	proseuchomenē	ē	prophēteuousa	akatakalyptō	tē	kephalē
every	but	woman	who prays	or	who prophecies	with uncovered	the	head

But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered

Instrumental of Agent

The Instrumental of Agent is used with a verb in the middle or passive voice to express the agent or person by which an action is accomplished. Agency may also be expressed by using the preposition ὑπὸ with the genitive case or δία with the accusative case.

Example: Galatians 5:18

εἰ	δὲ	Πνεύματι	ἄγεσθε
ei	de	Pneumati	agesthe
if	but	by Spirit	you are led

But if you are led by the Spirit

Instrumental of Association

The Instrumental of Association is used to indicate an association, relation, or affiliation of some kind with the subject carrying out the action of the verb.

Example: Mark 2:15

πολλοὶ	τελῶναι	καὶ	ἁμαρτωλοὶ	συνανέκειντο	τῷ	Ἰησοῦ	καὶ	τοῖς	μαθηταῖς	αὐτοῦ
polloi	telōnai	kai	hamartōloi	synanekeinto	tō	Iēsou	kai	tois	mathētais	autou
many	tax collectors	and	sinners	they were reclining at table	with	Jesus	and	with	disciples	of him

many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and his disciples

Dative-Direct object

Certain verbs take their object in the dative case. This often happens with verbs that indicate some sort of personal relation to the action.

The following is a list of 47 verbs that may take their object in the dative case:

Verbs that use Dative case for Direct Object

ἀκολοθέω (to follow)	ἀνθομολογέομαι (to praise)	ἀνίστημι (to resist)
ἀντιπίπτω (to resist)	ἀντιτάσσω (to resist)	ἀπιστέω (to disbelieve)
ἀρέσκω (to please)	βοηθέω (to help)	διακατελέγχομαι (to refute)
διακονέω (to serve)	διαμαρτύρομαι (to warn)	διαστέλλω (to order)
διατάσσω (to instruct)	διδάσκω (to teach)	δουλεύω (to serve)
ἐγκαλέω (to accuse)	ἐμβριμάομαι (to rebuke)	ἐξακολουθέω (to follow)
ἐξομολογέω (to praise)	ἐπιπλἠσσω (to rebuke)	ἐπιτάσσω (to command)
ἐπιτιμάω (to warn)	ἐπισκιάζω (to cover)	εὐχαριστέω (to thank)
κοινωνέω (to share)	λατρεύω (to serve)	μετριοπαθέω (to deal gently)
ὁμολογέω (to profess)	ὀργιζω (to be angry at)	παραγγέλλω (to command)
παρακολολουθέω (to follow)	παρενοχλέω (to trouble)	πείθω (to obey)
πιστεύω (to believe)	προσκυνέω (to worship)	προστάσσω (to command)
προσψαύω (to touch)	συλλαμβάννω (to help)	συμβουλεύω (to advise)
συνακολουθέω (to follow)	συνεργέω (to assist)	συνευδοκέω (to approve)
ὑπακούω (to obey)	ὑπηρετέω (to serve)	χαρίζομαι (to forgive)
χράομαι (to make use of)	ψάλλω (to sing praise to)

Example: Luke 16:28

ὅπως	διαμαρτύρηται	αὐτοῖς
hopōs	diamartyrētai	autois
so that	he could warn	them

in order that he might warn them

Case genitive

Glossary

Genitive is a case which has many uses. It expresses a relationship with the substantive it modifies by indicating a description, kinship, possession, apposition, a part of a whole, separation from the substantive it modifies, or the subject (or object) of a verbal idea implied by the noun.

John 1:19
καὶ	αὕτη	ἐστὶν	ἡ	μαρτυρία	τοῦ	Ἰωάννου
kai	hautē	estin	hē	martyria	tou	Iōannou
and	this	it is	the	testimony	of the	John

This is the testimony of John; or This is John’s testimony

In this example, the relationship expressed is that of possession and/or source.

Article

The Genitive case is primarily the case of description.

1. The Genitive case may be used to attribute

   • a basic quality to the noun, or [see Genitive-Attributive ]
   • to show the material from which it was formed or material that it contains. [see Genitive_Material]

2. The Genitive case may also express a relationship to the subject noun (or substantive-a substantive is a noun or any word or group of words functioning like a noun)

   • of kinship, [see Genitive_Kinship]
   • possession, [see Genitive_Possession]
   • apposition, or [see Genitive_Apposition]
   • separation (or source). [see Genitive_Separation]

3. A word in the genitive case may also serve as the subject or object of the head noun. [see Genitive_Subject/Object]

The translator may observe that sometimes a specific word in the Genitive case may seem to fit into more than one of the above categories. There is often no clear single category and the final determination by the translator must be based upon context.

Form

The Genitive case is formed by adding the Genitive case ending to the stem of a word (often with a connecting vowel). The word in the Genitive case usually follows the word that it is modifying. When the word in the Genitive case occurs before the word it is modifying, the word in the Genitive case is being given more attention by the author.

Genitive Case Ending
	First and Second Declension				Third Declencion
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine/Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Genitive	υ	ς	υ		ος	ος
Plural
Genitive	ων	ων	ων		ων	ων

See NounParadigm for a complete listing of the noun paradigms and AdjectiveParadigm for the adjective paradigms.

Genitive – Attributive

The Genitive case restricts (or limits) the head noun (or substantive) by describing the head noun. The limitation is generally as to “kind” and not to “extent or result.” The effect of the description is that it separates the head noun from other similar items that do not possess the described attribute. For example if I were to say a “book of the law;” the phrase “of the law” describes the book. The phrase also separates this book from all the other books which are not law books.

The Genitive-attributive functions like an adjective and gives a general attribute (or description) of the head noun. If none of the other categories for the Genitive case make sense, then this overall “Basic Attributive” serves to describe the overall function for the Genitive case.

The keyword “of” is often included in the translation.

Mark 1:4
ἐγένετο	Ἰωάννης	…	κηρύσσων	βάπτισμα	μετανοίας	εἰς	ἄφεσιν	ἁμαρτιῶν
egeneto	Iōannēs	…	kēryssōn	baptisma	metanoias	eis	aphesin	hamartiōn
he came	John		preaching	a baptism	of repentance	into/for	forgiveness	of sin

John came, … preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Genitive – of Material

The Genitive of Material describes an object that is “made from, consisting of, or containing” something. The Genitive of Material may be used to:

1. describe an object “made from a certain material or thing”, or
2. may be used to describe something the object “contains”.

In this instance the item (or thing) that is used to create the object or that the object contains will be in the Genitive case.

Acts 2:4
καὶ	ἐπλήσθησαν	πάντες	Πνεύματος	Ἁγίου
kai	eplēsthēsan	pantes	Pneumatos	Hagiou
and	they were filled	all	with Spirit	Holy

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit

Note: The preposition with is used because it better conveys the concept of the “content an object contains.” If the translator interpreted this passage as a Genitive of separation they would use the preposition “from” or if they interpreted it as a Genitive of source, they would use the preposition “by”. These determinations are being made based on context in order to accurately convey the concept intended by the text.

Genitive – of Kinship

The Genitive Case may be used to describe a kinship relationship. In most cases The Genitive of Kinship is used to describe someone who is the physical descendent (son or daughter) of someone. However, it can be used to refer to anyone who is a descendent in a “spiritual sense” or someone who is a descendent several generations later in time. Therefore in Luke 13:16 the woman is called a daughter of Abraham even though over a thousand years had passed. The woman is still considered to be a daughter of Abraham. The Genitive of Kinship may also be used to describe the parent of someone or a relationship by marriage to someone.

Note: Some grammars make a distinction between when the noun describing the kinship relationship (“Son”) is present and when it is absent. In this grammar we are not making that fine of a distinction. When the noun that describes the kinship relationship is absent, the “kinship relationship” is implied by the Genitive of Kinship. The definite article may (or may not) be present. This implied relationship is then included in the translation.

The key word “of” may be used in the translation.

Matthew 4:21
Ἰάκωβον	τὸν		τοῦ	Ζεβεδαίου
Iakōbon	ton		tou	Zebedaiou
James	the	(son)	of	Zebedee

James the son of Zebedee

In the following example the “kinship relationship” (mother of) is implied by the Genitive of Kinship.

Luke 24:10
καὶ	Μαρία	ἡ		Ἰακώβου
kai	Maria	hē		Iakōbou
and	Mary	the	(mother of)	James

and Mary the mother of James

Genitive – of Possession

The Genitive of Possession is used to indicate ownership or possession of the object that it is modifying. The ownership may be an indication of a legal right to ownership or physical possession of an item.

It may also refer to an emotional attachment to the object. When referring to an emotional attachment the ownership is like that of a child to his father, a dog to his master, or a person to his church. This is my father. This is my master. This is my church. In each of these cases an emotional attachment is being expressed.

Possessive pronouns such as ἐμός (my), σός (your), ἡμέτερος (our), ὑμέτερος (your), or ἵδιος (his) are sometimes used instead of the Genitive-of-Possession. When this occurs the possessive pronouns will decline like any other adjective and will agree with the noun they are modifying in case and gender. In Biblical Greek the most common way a speaker/writer shows possession is by using a personal pronoun in the genitive Case.

John 20:28
ἀπεκρίθη	Θωμᾶς	καὶ	εἶπεν	αὐτῷ	ὁ	Κύριός	μου	καὶ	ὁ	Θεός	μου!
apekrithē	Thōmas	kai	eipen	autō	ho	Kyrios	mou	kai	ho	Theos	mou!
he answered	Thomas	and	he said	to him	the	Lord	my	and	the	God	my

Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God.”

Genitive of Apposition

Apposition means “next to” or “beside.” Sometimes a second noun is placed next to a noun to add additional information (to further describe the head noun). The noun in apposition may be in the nominative case (Nominative of Apposition) or may be in the Genitive case (Genitive of Apposition). A word is probably standing in apposition to another noun if the translator could use the phrase “who is,” or the phrase “which is,” or the phrase “namely” followed by the noun in apposition. In the example below, “his mother” is in apposition to Mary. The phrase could be translated “They saw the young child with Mary (who is his mother).

Matthew 2:11
εἶδον	τὸ	παιδίον	μετὰ	Μαρίας	τῆς	μητρὸς	αὐτοῦ
eidon	to	paidion	meta	Marias	tēs	mētros	autou
they saw	the	child	with	Mary	the	mother	of him.

They saw the young child with Mary his mother.

Genitive – Separation (or Source)

The Genitive Case may be used to indicate separation from or the source of an object. Therefore, the prepositions έκ and ἀπό naturally take their object in the Genitive case.

Some grammars describe eight cases and refer to this usage as “Ablative case.” There is no difference in form for a word in the Genitive Case and a word in the Ablative Case. Both terms ( the Genitive – Separation and Ablative) case refer to the same function indicating separation, or source. The Genitive Case may also be used for comparison, because a comparison of two objects indicates a separation of the two objects.

2 Corinthians 3:3
ὅτι	ἐστὲ	ἐπιστολὴ	Χριστοῦ
hoti	este	epistolē	Christou
because	you are	a letter	from Christ

that you are a letter from Christ

Matthew 2:1
μάγοι	ἀπὸ	ἀνατολῶν	παρεγένοντο	εἰς	Ἱεροσόλυμα
magoi	apo	anatolōn	paregenonto	eis	Hierosolyma
Magi	from	(the) east	they came	into	Jerusalem

learned men from the east arrived in Jerusalem

Luke 19:8
τὰ	ἡμίσιά	μου	τῶν	ὑπαρχόντων	Κύριε	τοῖς	πτωχοῖς	δίδωμι
ta	hēmisia	mou	tōn	hyparchontōn	Kyrie	tois	ptōchois	didōmi
the	half	of my	of	possessions/goods	Lord	to the	poor	I give

Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor

Note: In this example “of goods” is a Genitive of Source. “My” is a Genitive of possession.

John 13:16
οὐκ	ἔστιν	δοῦλος	μείζων	τοῦ	κυρίου	αὐτοῦ
ouk	estin	doulos	meizōn	tou	kyriou	autou
not	he is	a slave	greater	than	lord	his

a servant is not greater than his master Note: In this example we see the comparative function for the Genitive of Separation.

Genitive – Subject/Object

A word in the genitive case may also serve as the subject or object of the head noun. This can occur when the head noun contains a verbal idea such as witness, love, or hope.

Some verbs that involve the senses (ἀκούω), feelings (ἐπιύμέω), memory (μνημονεὐω), and verbs prefixed with ἀπό, ἐκ, or κατά will take their object in the Genitive case.

Matthew 24:27
οὕτως	ἔσται	ἡ	παρουσία	τοῦ	Υἱοῦ	τοῦ	Ἀνθρώπου
houtōs	estai	hē	parousia	tou	Huiou	tou	Anthrōpou
thus	it will be	the	coming	of the	Son	of	Man

so will be the coming of the Son of Man

[In this example, the word παρουσία (or coming) contains a verbal idea. The subject of this verbal idea is τοῦ Υἱοῦ. It is referring to the Son’s coming. The writer could have said, “The son will come just like..”]

1 Corinthians 1:6
καθὼς	τὸ	μαρτύριον	τοῦ	Χριστοῦ	ἐβεβαιώθη	ἐν	ὑμῖν
kathōs	to	martyrion	tou	Christou	ebebaiōthē	en	hymin
just as	the	testimony	of	Christ	has been confirmed	in	you

just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed [as true] among you

Note: In this case “Christ” is the recipient of the testimony. Therefore the smooth translation uses the term “about Christ.”

We have placed the words “as true” in brackets because these words are not in the Greek text, but they are implied by ἐβεβαιώθη.

Case nominative

Glossary

Nominative is the case used to identify the subject. Because verbs include the subject, the nominative case is used in apposition (or placed next) to the subject of the verb to add further identification. The nominative case is also used as a predicate nominative to equate or describe the subject when used with a linking verb. The nominative is normally the form listed as the headword in a dictionary entry (as the lemma).

John 11:35
ἐδάκρυσεν	ὁ	Ἰησοῦς
edakrysen	ho	Iēsous
he wept	the	Jesus

Jesus wept.

Article

The nominative case is the case of designation or identity. It is used to:

1. identify, designate or name the subject of the sentence,
2. used in apposition to the subject of the sentence or another noun,
3. used as a predicate nominative, or
4. may stand alone without a verb for emphasis.

Form

The nominative case is formed by adding the nominative case ending to the stem of a word (often with a connecting vowel).

Nominative Case Ending
	First and Second Declension				Third Declencion
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine/Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ς	-	ν		ς	-
Plural
Nominative	ι	ι	α		ες	α

Note:

• The hyphen (-) indicates there is no case ending for feminine singular first and second declension nouns.
• There is no case ending for third declension neuter singular nouns, but the final stem letter may undergo changes.

See NounParadigm for a complete listing of the noun paradigms and AdjectiveParadigm for the adjective paradigms.

Nominative-Subject

The primary use of the nominative case is to identify the subject of the sentence. The definite article will also be in the nominative case when it is modifying the subject of the sentence as can be seen in the example below.

John 3:35
ὁ	Πατὴρ	ἀγαπᾷ	τὸν	Υἱόν
ho	Patēr	agapa	ton	huion
the	Father	he loves	the	Son

The Father loves the Son.

The reader will notice that the verb includes the subject of the sentence “he” as part of a third person singular verb. ὁ Πατὴρ identifies the subject by pointing specifically to the Father. Therefore the nominative-subject also stands in apposition (or next to) the subject that is included as a part of the verb, but helps to clarify the subject of the verb with the additional information.

The nominative case is also used for adjectives and participles modifying the subject. This is because adjectives and participles use the same case of the noun they are modifying. (They also have the same gender and number as the word they are modifying) See Adjectives .

Example – The adjective (καλός) and the noun (ποιμὴν) are both in the nominative case.

John 10:11
ὁ	ποιμὴν	ὁ	καλὸς	τὴν	ψυχὴν	αὐτοῦ	τίθησιν	ὑπὲρ	τῶν	προβάτων
ho	poimēn	ho	kalos	tēn	psychēn	autou	tithēsin	hyper	tōn	probatōn
the	shepherd	the	good	the	life	of him	he lays down	in behalf of	the	sheep

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Example – The participle (βλέπων) and the noun (Πατήρ) being modified are both in the nominative case. (Like adjectives, participles agree with the noun they modify in case, number, and gender). See Participles.

Matthew 6:6
ὁ	Πατήρ	σου	ὁ	βλέπων	ἐν	τῷ	κρυπτῷ	ἀποδώσει	σοι.
ho	patēr	sou	ho	blepōn	en	tō	kryptō	apodōsei	soi.
the	Father	of you	who	is seeing	in	the	secret	he will reward	to you

your Father who sees in secret will reward you

If an adjective or participle is serving as the subject of the sentence, they will be in the nominative case.

Romans 1:17
ὁ	δὲ	δίκαιος	ἐκ	πίστεως	ζήσεται.
ho	de	dikaios	ek	pisteōs	zēsetai.
the	indeed	righteous	by	faith	he will live.

But, the righteous will live by faith.

Nominative – Apposition

Apposition means “next to” or “beside.” Sometimes a second noun is placed next to the subject of the sentence (or clause) to add additional information (to further describe the subject of the sentence). This is the Nominative of Apposition. The Nominative-Apposition sometimes will modify the subject of the sentence, or it may modify a noun that is not the subject and is not in the nominative case. However, the Nominative-Apposition will still be in the nominative case because it is identifying or designating the noun. In the example below ὁ μάρτυς and ὁ προτότοκος are both in the nominative case and are in apposition to Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ which is in the genitive case.

Example:

Revelation 1:5
καὶ	ἀπὸ	Ἰησοῦ	Χριστοῦ	ὁ	μάρτυς	ὁ	πιστός	ὁ	πρωτότοκος	τῶν	νεκρῶν…
kai	apo	Iēsou	Christou	ho	martys	ho	pistos	ho	prōtotokos	tōn	nekrōn…
and	from	Jesus	Christ	the	witness	the	faithful	the	firstborn	from the	dead…

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead…

Nominative-Predicate

Linking verbs such as εἰμί, γίνομαι, and ὑπάρχω are completed with an object in nominative case. The Nominative-Predicate (also referred to as Predicate Nominative) construction can take different forms but consists of a subject + a linking verb + an object in the nominative case. [The linking verb may be implied and not actually present in the text.] Care must be used in the translation of a Nominative-Predicate because the object may not be in the last position and is often not an exact equivalent of the subject. The Predicate Nominative is generally the larger class of objects, while the subject is the smaller class. Therefore, the translator must clearly understand which word (or phrase) is the subject of the sentence and which word (or phrase) is the predicate nominative. The translator must use equal care in the translation so that the reader will be able to distinguish between the subject and the predicate nominative.

Consider the sentence, “Paul is a man.” “Paul” is the subject and “man” is the Nominative-Predicate. The translator must be careful to first understand the passage and then take equal care in the translation to make sure the reader understands that Paul is the subject and man is the Nominative-Predicate. English uses word order to indicate which word is the subject and which word is the Predicate Nominative. Therefore reversing the word order in English to say “a man is Paul” would lead the reader to think that all men are “Paul” which is not true. The more definite of the two words (or clauses) in the nominative case will be the subject of the sentence.

Greek, for the most part, does not use position to distinguish between subject and the predicate nominative. In Greek the predicate nominative may be moved in front of the subject to place an emphasis on the predicate nominative.

The following basic rules will help to clarify which word (or clause) is the subject of the sentence and which word (or clause) is the predicate nominative for the sentence in Koine Greek.

NOTE: In Koine Greek, the linking verb may be omitted entirely, and may have to be supplied by the reader (or translator) to complete the sentence. (an example of this will be given below.)

As stated above, the more definite of the two nominatives will be the subject of the sentence. Therefore…

1. if only one of the words in the nominative case is a pronoun, then the pronoun will be the subject. The pronoun may be included as a part of the verb.

Matthew 5:14
ὑμεῖς	ἐστε	τὸ	φῶς	τοῦ	κόσμου.
hymeis	este	to	phōs	tou	kosmou.
you	you are	the	light	of the	world.

You are the light of the world.

When Jesus spoke to the crowd and said “you”, they had a clear understanding of who the “you” was referring to. It was referring to them. “You” is the subject. “The light” is the predicate nominative.

Matthew 14:33
ἀληθῶς	Θεοῦ	Υἱὸς	εἶ
alēthōs	theou	huios	ei
truly	of God	Son	you are

Truly you are the Son of God.

In this sentence, the subject “you” is included in the verb εἶ. Υἱὸς is the predicate nominative.

2. If only one of the words in the nominative case is preceded with the article, the word with the article is the subject.

John 1:1
καὶ	Θεὸς	ἦν	ὁ	λόγος
kai	theos	ēn	ho	logos
and	God	was	the	word

and the Word was God

John 1:14
καὶ	ὁ	λόγος	σὰρξ	ἐγένετο
kai	ho	logos	sarx	egeneto
and	the	word	flesh	it became

The Word became flesh

3. If only one of the words in the nominative case is a proper name, the proper name will be the subject.

James 5:17
Ἠλείας	ἄνθρωπος	ἦν	ὁμοιοπαθὴς	ἡμῖν
Ēleias	anthrōpos	ēn	homoiopathēs	hemin
Elijah	a man	he was	like/or with a nature like	us

Elijah was a man just like us.

Notice that in this example both the subject (Ἠλείας) and the predicate nominative (ἂνθρςπος) come before the verb.

4) If one of the nouns in the nominative case is a pronoun and one is a proper name, the pronoun will be the subject and the proper name will be the predicate nominative.

Matthew 16:20
αὐτός	ἐστιν	ὁ	Χριστός
autos	estin	ho	Christos
he	he is	the	Christ

He is the Christ.

Matthew 11:14
αὐτός	ἐστιν	Ἠλείας
autos	estin	Ēleias
he	he is	Elijah

He is Elijah

5. If…

1. both have the article or
2. both are proper names or
3. one has the article and the other is a proper name,

…then the one that comes first is the subject.

John 15:1
ὁ	Πατήρ	μου	ὁ	γεωργός	ἐστιν.
ho	Patēr	mou	ho	geōrgos	estin
the	Father	my	the	farmer/gardener	he is

My Father is the gardener

6) Some times εις + accusative is used for the predicate nominative. This may occur with γίνομαι, εἰμί, or λογίζομαι. This portrays a process of something “changing into” something else. In English, it is translated with a predicate nominative and the εἰς is not translated. [D R A F T]

Mark 10:8
καὶ	ἔσονται	οἱ	δύο	**εἰς	σάρκα**	μίαν
kai	esontai	hoi	dyo	**eis	sarka**	mian
and	they will become	the	two		flesh	one

and the two will become one flesh

Nominative–Stand_alone

A word or clause may appear in the nominative case without a verb or a direct object. This may occur in the greeting of a letter, titles, headings, or to make something a heading by giving it special emphasis. A word or clause may also appear in the nominative case to express the emotion of the writer. In these cases, there is no intent of the writer to form a complete sentence.

For example see the greeting of the book of Jude.

Jude 1
Ἰούδας	Ἰησοῦ	Χριστοῦ	δοῦλος	ἀδελφὸς	δὲ	Ἰακώβου
Ioudas	Iēsou	Christou	doulos	adelphos	de	Iakōbou
Jude	of Jesus	of Christ	a slave	brother	and	of James

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James

In Romans 11:33, Paul cries out with emotion

Romans 11:33
ὦ	βάθος	πλούτου	καὶ	σοφίας	καὶ	γνώσεως	Θεοῦ
ō	bathos	ploutou	kai	sophias	kai	gnōseōs	theou
Oh	depth	of riches	both	of wisdom	and	of knowledge	of God

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!

Case vocative

Glossary

Vocative is the case used when addressing (speaking directly to) someone.

Example: MAT 8:2

Κύριε	ἐὰν	θέλῃς	δύνασαί	με	καθαρίσαι
Kyrie	ean	thelēs	dynasai	me	katharisai
Lord	if	willing	you are able	me	to make clean

Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean

Article

The vocative case is the case of direct address.

• However, a noun in the vocative case preceded by the particle ὦ is used to add emphasis or to express emotion.
• Caution: Do not confuse ὦ (the particle) with ᾧ -the dative case relative pronoun, or with ὦ - the first person singular subjunctive form of εἰμί (which is identical to the particle ὦ in form).

Only 2.1% of the 28,599 nouns in the New Testament are in the vocative case.

Form

1. Often it is easy to identify nouns in the vocative case by the context.
2. The vocative case is identical to the nominative case in the plural.
3. The vocative case is identical to the nominative case in the first declension (singular and plural).
4. The vocative case of the singular second declension usually ends in an epsilon.
5. The vocative case of the singular third declension is usually the bare stem of the word. However, the stem vowel may shorten, lengthen, or drop out entirely. This is known as ablaut.

Vocative – Direct Address

The vocative of direct address is the most frequent use of the vocative case.

Matthew 7:21

οὐ

πᾶς

ὁ

λέγων

μοι

Κύριε

Κύριε

εἰσελεύσεται

εἰς

τὴν

Βασιλείαν

τῶν

Οὐρανῶν

ou

pas

ho

legōn

moi

Kyrie

Kyrie

eiseleusetai

eis

tēn

Basileian

tōn

Ouranōn

not

everyone

who

says

to me

Lord

Lord

he will enter

into

the

kingdom

of

heaven

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter into the kingdom of heaven

Matthew 8:2
Κύριε	ἐὰν	θέλῃς	δύνασαί	με	καθαρίσαι.
Kyrie	ean	thelēs	dynasai	me	katharisai.
Lord	if	you are willing	you are able	me	to (make) clean

“Lord”, if you are willing, you can make me clean.

Vocative – Emphasis/Emotion

The vocative case can also be used to express emotion or emphasis. The particle ὦ is used when the vocative case is used to add additional emphasis or emotion to the basic function of direct address. ὦ followed by a word in the vocative case only occurs 14 times in the New Testament.

Example of ὦ + vocative to add an emotional emphasis.

Mark 9:19
αὐτοῖς	λέγει	ὦ	γενεὰ	ἄπιστος!	ἕως	πότε	πρὸς	ὑμᾶς	ἔσομαι?
autois	legei	ō	genea	apistos!	heōs	pote	pros	hymas	esomai?
to them	he says	Oh	generation	unbelieving	until	when	with	you	will I be?

and he said to them, “You unbelieving generation! How long will I be with you?”

Note: The emotional emphasis can be difficult to reflect in a translation. The exclaimation mark is used in this example to reflect the emotion.

Example of ὦ + vocative to add emphasis.

I Timothy 6:11
σὺ	δέ	ὦ	ἄνθρωπε	Θεοῦ	ταῦτα	φεῦγε	δίωκε	δὲ	δικαιοσύνην…
sy	de	ō	anthrōpe	Theou	tauta	pheuge	diōke	de	dikaiosynēn…
you	but	o	man	of God	these things	you flee	you pursue	but (instead)	righteousness

But you, man of God, flee from these things. Instead, pursue righteousness…

Note: The emphasis is lost in the English text.

Comparative

Glossary

Adjectives can have three degrees, called positive (e.g., good), comparative (e.g., better) and superlative (e.g., best).

Better is in the ** degree** since it is making a comparison between two things.

Example: LUK 5:39

ὁ παλαιὸς χρηστός ἐστιν

ho palaios chrēstos estin

the old better it is

the old is better

Article

Conjunction

Glossary

A conjunction is a word which indicates a connection between words, phrases, clauses or paragraphs, such as and, but, or however.

Example: ROM 15:25

νυνὶ δὲ πορεύομαι εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ

nyni de poreuomai eis Ierousalēm

now but I am going into Jerusalem

but now I am going to Jerusalem

Article

Conjunction coordinating

Glossary

Coordinating conjunctions connect two words, two phrases, or two clauses of equal grammatical emphasis. [Examples: “I like apples *and* bananas”; or “He went to the store *and* to the library.”]

Example: Matthew 2:13

ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ φεῦγε εἰς Αἴγυπτον

egertheis paralabe to paidion kai tēn mētera autou kai pheuge eis Aigypton

Arise you take the child and the mother of him and flee into Egypt

Get up, take the young child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.

Article

Conjunction correlative

Glossary

Correlative conjunctions consist of two particles used as a pair to join different words or clauses together. The first particle is a correlative adverb. The second particle is a correlative conjunction. [example: “You may either choose this book or that book.”

Example: Matthew 4:4

γέγραπται οὐκ> ἐπ’ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος Θεοῦ

gegraptai ouk ep’ artō monō zēsetai ho anthrōpos all’ epi panti rhēmati ekporeuomenō dia stomatos Theou

It is written not by bread alone he will live the man, but by every word which comes out of mouth of God

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”

Article

Conjunction subordinating

Glossary

A subordinating conjunction is a conjunction that combines an independent clause with a dependent clause. A dependent clause cannot stand on its own. [example: The boy received a present because it was his birthday.] Typical subordinating conjunctions are since, because, before, and until.

Example: Mark 12:34

ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἰδὼν αὐτὸν ὅτι νουνεχῶς ἀπεκρίθη εἶπεν αὐτῷ οὐ μακρὰν εἶ ἀπὸ τῆς Βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ

ho Iēsous idōn auton hoti nounechōs apekrithē eipen autō ou makran ei apo tēs Basileias tou Theou

The Jesus when he saw that wisely he had answered he said to him not far you are from the kingdom of God

When Jesus saw that he had given a wise answer, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Article

Crasis

Glossary

Crasis is when two words are contracted into one word (e.g. where the two words, καὶ [and] and ἐγώ [I] are combined into κἀγώ [and I])

Example: ICO 10:33

καθὼς κἀγὼ πάντα πᾶσιν ἀρέσκω

kathōs kagō panta pasin areskō

as I also all in all things I please

I try to please all people in all things

Article

Crasis is the combination of two words (one of which is usually καὶ [and]) into one word by contraction. Examples include καὶ ἐγώ (and I) becoming κἀγώ (and I).

Example: JHN 20:21

κἀγὼ πέμπω ὑμᾶς

kagō pempō hymas

and I send you

I also send you

Determiner

Determiners are words that identify or point to the object of a noun by pointing to, talking about, referring to, or quantifying the noun.

Example: John 6:44

κἀγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ

kagō anastēsō auton en tē eschatē hēmera

and I will raise him on the last day

and I will raise him up on the last day

Article

Determiner article

Determiners are words that identify or quantify a noun. The definite article quantifies the noun by making it distinct from others of its kind. The object of the article is definite whenever the article is used. [e.g. the book as opposed to any book]. The absence of the definite article stresses the basic quality or character of the object as opposed to any particular object. . The object may still be definite even though the definite article is absence.

Example: Matthew 1:2

Ἀβραὰμ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰσαάκ Ἰσαὰκ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰακώβ

Abraam egennēsen ton Isaak Isaak de egennēsen ton Iakōb

Abraham became parent of the Issac, Isaac and became parent of the Jacob

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob

[Note: In this example the definite article before the names Isaac

and Jacob are omitted in the smooth translation as the name of an

individual is already definite in English.]

Article

Beginner’s

The article must always agree in case, number and gender with the noun it modifies.

The article can have the following functions:

1. It can indicate that the noun is definite or specific.

   Ὡς δὲ ἔμελλον αἱ ἑπτὰ ἡμέραι συντελεῖσθαι, (Act 21:27)

   Now when the seven days were almost over

2. It can indicate a category, rather than a specific person or item.

   ἄξιος γὰρ ὁ ἐργάτης τοῦ μισθοῦ αὐτοῦ (Luk 10:7)

   for the laborer is worthy of his wages (This is a general principle applying to all laborers [the entire category].)

3. An adjective can have an article to show that it functions nominally (i.e., as a noun)

   σὺν τοῖς ἁγίοις πᾶσιν (2Co 1:1)

   with all the saints (lit., “the holy)

4. A participle can have an article to show that it functions nominally (i.e., as a noun).

   ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου ὀπίσω μου, (Mrk 1:7)

   one who is stronger than me is coming after me,

5. The article can be used alone like a personal pronoun.

   οἱ δὲ ἐξ ἐριθείας °τὸν Χριστὸν καταγγέλλουσιν (Php 1:17)

   But they from envy preach Christ.

6. The article can be used like a possessive pronoun.

   τί γὰρ οἶδας, γύναι, εἰ τὸν ἄνδρα σώσεις; (1Co 7:16)

   For how do you know, woman, if you will save your husband?

7. The article can be used like a relative pronoun.

   οὕτως γὰρ ἐδίωξαν τοὺς προφήτας τοὺς πρὸ ὑμῶν (Mat 5:12)

   For thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you

8. Personal names often have the article (which often will not be translated).

   Τότε παραγίνεται ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰορδάνην πρὸς τὸν Ἰωάννην (Mat 3:13)

   Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John

9. The article can be used with infinitives and indicate temporality.

   καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ σπείρειν ὃ μὲν ἔπεσεν παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν (Mar 4:4)

   and it happened when he sowed (lit. in the to sow), some fell by the roadside

10. The article can be used with infinitives to indicate the subject of the action which is given in the accusative. (It is sometimes called an accusative of general reference).

    ἐπεθύμησα τοῦτο τὸ πάσχα φαγεῖν μεθʼ ὑμῶν πρὸ τοῦ με παθεῖν· (Luk 22:15)

    I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer (lit. before the me to suffer). (The idea is that the suffering has reference to “me”, i.e. Christ).

11. If two substantives are joined by the verb εἰμί (to be), the one with the article is the subject and the one without the article is the predicate.

    καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (Jhn 1:1)

    and the Word was God

    Intermediate

12. The article can be used to refer back to something previously referenced. This is called anaphoric (meaning “refers to again”).

    πόθεν οὖν ἔχεις τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ζῶν; (Jhn 4:11)

    Where, then, do you get that living water? (referring back to ὕδωρ ζῶν in 4:10)

13. The article can be used like a demonstrative pronoun. This is called deictic (meaning “pointing”).

    ἰδοὺ ὁ ἄνθρωπος. (Jhn 19:5)

    “Behold, the man! (meaning “this man”, standing here)

14. The article can be used to indicate that a substantive is the very best (or worst) of its kind, or “in a class by itself”. This is called par excellence.

    ὁ προφήτης εἶ σύ; (Jhn 1:21)

    Are you the Prophet? (referring to the prophet which Moses said would come after him [Deu 18:15, 18])

15. The article can be used to indicate that a substantive is unique. This is called monadic (meaning “one of a kind”). (This is very similar to the previous usage and thus there is debate over which usages are par excellence and which are monadic.)

    καὶ ἀκριβέστερον αὐτῷ ἐξέθεντο τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ θεοῦ (Act 18:26)

    and more clearly explained to him the way of God

    Advanced

16. In the construction ὁ δέ or ὁ μὲν … ὁ δέ, the article indicates a change of subject and is used as a third person personal pronoun in the nominative (e.g., he, she, they).

    ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτοῖς Ἐχθρὸς ἄνθρωπος τοῦτο ἐποίησεν. οἱ δὲ αὐτῷ λέγουσιν … ὁ δέ φησιν· (Matt. 13:28-29)

    and he said to them, “An enemy has done this.” And they said to him … and he said

17. Similarly, in the construction ὁ μὲν … ὁ δέ when the article is nominative, a contrast is indicated between groups.

    ἐσχίσθη δὲ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς πόλεως, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἦσαν σὺν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις οἱ δὲ σὺν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις. (Act 14:4)

    and the crowd of the city was divided, and some were with the Jews but others were with the apostles

18. When two singular nouns are joined by καὶ (and):

    1. If both have the article, the reference is to two separate people.

    ὅπου καὶ τὸ θηρίον καὶ ὁ ψευδοπροφήτης (Rev 20:10)

    where also [are] the beast and the false prophet.

    2. If only the first of two singular nouns has the article, they are referring to the same person. (This is called the Granville Sharp rule.)

    Τύχικος ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἀδελφὸς καὶ πιστὸς διάκονος ἐν κυρίῳ (Eph 6:21)

    Tychichus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord

    3. Some passages where the Granville Sharp rule applies are theologically important and often debated.

    καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, (Tit 2:13)

    and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ

19. The article is absent in NT Greek in many places where it is required in other languages, especially in prepositional phrases.***

Determiner demonstrative

Glossary

Determiners are words that identify or quantify a noun. Demonstrative Determiners point to a specific object by identifying it as “this one”, “that one”, or “one of this kind”.

Example: John 2:19

ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν

apekrithē Iēsous kai eipen autois lysate ton naon touton kai en trisin hēmerais egerō auton

answered Jesus and he said to them destroy the temple this and in three days I will raise it

Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Article

Determiner differential

Glossary

Determiners are words that identify or quantify a noun. Differential determiners identify a noun by distinguishing (or differentiating) between nouns by indicating “another of the same kind”, “another of a different kind”, “alone”, “pertaining to oneself” , or “belonging to another” .

Example: John 14:16

κἀγὼ ἐρωτήσω τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἄλλον παράκλητον δώσει ὑμῖν

kagō erōtēsō ton patera kai allon paraklēton dōsei hymin

and I I will ask the father and another comforter he will give to you

and I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Comforter

Article

Determiner interrogative

Glossary

Determiners are words that identify or quantify a noun. Interrogative determiners ask a question to identify or quantify the object. (example: “How large?”, “of what kind?” , “How many?” )

Example: John 12:33

τοῦτο δὲ ἔλεγεν σημαίνων ποίῳ θανάτῳ ἤμελλεν ἀποθνῄσκειν

touto de elegen sēmainōn poiō thanatō ēmellen apothnēskein

This but he said signifying what kind of death he was destined to die

He said this to indicate what kind of death he would die

Article

Determiner number

Glossary

Determiners are words that identify or quantify a noun. Number determiners are cardinal numbers which quantify or say how many there are of something. (for example “five” books)

Example: Matthew 4:18

εἶδεν δύο ἀδελφούς

eiden dyo adelphous

he saw two brothers

he saw two brothers

Article

Determiner ordinal

Glossary

Determiners are words that identify or quantify a noun. Ordinal determiners identify a noun by giving the position of an item in a list. (for example “first”, “second”, “third”…)

Example: Matthew 20:3

καὶ ἐξελθὼν περὶ τρίτην ὥραν εἶδεν ἄλλους ἑστῶτας ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἀργούς

kai exelthōn peri tritēn hōran eiden allous hestōtas en tē agora argous

and going out about third hour he saw others standing in the marketplace idle

He went out again about the third hour and saw other workers standing idle in the marketplace.

Article

Determiner possessive

Glossary

Determiners are words that identify or quantify a noun. Possessive determiners identify an object by indicating a possessive relationship between the object and another entity. (example: “my book”, “their book”)

Example: John 10:27

τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἐμὰ τῆς φωνῆς μου ἀκούουσιν

ta probate ta ema tēs phōnēs mou akouousin

sheepmy voice my they hear

My sheep hear my voice

Article

Determiner quantifier

Glossary

1. Determiners are words that identify or quantify a noun. Quantifier determiners are words that express a general quantity of the object of reference. (example: both, all, double, remaining, few, every, nobody, entire, many)

Example: John 2:10

καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος πρῶτον τὸν καλὸν οἶνον τίθησιν

kai legei auto Pas anthrōpos prōton ton kalon oinon tithēsin

and he says to him every man first the good wine he serves

and said to him,”Every man serves the good wine first.”

Article

Determiner relative

Glossary

Determiners are words that identify or quantify a noun. Relative determiners express a relationship or quantify the noun by comparing the noun with another object. (example: “of what sort”, “as great as” , “as far as”, “who”, “which”

ἦν δὲ σάββατον ἐν ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ τὸν πηλὸν ἐποίησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἀνέῳξεν αὐτοῦ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς. John 9:14

ēn de sabbaton en hē hēmera ton pēlon epoiēsen ho Iēsous kai aneōxen autou tous ophthalmous.

it was now sabboth in which day the clay he made the Jesus and he opened of him the eyes.

Now it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

ῇ is a relative personal pronoun that is a determiner. It determines or identifies the day in which Jesus opened the blind man’s eyes. It was the Sabbath day.

Article

Gender

Glossary

Substantives will have one of three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, or neuter.

Example: ITH 5:23

ὑμῶν τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα

hymōn to pneuma kai hē psychē kai to sōma

your spirit and soul and body

your spirit, soul, and body

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Gender feminine

Glossary

Nominals are marked for grammatical gender, one of which is feminine.

Article

Gender masculine

Glossary

Nominals are marked for grammatical gender, one of which is masculine.

Article

Gender neuter

Glossary

Nominals are marked for grammatical gender, one of which is neuter.

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Interjection

Glossary

An interjection is an exclamation, added to a sentence for emphasis (e.g., o!, woe!)

Ὦ βάθος πλούτου καὶ σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως θεοῦ (Rom 11:33) Ō **bathos ploutou kai sophias kai gnōseōs theou Oh depth of riches/wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God **Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!

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Interjection directive

Glossary

Interjections are short expressions of emotion. A directive interjection includes a directive such as “look!”, “come!” John 1:29

Ἴδε              ὁ  ἀμνὸς τοῦ    θεοῦ    ὁ      αἴρων        τὴν ἁμαρτίαν  τοῦ   κόσμου
Ide              ho amnos tou    theou   ho     airōn        tēn hamartian tou   kosmou
See             the  lamb of   the God  who  is taking away  the  sin      of the world
Look (there is) the  lamb of       God   who    takes   away the  sin      of the world

Article

Interjection exclamation

Glossary

Interjections are short expressions of emotions (e.g. “woe!”, “Amen”, “Hosanna”)

     **ἀμὴν**   γὰρ  λέγω   ὑμῖν          Matthew 5:18
     **amēn**   gar  legō   hymin
     **truy**  for   I say  to you
for  **truly**       I say  to you

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Interjection response

Glossary

Interjections are short expressions of emotion. A response interjection is in reply to a question (e.g. “yes”, “no”).

ἡ   δὲ   εἶπεν    **Ναί**, κύριε       Matthew 15:27
hē  de   eipen    **Nai**, kyrie
she but  she said **yes**  Lord
         she said **yes**  Lord

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Interrogative

Glossary

Interrogative is a grammatical feature used to form a question.

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Mood

Glossary

Mood is a feature of the verb which indicates the speaker’s viewpoint of the verbal action in relation to reality. Greek has four moods: indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and optative.

The two remaining verb forms, the infinitive and the participle, technically do not have mood, but are often discussed alongside in Greek grammars.

Article

Mood imperative

Glossary

The imperative mood is used in giving a command (e.g. Eat your food).

Λάβετε φάγετε, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου. (Mat 26:26)

Take. Eat. This is my body.

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Mood imperative_participle

Glossary

A participle can sometimes be used to express a command. This usage is quite rare and some grammarians even debate whether it actually occurs in the NT.

ἀποστυγοῦντες τὸ πονηρόν, κολλώμενοι τῷ ἀγαθῷ· (Rom 12:9)

abhor what is evil, cling to what is good

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Mood indicative

Glossary

The indicative mood indicates that the speaker assumes that the verbal action he is referring to is real (rather than only potential) (e.g., he is eating). It is the default mood when there is no reason to use one of the other moods.

μετὰ τῶν τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐσθίει (Mrk 2:16)

he is eating with tax collectors and sinners

Article

Mood infinitive

Glossary

An infinitive is a verbal noun (e.g., to eat, to run, to go). It expresses aspect and voice like other (finite) verbs, but does not indicate person or number. It can take an object, but usually does not explicitly express a subject.

οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστιν φαγεῖν εἰ μὴ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν, (Mrk 2:26)

it is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests

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Mood optative

Glossary

The optative mood indicates that the speaker is referring to the verbal action as a contingent possibility (even less assured than the subjunctive mood) (e.g., he might eat).

Μηκέτι ἐκ σοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μηδεὶς καρπὸν φάγοι. (Mrk 11:14)

May no one ever again eat fruit from you!

Article

Mood participle

Glossary

A participle is a verbal adjective (e.g. eating, going, running). It has properties of a verb in that it expresses aspect and voice. It has properties of an adjective in that it expresses case, gender and number.

καὶ ἀνακειμένων αὐτῶν καὶ ἐσθιόντων ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με ὁ ἐσθίων μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ. (Mrk 14:18)

And as they were reclining and eating [verbal usage], Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray me, the one eating [nominal usage] with me.

Article

Mood subjunctive

Glossary

The subjunctive mood indicates that the speaker is referring to the verbal action as a possibility (e.g., he may eat, he should eat, he could eat, let’s eat).

ποῦ ἐστιν τὸ κατάλυμά μου ὅπου τὸ πάσχα μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν μου φάγω; (Mrk 14:14)

Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?

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Negative

Glossary

A negative is a grammatical feature used to indicate that something is false (i.e., the opposite of affirmative).

καὶ μὴ λυπεῖτε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τοῦ θεοῦ (Eph 4:30)

and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God

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Noun

Glossary

A noun is a part of speech which refers to a living being (e.g., man), place (Jerusalem), thing (water) or quality (goodness). A noun can be the subject or object of a verb or object of a preposition (e.g., The man drank water from Jerusalem).

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Example image inclue:

Noun predicate_adj

Glossary

A predicate adjective describes the subject of the sentence. It can exist with or without a linking verb. A predicate adjective is never immediately preceded by an article.

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Noun substantive_adj

Glossary

A substantive adjective is an adjective that functions as a noun. If an article is used, it will immediately precede the adjective.

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Proper Noun

Glossary

A proper noun is a noun that names or references a specific object. In the New Testament proper nouns are nouns that name a specific person or place.

Article

Peter and Jerusalem are both proper nouns. Peter is a proper noun because it is the name of a specific person, and Jerusalem is a proper noun because it names a specific city. The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun. The nouns man and city are both common nouns because they are both general and do not name a specific man or specific city.

Example: JHN 1:42

σὺ	κληθήσῃ	Κηφᾶς	ὃ	ἑρμηνεύεται	Πέτρος
sy	klēthēsē	Kēphas	ho	hermēneuetai	Petros
you	will be called	Cephas	which	is translated	Peter

you will be called Cephas, which is translated as Peter

Note: Both Cephas and Peter are proper nouns because they are names for a specific person. (Cephas is Peter’s name in Aramaic and means “rock.” Peter is the Greek translation of the name Cephas and also means “rock.”)

Proper Noun indeclinable

Glossary

An indeclinable proper noun is a proper noun that does not “decline” (change its spelling) to indicate how it is functioning in a sentence. An indeclinable proper noun will normally have the same spelling each time it occurs in the New Testament.

Article

The term “decline” refers to the changes in form (spelling) that most Greek words undergo in order to show how they are functioning in a sentence. If a word is “declinable” it means that the word has different forms to indicate how it is being used in a sentence. Most Greek nouns have different forms to indicate gender, number, and case. Not all Greek words change forms to show how they are functioning in a sentence. Words that do not change forms to indicate their usage are called “indeclinable” words. An “indeclinable proper noun” is a proper noun that does not change forms to indicate how the author is using it in a sentence.

Note: Sometimes an indeclinable proper noun will be spelled differently due to having one or more variant spellings but these differences in spelling are not meant to communicate a difference of function. For example, the indeclinable proper noun Boaz is spelled as Βοὲς in Matthew 1:5 and is spelled as Βόος in Luke 3:32.

Indeclinable proper nouns, in the Greek New Testament, are proper nouns that do not change form. Most often indeclinable proper nouns are words that were borrowed from other languages, such as Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic. The indeclinable proper noun Ἀβραάμ (Abraham) occurs 73 times in the Greek New Testament and always with the exact same spelling. It is borrowed from Hebrew. An example of an indeclinable proper noun that is the name of a location is Βηθσαϊδά (Bethsaida). An example of an indeclinable proper noun that is the name of a being is Βεελζεβούλ (“Beelzebul” which is a name for Satan).

Number

Glossary

Number is the grammatical feature which signifies whether one (singular) or more (plural) participants are indicated by a word.

Article

1. If a word’s grammatical number is singular, it denotes one participant.
2. If a word’s grammatical number is plural, it denotes more than one participant.
3. A collective noun has the grammatical feature of singular yet refers to a group.
4. The grammatical number of a verb usually agrees with the number of it’s subject.

Number plural

Glossary

Plural number is the grammatical feature which signifies that more than one participant is indicated by a word.

Article

Number singular

Glossary

Singular number is the grammatical feature which signifies that one participant is indicated by a word.

Article

Numeral indeclinable

Glossary

This is a numeral which does not decline, i.e., whose form does not change to indicate its function in a sentence.

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Paradigms

Master

Case Endings

• Table 1 - First and Second Declension
• Table 2 - Third Declension

Table 1 First and Second Declension

Note: -The columns shaded in grey show the case ending WITH the final stem vowel.

The unshaded columns show the true case ending.

-The cells with a hyphen (-) indicate that there is no case ending.

The word ends with the theme vowel (or in some cases the theme vowel is lengthened).

Master Case Endings Table 1
First and Second Declensions
Singular	2nd Declension Masculine		1st Declension Feminine			2nd Declension Neuter
Nominative	ος	ς	α	η	-	ον	ν
Genitive	ου	υ	ας	ης	ς	ου	υ
Dative	ῳ	ι	ᾳ	ῃ	ι	ῳ	ι
Accusative	ον	ν	αν	ην	ν	ον	ν
Plural
Nominative	οι	ι	αι	αι	ι	α	α
Genitive	ων	ων	ων	ων	ων	ων	ων
Dative	οις	ις	αις	αις	ις	οις	ις
Accusative	ους	υς	ας	ας	ς	α	α

Table 2 Third Declension

Note: The columns shaded in grey and the unshaded columns are the same.

This is because Third Declension nouns (or adjectives) end in a consonant and do not have a final stem vowel as in Table 1.

• The cells with a hyphen (-) indicate that there is no case ending.
• Both the Masculine and the Feminine forms are identical for the Third Declension

Master Case Endings
Third Declension
	Masculine			Feminine				Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ς   -	ς		ς   -		ς		-	-
Genitive	ος	ος		ος		ος		ος	ος
Dative	ι	ι		ι		ι		ι	ι
Accusative	α/ν	α/ν		α/ν		α/ν		-	-
Plural
Nominative	ες	ες		ες		ες		α	α
Genitive	ων	ων		ων		ων		ων	ων
Dative	σι(ν)	σι(ν)		σι(ν)		σι(ν)		σι(ν)	σι(ν)
Accusative	ας	ας		ας		ας		α	α

Verbs

• Table 3 Examples of Verb Tenses in English and Greek
• Table 4 Primary and Secondary Endings of Verbs
• Table 5 Master Verb Tense Chart - Present and Imperfect Tenses
• Table 6 Master Verb Tense Chart - The Future Tenses
• Table 7 Master Verb Tense Chart - The Aorist Tenses
• Table 8 Master Verb Tense Chart - The Perfect Tenses

Table 3 - Examples of Verb Tenses in English and Greek

• Active voice – The subject does the action of the Verb
• Middle Voice – The subject does the action of the verb but also is somehow affected by the action of the verb or is participating in the action of the verb (middle voice). Deponent verbs are verbs whose stem is middle or passive in form, but active in meaning. The definitions of many verbs that are classified as deponent have a meaning that implies the participation of the person doing the action.
• Passive Voice – The subject receives the action of the verb.

	Past	Past Continuous	Perfect	Present	Future
Corresponds with	Aorist Tense	Imperfect Tense	Perfect Tense	Present Tense	Future Tense
Active Voice	I walked	I was walking	I had walked	I am walking (or I walk)	I will walk
Middle Voice	I walked for myself	I was walking for myself	I had walked for myself	I am walking for myself (or I walk myself)	I will walk myself
Passive Voice	I was walked	I was being walked	I had been walked	I am being walked	I will be walked
	I was fed	I was being fed	I had been fed	I am being fed	I will be fed

Table 4 Primary and Secondary Endings of Verbs

Primary and Secondary Endings of Verbs   Table 4
Primary						Secondary
	regular			alternate		regular			alternate
Active
1 singular	λύω	ο	-	μι		ἒλυον	ο	ν
2 singular	λύεις	ε	ς			ἒλυες	ε	ς
3 singular	λύει	ε	ι	σι (ν)		ἒλυε (ν)	ε	ε
1 plural	λύομεν	ο	μεν			ἐλύομεν	ο	μεν
2 plural	λύετε	ε	τε			ἐλύετε	ε	τε
3 plural	λύουσι (ν)	ο	νσι (ν)	ασι (ν)		ἒλυον	ο	ν	σαν
Middle/ Passive
1 singular	λύομαι	ο	μαι			ἐλυόμην	ο	μην
2 singular	λύῃ	ε	σαι			ἐλύου	ε	σο
3 singular	λύεται	ε	ται			ἐλύετο	ε	το
1 plural	λυόμεθα	ο	μεθα			ἐλυόμεθα	ο	μεθα
2 plural	λύεσθε	ε	σθε			ἐλύεσθε	ε	σθε
3 plural	λύονται	ο	νται			ἐλύοντο	ο	ντο

[Note]

• The “-” indicates there is no personal ending.
• The omega (ω) at the end of the first person singular verb is the lengthened connecting vowel “ο” which lengthens to an “ω”.
• Third person plural ending - the “ν” drops out because it is followed by a sigma and the connecting vowel “o” lengthens to compensate for the missing “v”. Therefore, λυ + ο + νσι becomes λυ + ου + σι -> λύουσι

Table 5 - Master Verb Tense Chart - Present and Imperfect Tenses

Master Verb Tense Chart 5 Present and Imperfect Tenses
	Augment	Stem Tense	Tense Formative	Connecting Vowel	Personal Ending	first Singular
Present Active		present		ο / ε	primary active	λύω
Present Middle/Passive		present		ο / ε	primary middle/ passive	λύομαι
Imperfect Active	ε	present		ο / ε	secondary Active	ἔλυον
Imperfect Middle/Passive	ε	present		ο / ε	secondary middle/ passive	ἐλυόμην

Table 6 - Master Verb Tense Chart - Future Tenses

Master Verb Tense Chart 6 Future Tenses
	Augment	Stem Tense	Tense Formative	Connecting Vowel	Personal Ending	first Singular
Future Active		present	σ	ο / ε	primary active	λύσω
Future Middle		present	σ	ο / ε	primary middle/ passive	λύσομαι
Liquid Future Active		present	εσ	ο / ε	primary active	κρινῶ
Liquid Future Middle		present	εσ	ο / ε	primary middle/ passive	κρινοῦμαι
First Future Passive		aorist passive	θησ	ο / ε	primary middle/ passive	λυθήσομαι
Second Future Passive		aorist passive	ησ	ο / ε	primary middle/ passive	χαρήσομαι

Table 7 Master Verb Tense Chart - The Aorist Tenses

Master Verb Tense Chart 7 Aorist tenses
	Augment	Stem Tense	Tense Formative	Connecting Vowel	Personal Ending	first Singular
1st Aorist Active	ε	Aorist Active	σα		Secondary Active	ἔλυσα
Liquid Aorist Active	ε	Aorist Active	α		Secondary Active	ἔκρινα
2nd Aorist Active	ε	Aorist Active		ο / ε	Secondary Active	ἔλαβον
1st Aorist Middle	ε	Aorist Active	σα		Secondary middle/ passive	ἐλυσάμην
2nd Aorist Middle	ε	Aorist Active		ο / ε	Secondary middle/ passive	ἐγενόμην
1st Aorist Passive	ε	Aorist Passive	θη		Secondary Active	ἐλύθην
2nd Aorist Passive	ε	Aorist Passive	η		Secondary Active	ἐχάρην

Table 8 - The Perfect Tenses

Master Verb Tense Chart 8 Perfect Tenses
	Reduplication	Stem Tense	Tense Formative	Connecting Vowel	Personal Ending	first Singular
1st Perfect Active	λε	Perfect Active	κα		Primary Active	λέλυκα
2nd Perfect Active	γε	Perfect Active	α		Primary Active	γέγραφα
Perfect Middle/ Passive	λε	Perfect Passive			Primary Middle/ passive	λέλυμαι

[Note]: Perfect tenses do not have an augment, but do experience reduplication of the initial consonant at the beginning of the word. The initial consonant is then followed by an epsilon.

Contractions and Stops

• Table 9 - Contractions of Single Vowels
• Table 10 - Contractions of Vowels with Dipthongs
• Table 11 - Square of Stops

Table 9 - Contractions of Single Vowels

Contractions of Single Vowels Table 9
	α	ε	η	ι	υ	ο	ω
α	α	α	α	αι	αυ	ω	ω
ε	η	ει	η	ει	ευ	ου	ω
η	η	η	η	ῃ	ηυ	ω	ω
ο	ω	ου	ω	οι	ου	ου	ω
ω	ω	ω	ω	ῳ	ωυ	ω	ω

Table 10 - Contractions of Vowels with Diphthongs

Contractions of Vowels and Diphthongs Table 10
	α/αι	ει	ει	ῃ	οι	ου	ῳ
α	ᾳ	ᾳ	ει	ῃ	ῳ	ω	ῳ
ε	ῃ	ει	ει	ῃ	οι	ου	ῳ
η	ῃ	ῃ	ῃ	ῃ	ῳ		ῳ
ο	ῳ	οι	ου	οι	οι	ου	ῳ

[Note: the shaded rows are for diphthongs that were formed by a contraction] The rules for combining a vowel with a dipthong are as follows:

1. a vowel disappears by absorbtion before a diphthong that begins with the same vowel.
2. When a vowel comes before a diphthong that does not begin with the same vowel, it is contracted with the dipthong’s first vowel. The dipthong’s second vowel disappears, unless it is an iota (ι) in which case it becomes a subscript.
3. Any vowel (except ο) combining with ῃ will result in ῃ
4. ο +ει and ε + οι(If they are not formed from a contraction) and ο + ῃ make οι
5. ο +ει and ε + ου (if they are formed from a contraction) make ου

Table 11 Square of Stops

The following table shows common contractions that occur when the stem of a word ends in a “stop”. A stop is a consonant whose sound is formed by stopping or slowing down the flow of air through the mouth. Stops are classified as Labial (formed by the lips), Velar (formed by pushing the tongue against the roof of the mouth), of Dental (formed by the tongue against the teeth).

The following chart shows what will happen when the stop is followed by either a sigma (σ) or a theta (θ).

Square of Stops Table 11
	Voiceless	Voiced	Aspirated	+ σ	+ θ
Labial	π	β	φ	ψ	φ
Velar	κ	γ	χ	ξ	χ
Dental	τ	δ	θ	σ	σ

Nouns

First Declension

N-1 Nouns of the first declension ending in α or η in the nominative singular are declined as follows:

single	beginning_ruler	day
Nominative_Vocative	ἀρχή	ἡμέρα
Genitive	ἀρχῆς	ἡμέρας
Dative	ἀρχῇ	ἡμέρᾳ
Accusative	ἀρχήν	ἡμέραν
plural
Nominative_Vocative	ἀρχαί	ἡμέραι
Genitive	ἀρχῶν	ἡμερῶν
Dative	ἀρχαῖς	ἡμέραις
Accusative	ἀρχάς	ἡμέρας

N-2 Nouns of the first declension ending in an ης or ας in the nominative singular are masculine and are declined as follows:

single	prophet	young man
Nominative	προφήτης	νεανίας
Vocative	προφῆτα	νεανία
Genitive	προφήτου	νεανίου
Dative	προφήτῃ	νεανίᾳ
Accusative	προφήτην	νεανίαν
plural
Nominative	προφῆται	νεανίαι
Vocative	προφῆται	νεανίαι
Genitive	προφητῶν	νεανιῶν
Dative	προφήταις	νεανίαις
Accusative	προφήτας	νεανίας

N-3 Nouns of the first declension ending in an α in the Nominative singular not preceded by a vowel or the letter ρ are declined as follows:

single	glory
Nominative_Vocative	δόξα
Genitive	δόξης
Dative	δόξῃ
Accusative	δόξαν
plural
Nominative_Vocative	δόξαι
Genitive	δοξῶν
Dative	δόξαις
Accusative	δόξας

N-4 Second Declension

Nouns of the second declension ending in ος in the Nominative singular are almost always masculine. All nouns ending in ον in the Nominative singuar are Neuter. Note that the Nominative, Accussative, and Vocative case of neuter nouns are the same. Note that the case endings for masculine and neuter nouns in the second declensions are the same in the Genitive case and the Dative case.

Single	ος	*ον
	word	work_deed
Nominative	λόγος	ἔργον
Vocative	λόγε	ἔργον
Genitive	λόγου	ἔργου
Dative	λόγῳ	έργῳ
Accusative	λόγον	ἔργον
plural
Nominative_Vocative	λόγοι	ἔργα
Genitive	λόγων	ἔργων
Dative	λόγοις	ἔργοις
Accusative	λόγους	ἔργα

Third Declension

Third declension nouns have stems that end (1) in a consonant or (2) in a vowel, generally ι, υ, or ευ.

Notes on the formation of the vocative singular

• if the stem ends in a mute letter such as φύλαξ or a liquid letter (λ,μ,ν,ρ) AND IS ACCENTED ON THE FINAL SYLLABLE, then the vocative is the same as the nominative.

-Nouns not accented on the last syllable, and all other nouns in the third declension have the vocative like the stem. -exception Nouns with stems ending in ιδ (έλιπίς) form the vocative by dropping the final consonant -exception The vocative for σωτήρ is σῶτερ.

Dative plural - When σι is added to the dative plural the same consonantal changes occur that happened in the nominative singular.

N-5 Stems ending with a consonant (can be masculine or feminine) are declined as follows:

stem	ending	γυνή
single		woman_wife
Nominative	various	γυνή
Vocative	generally same as nominative or stem	γύναι
Genitive	ος	γυναικός
Dative	ι	γυναικί
Accusative	α	γυναῖκα
Plural
Nominative	ες	γυναῖκες
Vocative	ες	γυναῖκες
Genitive	ων	γυναικῶν
Dative	σι(ν)	γυναιξί(ν)
Accusative	ας	γυναῖκας

Note: in this example for the dative plural the κ and the ς contract to form ξ (γυναικ + ςι -> γυναιξί)

N-6 Stems ending in a mute (or silent) letter are declined as follows:

stem	φυλακ	σαλπιγγ	ὁδοντ	ἐλπιδ
single	guard	trumpet	tooth	hope
Nominative	φύλαξ	σάλπιγξ	ὀδούς	ἐλπίς
Vocative	φύλαξ	σάλπιγξ	ὀδούς	ἐλπί
Genitive	φύλακος	σάλπιγγος	ὀδόντος	ἐλπίδος
Dative	φύλακι	σάλπιγγι	ὀδόντι	ἐλπίδι
Accusative	φύλακα	σάλπιγγα	ὀδόντα	ἐλπίδα
Plural
Nominative	φύλακες	σάλπιγγες	ὀδόντες	ἐλπίδες
Vocative	φύλακες	σάλπιγγες	ὀδόντες	ἐλπίδες
Genitive	φυλάκων	σαλπίγγων	ὀδόντων	ἐλπίδων
Dative	φύλαξι	σάλπιγξι	ὀδοῦσι	ἐλπίσι
Accusative	φύλακας	σάλπιγγας	ὀδόντας	ἐλπίδας

N-7 Stems ending in a liquid letter (λ,μ,ν,ρ)

stem	ποιμεν	αἰων	ἡγεμον	σωτερ	κυν
	shepherd	age	leader	saviour	dog
single
Nominative	ποιμήν	αἰών	ἡγεμών	σωτήρ	κύων
Vocative	ποιμήν	αἰών	ἡγεμών	σωτήρ	κύων
Genitive	ποιμένος	αἰῶνος	ἡγεμόνος	σωτῆρος	κυνός
Dative	ποιμένι	αἰῶνι	ἡγεμόνι	σωτῆρι	κυνί
Accusative	ποιμένα	αἰῶνα	ἡγεμόνα	σωτῆρα	κυνά
Plural
Nominative	ποιμένες	αἰῶνες	ἡγεμόνες	σωτῆρες	κύνες
Vocative	ποιμένες	αἰῶνες	ἡγεμόνες	σωτῆρες	κύνες
Genitive	ποιμένων	αἰώνων	ἡγεμόνων	σωτήρων	κυνῶν
Dative	ποιμέσι(ν)	αἰῶσι(ν)	ἡγεμόσι(ν)	σωτῆρσι(ν)	κυσί(ν)
Accusative	ποιμένας	αἰῶνας	ἡγεμόνας	σωτῆρας	κύνας

N-8 Stems ending in a vowel (ι,υ,ευ)

stem	πολι	ιχθυ	βασιλευ
	city	fish	king
single
Nominative	πόλις	ἰχθύς	βασιλεύς
Vocative	πόλι	ἰχθύ	βασιλεῦ
Genitive	πόλεως	ἰχθύος	βασιλέως
Dative	πόλει	ἰχθύι	βασιλεῖ
Accusative	πόλιν	ἰχθύν	βασιλέα
Plural
Nominative	πόλεις	ἰχθύες	βασιλεῖς
Vocative	πόλεις	ἰχθύες	βασιλεῖς
Genitive	πόλεων	ἰχθύων	βασιλέων
Dative	πόλεσι	ἰχθύσι	βασιλεῦσι
Accusative	πόλεις	ιχθύας	βασιλεῖς (or βασιλέας)

N-8 Neuter Nouns of the third declension

-Note: All nouns with a stem ending in ματ are neuter nouns -Note: Third declension Neuter nouns (like the second declension) have the same ending in the Nominative, Vocative, and accusative singular. -Note: Third declension Neuter nouns in the nominative, vocative, and accusative plural end in α except neuter nouns with stems ending in ες.

stem	γραμματ	φωτ	γενες
single	letter	light	race_people
Nominative_vocative	γράμμα	φῶς	γένος
Genitive	γράμματος	φωτός	γένους
Dative	γράμματι	φωτί	γένει
Accusative	γράμμα	φῶς	γένος
Plural
Nominative_Vocative	γράμματα	φῶτα	γένη
Genitive	γραμμάτων	φώτων	γενέων (or γενῶν)
Dative	γράμμασι		γένεσι
Accusative	γράμματα	φῶτα	γένη

N-9 Irregular nouns of the third declension

stem	πατρ	ανδρ
single	father	man_husband
Nominative	πατήρ	ἀνήρ
Vocative	πάτερ	ἄνερ
Genitive	πατρός	ἀνδρός
Dative	πατρί	ἀνδρί
Accusative	πατέρα	ἄνδρα
Plural
Nominative	πατέρες	ἄνδρες
Vocative	πατέρες	ἄνδρες
Genitive	πατέρων	ἀνδρῶν
Dative	πατράσι	ἀνδράσι
Accusative	πατέρας	ἄνδρας

Pronouns

paradigm_pronoun

Table r1 - The Article - (ὁ,ἡ,τό)

The article appears approximately 19,723 times in the Greek New Testament. It functions as a pronoun in 16% of the occurrences. 84% of the time it functions as the definite article.

r1 (2-1-2) (ὁ the/he,she,it)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ὁ	ἡ	τό
Genitive	τοῦ	τῆς	τοῦ
Dative	τῷ	τῇ	τῷ
Accusative	τόν	τήν	τό
Plural
Nominative	οἱ	αἱ	τά
Genitive	τῶν	τῶν	τῶν
Dative	τοῖς	ταῖς	τοῖς
Accusative	τούς	τάς	τά

The relative pronoun (2-1-2) (neuter in “ο”)

r2 (2-1-2) (ὅς who,which)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ὅς	ἥ	ὅ
Genitive	οὗ	ἧς	οὗ
Dative	ᾧ	ᾗ	ᾧ
Accusative	ὅν	ἥν	ὅ
Plural
Nominative	οἵ	αἵ	ἅ
Genitive	ὧν	ὧν	ὧν
Dative	οἷς	αἷς	οἷς
Accusative	οὕς	ἅς	ἅ

Personal Pronouns

Table r3 - (ἐγώ, σύ) Table r4 - (αὐτός)

Note: ἐγώ and σύ do not have gender

Table r3 - (ἐγώ, σύ)

r3 -ἐγώ (I) σύ (you)

Singular	1st person		2nd person
Nominative	ἐγώ		σύ
Genitive	μου (ἐμοῦ)		σοῦ (σου)
Dative	μοι (ἐμοί)		σοί (σοι)
Accusative	με (ἐμέ)		σέ (σε)
Plural
Nominative	ἡμεῖς		ὑμεῖς
Genitive	ἡμῶν		ὑμῶν
Dative	ἡμῖν		ὑμῖν
Accusative	ἡμᾶς		ὑμᾶς

Table r4 αὐτός

r4 (2-1-2) αὐτός (he,she,it,they)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	αὐτός	αὐτή	αὐτό
Genitive	αὐτοῦ	αὐτῆς	αὐτοῦ
Dative	αὐτῷ	αὐτῇ	αὐτῷ
Accusative	αὐτόν	αὐτήν	αὐτό
Plural
Nominative	αὐτοί	αὐταί	αὐτά
Genitive	αὐτῶν	αὐτῶν	αὐτῶν
Dative	αὐτοῖς	αὐταῖς	αὐτοῖς
Accusative	αὐτούς	αὐτάς	αὐτά

Demonstrative pronoun – οὗτος,ἐκεῖνος

Table r5 - οὗτος Table r6 - ἐκεῖνος

Table r5 - οὗτος

r5 (2-1-2) (οὗτος - this)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	οὗτος	αὗτη	τοῦτο
Genitive	τούτου	ταύτης	τούτου
Dative	τούτῳ	ταύτῃ	τούτῳ
Accusative	τοῦτον	ταύτην	τοῦτο
Plural
Nominative	οὗτοι	αὗται	ταῦτα
Genitive	τούτων	τούτων	τούτων
Dative	τούτοις	ταύταις	τούτοις
Accusative	τούτους	ταύτας	ταῦτα

Table r6 - ἐκεῖνος

r6 (2-1-2) (ἐκεῖνος that)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ἐκεῖνος	ἐκείνη	ἐκεῖνο
Genitive	ἐκείνου	ἐκείνης	ἐκείνου
Dative	ἐκείνῳ	ἐκείνῃ	ἐκείνῳ
Accusative	ἐκεῖνον	ἐκείνην	ἐκεῖνο
Plural
Nominative	ἐκεῖνοι	ἐκεῖναι	ἐκεῖνα
Genitive	ἐκείνων	ἐκείνων	ἐκείνων
Dative	ἐκείνοις	ἐκείναις	ἐκείνοις
Accusative	ἐκείνους	ἐκείνας	ἐκεῖνα

Interrogative pronoun – τίς

Table r7 -stems ending in a nu NOTE: The masculine and feminine declensions are identical.

r7 (3-3-3) (τίς Who?What?Which?Why?)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	τίς	τίς	τί
Genitive	τίνος	τίνος	τίνος
Dative	τίνι	τίνι	τίνι
Accusative	τίνα	τίνα	τί
Plural
Nominative	τίνες	τίνες	τίνα
Genitive	τίνων	τίνων	τίνων
Dative	τίσι(ν)	τίσι(ν)	τίσι(ν)
Accusative	τίνας	τίνας	τίνα

Reflexive Pronouns - ἐμαυτοῦ, σεαυτοῦ

**Table R8 (ἐμαθτοῦ, σεαυτοῦ)

Note: - Reflexive pronouns do not appear in the nominative case because they reflect back on the subject of the sentence. - Reflexive pronouns do not occur in the neuter, only in masculine or feminine. - σεαυτοῦ does not occur in the New Testament in the plural, but we have included it here for completeness.

r8 (2-1) (ἐμαυτοῦ - of myself, σεαυτοῦ - of yourself )

	Masculine	Feminine		Masculine	Feminine
Singular	ἐμαυταῦ			σεαυτοῦ
Genitive	ἐμαυτοῦ	ἐμαυτῆς		σεαυτοῦ	σεαυτῆς
Dative	ἐμαυτῷ	ἐμαυτῇ		σεαυτῷ	σεαυτῇ
Accusative	ἐμαυτόν	ἐμαυτήν		σεαυτόν	σεαυτήν
Plural
Genitive	ἑαυτῶν	ἑαυτῶν		σεαυτῶν	σεαυτῶν
Dative	ἑαυτοῖς	ἑαυταῖς		σεαυτοῖς	σεαυταῖς
Accusative	ἑαυτούς	ἑαυτάς		σεαυτούς	σεαυτάς

Adjectives

paradigm_adjective

Adjectives are described by a three number combination that describes the way they are declined. (2-1-2) or (3-1-3), and so on. The three numbers correspond to masculine, feminine, and neuter in that order. The number describes the declension pattern of adjective (1-first declension, 2-second declension, and 3-third declension). Therefore a 2-1-2 pattern will follow the second declension for masculine adjectives, the first declension for feminine adjectives, and the second declension for neuter adjectives.

2-1-2 uncontracted adjectives

Tables a1 through a3 give the paradigms for uncontracted 2-1-2 adjectives.

• Table a1 - uncontracted adjectives without a vowel shift in the feminine
• Table a2 - uncontracted adjectives with a vowel shift in the feminine
• Table a3 - uncontracted with an omicron in the neuter.

Table a1 - uncontracted adjectives without a vowel shift in the feminine

In the feminine declension, the final vowel will remain an alpha, and not lengthen to an eta, for adjectives that have a vowel or the letter rho (ρ) immediately preceding the case ending.

a1 (2-1-2) (ἃγioς holy)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ἅγιος	ἁγία	ἅγιον
Vocative	ἅγιε	ἁγία	ἅγιον
Genitive	ἁγίου	ἁγιάς	ἁγίου
Dative	ἁγίῳ	ἁγἰᾳ	ἁγίῳ
Accusative	ἃγιον	ἁγίαν	ἃγιον
Plural
Nominative_Vocative	ἃγιοι	ἃγιαι	ἃγια
Genitive	ἁγίων	ἁγίων	ἁγίων
Dative	ἁγίοις	ἁγίαις	ἁγίοις
Accusative	ἁγίους	ἁγίας	ἃγια

Table a2 - uncontracted with a vowel shift in the feminine

When the letter immediately preceding the case ending for an adjective is not a vowel or the letter “ρ” the final vowel lengthens in the feminine declension.

a2 (2-1-2) (ἀγαθός good)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ἀγαθός	ἀγαθή	ἀγαθόν
Vocative	ἀγαθέ	ἀγαθή	ἀγαθόν
Genitive	ἀγαθοῦ	ἀγαθῆς	ἀγαθοῦ
Dative	ἀγαθῷ	ἀγαθῇ	ἀγαθῷ
Accusative	ἀγαθόν	ἀγαθήν	ἀγαθόν
Plural
Nominative_Vocative	ἀγαθοί	ἀγαθαί	ἀγαθά
Genitive	ἀγαθῶν	ἀγαθῶν	ἀγαθῶν
Dative	ἀγαθοῖς	ἀγαθαῖς	ἀγαθοῖς
Accusative	ἀγαθούς	ἀγαθάς	ἀγαθά

Table a3 - uncontracted with an omicron in the neuter

a3 (2-1-2) (ἂλλος other, another)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ἂλλος	ἂλλη	ἂλλο
Genitive	ἂλλου	ἂλλης	ἂλλου
Dative	ἂλλῳ	ἂλλῃ	ἂλλῳ
Accusative	ἂλλον	ἂλλην	ἂλλο
Plural
Nominative	ἄλλοι	ἄλλαι	ἂλλα
Genitive	ἂλλων	ἂλλων	ἂλλων
Dative	ἂλλοις	ἂλλαις	ἂλλοις
Accusative	ἂλλους	ἂλλας	ἂλλα

2-1-2 contract adjectives

Note: The circumflex accent should help the reader to recognize the contraction.

a4 (2-1-2) (ἁπλοῦς single, sincere)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ἁπλοῦς	ἁπλῆ	ἁπλοῦν
Genitive	ἁπλοῦ	ἁπλῆς	ἁπλοῦ
Dative	ἁπλῷ	ἁπλῇ	ἁπλῷ
Accusative	ἁπλοῦν	ἁπλῆν	ἁπλοῦν
Plural
Nominative	ἁπλοῖ	ἁπλαῖ	ἁπλᾶ
Genitive	ἁπλῶν	ἁπλῶν	ἁπλῶν
Dative	ἁπλοῖς	ἁπλαῖς	ἁπλοῖς
Accusative	ἁπλοῦς	ἁπλᾶς	ἁπλᾶ

2-1-2 special paradigms

The stem for μέγας is μεγαλ and the stem for πολύς is πολλ. Note that in the nominative and accusative masculine and neuter in the singular, the stem drops a lambda.

• Table a5 - μέγας
• Table a6 - πολύς

Table a5 - μέγας

a5 (2-1-2) (μέγας great)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	μέγας	μεγάλη	μέγα
Genitive	μεγάλου	μεγάλης	μεγάλου
Dative	μεγάλῳ	μεγάλῃ	μεγάλῳ
Accusative	μέγαν	μεγάλην	μέγα
Plural
Nominative	μεγάλοι	μεγάλαι	μεγάλα
Genitive	μεγάλων	μεγάλων	μεγάλων
Dative	μεγάλοις	μεγάλαις	μεγάλοις
Accusative	μεγάλους	μεγάλας	μεγάλα

Table a6 -πολῦς

a6 (2-1-2) (πολύς much, great)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	πολύς	πολλή	πολὐ
Genitive	πολλοῦ	πολλῆς	πολλοῦ
Dative	πολλῷ	πολλῇ	πολλῷ
Accusative	πολύν	πολλήν	πολύ
Plural
Nominative	πολλοί	πολλαί	πολλά
Genitive	πολλῶν	πολλῶν	πολλῶν
Dative	πολλοῖς	πολλαῖς	πολλοῖς
Accusative	πολλούς	πολλάς	πολλά

3-1-3 Adjectives

The 3-1-3 adjectives (tables a7 and a8) are divided into two groups:

• Table a7 is the paradigm for πᾶς (all, every).
• Table a8 is the paradigm for ταχύς (quick, speedy).

The paradigm for the number one also follows a 3-1-3 pattern but is listed with the cardinals in table a12 below.

Table a7 - πᾳς πᾶς (3-1-3) adjective

The root for πᾶς is παντ This is a very important paradigm to know because it also serves as a model for active and aorist passive participles.

a7 (3-1-3) (πᾶς all, every)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	πᾶς	πᾶσα	πᾶν
Genitive	παντός	πάσης	παντός
Dative	παντί	πάσῃ	παντί
Accusative	πάντα	πᾶσαν	πᾶν
Plural
Nominative	πάντες	πᾶσαι	πάντα
Genitive	πάντων	πασῶν	πάντων
Dative	πᾶσι(ν)	πάσαις	πᾶσι(ν)
Accusative	πάντας	πάσας	πάντα

Table a8 - ταχύς

a8 (3-1-3) (ταχύς quick, speedy)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ταχύς	ταχεῖα	ταχῦ
Genitive	ταχέως	ταχείας	ταχέως
Dative	ταχεῖ	ταχείᾳ	ταχεῖ
Accusative	ταχύν	ταχεῖαν	ταχῦ
Plural
Nominative	ταχεῖς	ταχεῖαι	ταχέα
Genitive	ταχέων	ταχειῶν	ταχέων
Dative	ταχέσι(ν)	ταχείαις	ταχέσι(ν)
Accusative	ταχεῖς	ταχείας	ταχέα

(2-2-2) άμαρτωλός

In this category there are eight adjectives that will sometimes follow the 2-2-2 pattern and sometimes their respective 2-1-2 pattern with a feminine ending of alpha or eta.

Note that the masculine and feminine declensions are identical in the 2-2-2 pattern.

Table a9 - ἁμαρτωλός

a9 (2-2-2) (ἁμαρτωλός sinful)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ἁμαρτωλός	ἁμαρτωλός	άμαρτωλόν
Vocative	ἁμαρτωλέ	ἁμαρτωλέ	ἁμαρτωλόν
Genitive	ἁμαρτωλοῦ	ἁμαρτωλοῦ	ἁμαρτωλοῦ
Dative	ἁμαρτωλῷ	ἁμαρτωλῷ	ἁμαρτωλῷ
Accusative	ἁμαρτωλόν	ἁμαρτωλόν	ἁμαρτωλόν
Plural
Nominative_vocative	ἁμαρτωλοί	ἁμαρτωλοί	ἁμαρτωλά
Genitive	ἁματωλῶν	ἁμαρτωλῶν	ἁμαρτωλῶν
Dative	ἁμαρτωλοῖς	ἁμαρτωλοῖς	ἁμαρτωλοῖς
Accusative	ἁμαρτωλούς	ἁμαρτωλούς	ἁμαρτωλά

(3-3-3) adjectives

3-3-3 adjectives are divided into two groups.

• Table a10 is the paradigm for stems ending in ες.
• Table a11 is the paradigm for stems ending in ον

Note that the masculine and feminine conjugations are the same for 3-3-3 adjectives.

Table a10 - αληθής

a10 (3-3-3) (ἀληθής true)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	ἀληθής	ἀληθής	ἀληθές
Genitive	ἀληθοῦς	ἀληθοῦς	ἀληθοῦς
Dative	ἀληθεῖ	ἀληθεῖ	ἀληθεῖ
Accusative	ἀληθῆ	ἀληθῆ	ἀληθές
Plural
Nominative	ἀληθεῖς	ἀληθεῖς	ἀληθῆ
Genitive	ἀληθῶν	ἀληθῶν	ἀληθῶν
Dative	ἀληθέσι(ν)	ἀληθέσι(ν)	ἀληθέσι(ν)
Accusative	ἀληθεῖς	ἀληθεῖς	ἀληθῆ

Table a11 - μείζων

a11 (3-3-3) (μείζων greater)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	μείζων	μείζων	μεῖζον
Genitive	μείζονος	μείζονος	μείζονος
Dative	μείζονι	μείζονι	μείζονι
Accusative	μείζονα (μείζω)	μείζονα (μείζω)	μεῖζον
Plural
Nominative	μείζονες (μείζους)	μείζονες (μείζους)	μείζονα (μείζω)
Genitive	μειζόνων	μειζόνων	μειζόνων
Dative	μείζοσι(ν)	μείζοσι(ν)	μείζοσι(ν)
Accusative	μείζονας (μείζους)	μείζονας (μείζους)	μείζονα (μείζω)

μείζω is an alternative form for μείζονα in the masculine and feminine accusative singular, and in the nominative and accusative neuter plural.

μείζους is an alternative form for μείζονες in the masculine and feminine nominative plural, *and for μείζονας in the masculine and feminine accustive plural.

Cardinals (numerals)

The following four tables are for the declension of the cardinal numbers one through four. One follows a 3-1-3 pattern but only occurs in the singular. The numbers two through four only occur in the plural. Two is the same in the nominative, genetive, and accusative cases.

• Table a12 - εἷς (one)
• Table a13 - δὑο (two)
• Table a14 - τρεῖς (three)
• Table a15 - τέσσαρες (four)

Table a12 - εἷς

a12 (3-1-3) (εἷς one)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular
Nominative	εἷς	μία	ἕν
Genitive	ἑνός	μιᾶς	ἑνός
Dative	ἑνί	μιᾷ	ἑνί
Accusative	ἑνά	μίαν	ἕν

Table a13 - δύο

a13 (δύο two)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Plural
Nominative	δύο	δύο	δύο
Genitive	δύο	δύο	δύο
Dative	δυσί	δυσί	δυσί
Accusative	δύο	δύο	δύο

Table a14 - τρεῖς

Note that the masculine and feminine declension is identical.

a14 (3-3-3) (τρεῖς three)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Plural
Nominative	τρεῖς	τρεῖς	τρία
Genitive	τριῶν	τριῶν	τριῶν
Dative	τρισί(ν)	τρισί(ν)	τρισί(ν)
Accusative	τρεῖς	τρεῖς	τρία

Table a15 - τέσσαρες

a15 (3-3-3) (τέσσαρες four)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Plural
Nominative	τέσσαρες	τέσσαρες	τέσσαρα
Genitive	τεσσάρων	τεσσάρων	τεσσάρων
Dative	τέσσαρσι(ν)	τέσσαρσι(ν)	τέσσαρσι(ν)
Accusative	τέσσαρας (τέσσαρες)	τέσσαρας (τέσσαρες)	τέσσαρα

Verbs Indicative Thematic

paradigm_verbs_indicative_thematic

Table V-IT-1a Indicative Thematic Present Tense verbs

[Note] - The middle and passive voices are presented together because they are identical in form. The reader (or translator) will have to make their decision as to the intended voice based on context.

[Note] Thematic verbs are verbs that use a “theme” vowel (or “connecting vowel”) between the verbal stem and the personal ending in the present indicative. The theme vowel is always an omicron (ο) or an epsilon (ε). [See Verbal_Parts ]

Verbs with a theme vowel (Present Tense Verbs) (Based on Present Tense Stem) Table V-IT-1a
	Present Active				Present Middle/Passive
		Contract				Contract
Singular		-αω	-εω	-οω		-αω	-εω	-οω
1 person	λύω	γεννῶ	ποιῶ	πληρῶ	λύομαι	γεννῶμαι	ποιοῦμαι	πληροῦμαι
2 person	λύεις	γεννᾷς	ποιεῖς	πληροῖς	λύῃ	γεννᾷ	ποιῇ	πληροῖ
3 person	λύει	γεννᾷ	ποιεῖ	πληροῖ	λύεται	γεννᾶται	ποιεῖται	πληροῦται
Plural
1 person	λύομεν	γεννῶμεν	ποιοῦμεν	πληροῦμεν	λυόμεθα	γεννώμεθα	ποιούμεθα	πληρούμεθα
2 person	λύετε	γεννᾶτε	ποιεῖτε	πληροῦτε	λύεσθε	γεννᾶσθε	ποιεῖσθε	πληροῦσθε
3 person	λύουσι(ν)	γεννῶσι(ν)	ποιοῦσι(ν)	πληροῦσι(ν)	λύονται	γεννῶνται	ποιοῦνται	πληρῦνται

Table V-IT-1b Indicative Thematic Imperfect Tense verbs

[Note] - The middle and passive voices are presented together because they are identical in form. The reader (or translator) will have to make their decision as to the intended voice based on context.

[Note] Thematic verbs are verbs that use a “theme” vowel (or “connecting vowel”) between the verbal stem and the personal ending in the present indicative. The theme vowel is always an omicron (ο) or an epsilon (ε). [See Verbal_Parts ]

Verbs with a theme vowel (Imperfect) Based on the Present Tense Stem Table V-IT-1b
	Imperfect Active				Imperfect Middle/Passive
		Contract				Contract
Singular		-αω	-εω	-οω		-αω	-εω	-οω
1 person	ἔλυον	ἐγέννων	ἐποίουν	ἐπλήρουν	ἐλυόμην	ἐγεννώμην	ἐποιοῦμην	ἐπληρούμην
2 person	ἔλυες	ἐγέννας	ἐποίεις	ἐπλήρους	ἐλύου	ἐγεννῶ	ἐποιοῦ	ἐπληροῦ
3 person	ἔλυε(ν)	ἐγέννα	ἐποίει	ἐπλήρου	ἐλύετο	ἐγεννᾶτο	ἐποιεῖτο	ἐπληροῦτο
Plural
1 person	ἐλύομεν	ἐγεννῶμεν	ἐποιοῦμεν	ἐπληροῦμεν	ἐλυόμεθα	ἐγεννώμεθα	ἐποιούμεθα	ἐπληρούμεθα
2 person	ἐλύετε	ἐγεννᾶτε	ἐποιεῖτε	ἐπληροῦτε	ἐλύεσθε	ἐγεννᾶσθε	ἐποιεῖσθε	ἐπληροῦσθε
3 person	ἔλυον	ἐγέννων	ἐποίυν	ἐπλήρουν	ἐλύοντο	ἐγεννῶντο	ἐποιοῦντο	ἐπληροῦντο

Table V-IT-2 Indicative Thematic Verbs built on Future tense Stem [Note] The passive voice is omitted in this table because it is based upon the Aorist Passive Stem.

The Regular Verb (Future) (Based on Future Tense Stem) Table V-2
	Future Active	Liquid Future Active	Future middle	Liquid Future Middle
Singular
1 person	λὐσω	κρινῶ	λύσομαι	κρινοῦμαι
2 person	λὐσεις	κρινεῖς	λύσῃ	κρινῇ
3 person	λὐσει	κρινεῖ	λύσεται	κρινεῖται
Plural
1 person	λὐσομεν	κρινοῦμεν	λυσόμεθα	κρινούμεθα
2 person	λὐσετε	κρινεῖτε	λύσεσθα	κρινεῖσθε
3 person	λὐσουσι(ν)	κρίνουσι(ν)	λύσονται	κρινοῦνται

Table V-IT-3 Indicative Verbs built on the Aorist Active Stem

[Note] The passive voice is omitted from this table because it is built on the Aorist Passive Stem.

The Regular Verb (Aorist) (Based on AoristTense Stem) Table V-IT-3
	1st Aorist Active	Liquid Aorist Active	2nd Aorist Active	1st Aorist Middle	2nd Aorist Middle
Singular
1 person	ἔλυσα	ἔκρινα	ἔλαβον	ἐλυσάμην	ἐγενόμην
2 person	ἔλυσας	ἔκρινας	ἔλαβες	ἐλύσω	ἐγένου
3 person	ἔλυσε(ν)	ἔκρινε(ν)	ἔλαβε(ν)	ἐλύσατο	ἐγένετο
Plural
1 person	ἐλύσαμεν	ἐκρίναμεν	ἐλάβομεν	ἐλυσάμεθα	ἐγενόμεθα
2 person	ἐλύσατε	ἐκρίνατε	ἐλάβετε	ἐλύσασθε	ἐγένεσθε
3 person	ἔλυσαν	ἔκριναν	ἔλαβον	ἐλύσαντο	ἐγένοντο

Verbs Indicative Athematic

Verbs Subjunctive

Verbs Imperative

Verbs Infinitive

Participles

paradigm_participles

Particle

Glossary

Particles are small words which do not fit into any other category of parts of speech and do not decline. They typically lacking conceptual content but rather express an emotion or way of thinking. They are often used for negation (not) or emphasis (amen or to indicate a transition in topic (sometimes not translated).

Article

Particle error

Glossary

Article

Particle foreign

Glossary

Article

Person

Glossary

Verbs and pronouns can be in first person, second person, or third person. a verb or pronoun is in the first person if it refers to the speaking. It is in the second person if it refers to the being addressed by the speaker. It is in the third person if it refers to anyone or anything other that the speaker or the being addressed by the speaker.

First Person	Second Person	Third Person
λέγω	λέγεις	λέγει
legō	legeis	legei
I say or I am saying	You say or You are saying	He/she/it says or he/she/it is saying

Example: MAT 6:16

ἀμὴν	λέγω	ὑμῖν
amēn	legō	hymin
Truly	I am saying	to you
Truly I say to you

λέγω is first person; ὑμῖν is second person.

Article

See the individual articles for First_Person, Second Person, and Third_Person.

Paradigms are located at Paradigm.

Person first

Glossary

First person is a grammatical feature indicating that the speaker is the subject of the verbal action, is speaking about themselves, or is the object of an action or phrase (e.g., I ran, we ran).

Mark 9:24
καὶ	εὐθὺς	κράξας	ὁ	πατὴρ	τοῦ	παιδίου	ἔλεγεν	πιστεύω	βοήθει	μου	τῇ	ἀπιστίᾳ
kai	euthys	kraxas	ho	patēr	tou	paidiou	elegen	pisteuō	boēthei	mou	tē	apistia
and	immediately	he cried out	the	father	of the	child	he said	I believe	help	my	the	unbelief

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “**I*believe! Help my unbelief!”*

In this example, we have a first person, singular, present active indicative verb and a first person, genitive, singular personal pronoun.

Article

` The first person is the person or persons that are speaking. If it is a single person, it is “I”, “me”, or “my”, if it is a group of people it is “we”, “us”, or “our”.

The first person can be found in Verb forms, and Pronoun_Personal forms.

Note The first person is only used in direct speech.

Form

When a word is in the first person, it can be recognized by a variety of changes to the form. These changes differ greatly from each other and are hard to sum up in a simple, helpful way. These changes can be classified into Verbal Conjugation forms and Personal Pronouns.

Some languages use an inclusive we (which includes the person being spoken to in the “we”) and an exclusive we (which excludes the person being spoken to from the “we”). Neither English nor Biblical Greek distinguishes between the inclusive and the exclusive “we”. The context will determine which one is meant. See also translationAcademy and translationNotes for help if the context is not clear.

Greek distinguishs between Number_Singular and Number_Plural, but not between Gender_Masculine and Gender_Feminine or Gender_Neuter or in the first person.

The first person can be found in Verb forms and as a Pronoun.

The first person of a verb is formed by adding a first person personal ending (or sufformative) to the verb stem. These endings can be divided into eight basict types: primary active, secondary active, primary middle/passive, and secondary middle/passive. The present tense uses the primary endings. The aorist tense uses the secondary endings.There are also singular and plural endings.

The paradigm below shows a sample of the kinds of changes that signal a first person.

Paradigm

Six Common First Person Verbal Conjugation Forms

Parsing	Greek	Transliteration	Gloss
First person present active indicative singular	λὐω	lyō	I am loosing/I loose
First person present active indicative plural	λὐομεν	lyomen	We are loosing/We loose
First person present passive indicative singular	λὐομαι	lyomai	I am being loosed
First person present passive indicative plural	λυὀμεθε	lyometha	We are being loosed
First person aorist active indicative singular	ἔλυον	elyon	I loosed
First person aorist active indicative plural	ἐλύομεν	elyomen	We loosed
First person aorist passive indicative singular	ἐλυόμην	elyomēn	I was loosed

Personal pronouns also have person and appear in various forms

Greek distinguishes between Number_Singular and Number Plural, but not between Gender Masculine, Gender Feminine, and Gender Neuter in the first person.

First Person Personal Pronoun Forms

Parsing	Greek	Transliteration	Gloss
first person nominative singular	ἐγώ	egō	I
first person nominative plural	ἡμεἶς	hēmeis	we
first person genitive singular	μοὖ	mou	my
first person genitive plural	ἡμὦν	hēmōn	our
first person dative singular	μοί	moi	to me
first person dative plural	ἡμἶν	hēmin	to us
first person accusative singular	μέ	me	me
first person accusative plural	ἡμἆς	hēmas	us

Function

Verb Forms

A first person can be used in a sentence (or a clause) as the subject, an object, or to indicate possession. Personal pronouns may also be the object of a preposition. The number (singular or plural) will agree with its antecedent. However, the case will depend on its function in the sentence (or clause).

Subject

The subject in a sentence is usually the person or thing which does the action of the verb. However, if the verb is in the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb.

John 3:11
ἀμὴν	ἀμὴν	λέγω	σοι	ὅτι	ὃ	οἴδαμεν	λαλοῦμεν	καὶ	ὃ	ἑωράκαμεν	μαρτυροῦμεν
amēn	amēn	legō	soi	hoti	ho	oidamen	laloumen	kai	ho	heōrakamen	martyroumen
Truly	truly	I say	to you	that	what	we know	we are speaking	and	what	we have seen	we are testifying

Truly, truly, **I* say to you, we speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen*

The personal ending of the verb is generally sufficient to show the person and number of the subject of the sentence. Therefore an emphasis is being made when the nominative case of the personal pronoun is used in conjunction with the verb.

John 14:6
ἐγώ	εἰμι	ἡ	ὁδὸς	καὶ	ἡ	ἀλήθεια	καὶ	ἡ	ζωή
egō	eimi	hē	hodos	kai	hē	alētheia	kai	hē	zōē
I	I am	the	way	and	the	truth	and	the	life

I am the way and the truth and the life

εἰμί is a first person singular present active indicative verb and indicates the number and subject of the sentence. Therefore the addition of the personal pronoun ἐγώ places a slight emphasis on the pronoun.

As stated at Pronoun Personal, the personal pronoun can be used in all cases.

Prepositions

First person personal pronouns can be the object of a preposition. They therefore can occur in the Genitive, Dative, or Accusative case depending upon the preposition.

First person personal pronoun - preposition

JHN 6:44
οὐδεὶς	δύναται	ἐλθεῖν	πρός	με	ἐὰν	μὴ	ὁ	Πατὴρ	ὁ	πέμψας	με	ἑλκύσῃ	αὐτόν
oudeis	dynatai	elthein	pros	me	ean	mē	ho	Patēr	ho	pempsas	me	helkysē	auton
no one	is able	to come	to	me	if	not	the	father	who	sent	me	draws	him

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him

Subject of a sentence or clause (including predicate nominative)

First person personal pronoun - nominative case ἐγώ, ἠμεῖς

2 Corinthians 4:13
ἡμεῖς	πιστεύομεν	διὸ	καὶ	λαλοῦμεν
hēmeis	pisteuomen	dio	kai	laloumen
We	we believe	therefore	also	we speak

We believe, and so we also speak

The personal ending of the verb is generally sufficient to show the person and number of the subject of the sentence. Therefore an emphasis is being made when the nominative case of the personal pronoun is used in conjunction with the verb.

Possession

First Person personal pronoun – Genitive case ἐμοῦ, μοῦ, ἡμῶν

Mark 1:11
σὺ	εἶ	ὁ	Υἱός	μου	ὁ	ἀγαπητός
sy	ei	ho	Huios	mou	ho	agapētos
you	are	the	son	my	the	beloved

You are **my* beloved Son*

Note: Some prepositions take their object in the Genitive case.

Objective Cases

The object in a sentence is the person (or object) that receives the direct (or indirect) action of the verb. This is done by adding an object in either the dative or the accusative case.

Dative

First person personal pronoun - dative case έμοί, μοί, ἡμῖν

John 2:18
τί	σημεῖον	δεικνύεις	ἡμῖν	ὅτι	ταῦτα	ποιεῖς
ti	sēmeion	deiknyeis	hēmin	hoti	tauta	poieis
What	sign	do you show	to us	because	these things	you do

_”What sign will you show **us*, since you are doing these things?*

Accusative

First person personal pronoun - accusative case

Mark 9:19

φέρετε	αὐτὸν	πρός	με
pherete	auton	pros	me
You bring	him	to	me

Bring him to **me* *

Reflexive use of the first person personal pronoun

ἐμαυτοῦ, ἐμαυτῷ, ἐμαυτόν or αὐτός, αὐτοῦ, αὐτῷ, αὐτοί, αὐτοίς

The first person reflexive personal pronoun ἐμαυτοῦ occurs 37 times in the New Testament in the Genetive, Dative and Accusative cases but occurs only in the masculine singular form.

αὐτός is used as a first person reflexive pronoun 22 times in the New Testament. It occurs in both the singular and plural forms.

One time (at 2 Cor 1:9) in the New Testament the third person reflexive personal pronoun ἑαυτοῖς is used as a first person reflexive personal pronoun.

John 12:32

κἀγὼ	ἐὰν	ὑψωθῶ	ἐκ	τῆς	γῆς	πάντας	ἑλκύσω	πρὸς	ἐμαυτόν
kagō	ean	hypsōthō	ek	tēs	gēs	pantas	helkysō	pros	emauton
and I	when	I am lifted up	from	the	earth	all (people)	I will draw	to	me

• When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself *

Person second

Glossary

Second person is a grammatical feature indicating that the speaker is addressing or speaking to another person (e.g., you ran).

Article

Person third

Glossary

Third person is a grammatical feature indicating that the speaker is talking about a person (or thing) other than the speaker or writer or the person being addressed (the reader or listener) (e.g., he ran, she ran, they ran).

Mark 1:8
αὐτὸς	δὲ	βαπτίσει	ὑμᾶς	ἐν	Πνεύματι	Ἁγίῳ
autos	de	baptisei	hymas	en	Pneumati	Hagiō
he	but	he will baptize	you	with	Spirit	Holy

…but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Summary

Third person is used when the narrator or speaker refers to someone besides himself or the listener (or reader).

Article

The third person is used when the person or thing referred to does not include either the speaker(or writer) or the person (or people) being addressed. Pronouns in the third person (he, him, his, she, her, or it or group of people/things they, them, or their) refer to someone or something that is spoken about.

The third person can be used in both direct and indirect speech.

Third person references appear in both Verb forms, and Pronoun_Personal forms.

Form

When a word is in the third person, it can be recognized by a variety of changes to the form. These changes differ greatly from each other and are hard to sum up in a simple, helpful way. These changes can be classified into Verbal Conjugation forms and Personal Pronouns.

The third person of a verb is formed by adding a third person personal ending (or sufformative) to the verb stem. These endings can be divided into eight basic types: primary active, secondary active, primary middle/passive and secondary middle/passive. There are also singular and plural endings. The paradigm below shows a sample of the kinds of changes that indicate a third person verbal form.

Paradigm

Eight common Third Person Verbal Conjugation Forms

Parsing	Greek	Transliteration	Gloss
Third person present active indicative singular	λύει	lyei	He/she/it is loosing
Third person present active indicative plural	λύουσι(ν)	lyousi(n)	They are loosing
Third person present passive indicative singular	λύεται	lyetai	He/she/it is being loosed
Third person present passive indicative plural	λύονται	lyontai	They are being loosed
Third person imperfect active indicative singular	ἒλυε(ν)	elye(n)	He/she/it was loosing
Third person imperfect active indicative plural	ἒλυον	elyon	They were loosing
Third person imperfect passive indicative singular	ἐλύετο	elyeto	He/she/it was being loosed
Third person imperfect passive indicative plural	ἐλύοντο	elyonto	They were being loosed

Personal pronouns also have person and appear in various forms. Greek distinguishes between Number Singular and Number Plural , AND between Gender Masculine , Gender Feminine ,and Gender Neuter in the third person.

Third Person Independent Personal Pronoun Forms

Masculine
Parsing	Greek	Transliteration	Gloss
Third person nominative singular	αὐτός	autos	he
Third person nominative plural	αὐτοί	autoi	they
Third person genitive singular	αὐτοῦ	autou	his
Third person genitive plural	αὐτῶν	autōn	their
Third person dative singular	αὐτῷ	auto	him
Third person dative plural	αὐτοῖς	autois	them
Third person accusative singular	αὐτόν	auton	him (or it)
Third person accusative plural	αὐτούς	autous	them
Feminine
Parsing	Greek	Transliteration	Gloss
Third person nominative singular	αὐτή	autē	she
Third person nominative plural	αὐταί	autai	they
Third person genitive singular	αὐτῆς	autēs	her
Third person genitive plural	αὐτῶν	autōn	their
Third person dative singular	αὐτῇ	autē	her
Third person dative plural	αὐταῖς	autais	them
Third person accusative singular	αὐτήν	autēn	her (or it)
Third person accusative plural	αὐτάς	autas	them
Neuter
Parsing	Greek	Transliteration	Gloss
Third person nominative singular	αὐτό	auto	it
Third person nominative plural	αὐτά	autα	they
Third person genitive singular	αὐτοῦ	autou	its
Third person genitive plural	αὐτῶν	autōn	their
Third person dative singular	αὐτῷ	auto	it
Third person dative plural	αὐτοῖς	autois	them
Third person accusative singular	αὐτό	auto	it
Third person accusative plural	αὐτά	autα	them

The third person can be found in verb forms, and in Pronoun_Personal forms.

Function

As stated above a suffix is added to the verb stem to indicate the person and number for the subject of the verb. The subject in a sentence is the person or thing that does the action of the verb. However, if the verb is in the passive voice , the subject of the sentence receives the action of the verb.

John 1:14
καὶ	ὁ	λόγος	σὰρξ	ἐγένετο	καὶ	ἐσκήνωσεν	ἐν	ἡμῖν
kai	ho	logos	sarx	egeneto	kai	eskēnōsen	en	hemin
and	the	word	flesh	it became	and	it lived	among	us

The Word became flesh and lived among us.

The personal ending of the verb is generally sufficient to show the person and number of the subject of the sentence. Therefore, an emphasis is being made when the nominative case of the personal pronoun is used in conjunction with the verb.

Ephesians 4:11
καὶ	αὐτὸς	ἔδωκεν	τοὺς	μὲν		ἀποστόλους
kai	autos	edōken	tous	men		apostolous
and	he	he gave	some		(to be)	apostles

He gave some to be apostles

The third person Personal Pronoun can be used as a subject, an object, or to indicate possession. Personal pronouns may also be used as the object of a preposition. The number (singular or plural) and the gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) will agree with its antecedent. However, the case will depend on its function in the sentence.

Prepositions Third person personal pronouns can be the object of a preposition. They therefore can occur in the Genitive, Dative, or Accusative case depending upon the preposition.

Third person personal pronoun - preposition

Romans 1:17
δικαιοσύνη	γὰρ	Θεοῦ	ἐν	αὐτῷ	ἀποκαλύπτεται	ἐκ	πίστεως	εἰς	πίστιν
dikaiosynē	gar	Theou	en	autō	apokalyptetai	ek	pisteōs	eis	pistin
righteousness	for	of God	in	it	it is being revealed	from	faith	into	faith

For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith

Subject of a sentence or clause (including predicate nominative)

Third person personal pronoun – nominative case αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό, αὐτοί, αὐταί, αὐτά

As stated above, the personal ending of the verb is generally sufficient to show the person and number of the subject of the sentence. Therefore, an emphasis is being made when the nominative case of the personal pronoun is used in conjunction with the verb.

Matthew 5:8
Μακάριοι		οἱ	καθαροὶ	τῇ	καρδίᾳ	ὅτι	αὐτοὶ	τὸν	Θεὸν	ὄψονται
Makarioi		hoi	katharoi	tē	kardia	hoti	autoi	ton	Theon	opsontai
Blessed	(are)	the	pure	in the	heart	because	they	the	God	they will see

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Possession

Third Person personal pronoun – Genitive case αὐτοῦ, αὐτῆς, αὐτοῦ, αὐτῶν, αὐτῶν, αὐτῶν

Example: Matthew 5:2

καὶ	ἀνοίξας	τὸ	στόμα	αὐτοῦ	ἐδίδασκεν	αὐτοὺς
kai	anoixas	to	stoma	autou	edidasken	autous
and	he opened	the	mouth	his	he was teaching	them

He opened his mouth and taught them

Objective Cases

Third person personal pronoun – Dative case αὐτῷ, αὐτῇ, αὐτῷ, αὐτοῖς, αὐταῖς, αὐτοῖς

Matthew 8:20
καὶ	λέγει	αὐτῷ	ὁ	Ἰησοῦς
kai	legei	autō	ho	Iēsous
and	he says	to him	the	Jesus

Jesus said to him

Third person personal pronoun – Accusative case αὐτόν, αὐτήν, αὐτό, αὐτούς, αὐτάς, αὐτά

Mark 1:37
καὶ	εὗρον	αὐτὸν	καὶ	λέγουσιν	αὐτῷ	ὅτι	πάντες	ζητοῦσίν	σε
kai	heuron	auton	kai	legousin	autō	hoti	pantes	zētousin	se
and	they found	him	and	they said	to him	that	everyone	is seeking	you

They found him and they said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”

Reflexive use of the third person personal pronoun – εἀυτοῦ, εἀυτῆς, εἀυτοῦ The third person reflexive pronoun occurs 317 times in the New Testament. It occurs in the Genitive, Dative, and Accusative forms. αὐτός, αὐτή, and αὐτό are used as a reflexive pronoun 119 times.

Romans 14:7
οὐδεὶς	γὰρ	ἡμῶν	ἑαυτῷ	ζῇ	καὶ	οὐδεὶς	ἑαυτῷ	ἀποθνῄσκει
oudeis	gar	hēmōn	heautō	zē	kai	oudeis	heautō	apothnēskei
no one	for	of us	to himself	he lives	and	no one	to himself	he dies

For none of us lives for himself, and none dies for* himself.

Preposition

Glossary

A preposition is a part of speech which expresses a relationship to a noun, pronoun or noun phrase, often spatial (in, under, out) or temporal (before, after, during).

Article

Preposition improper

Glossary

An adverb used as a preposition with nouns and pronouns, but never with verbs.

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Pronoun

Glossary

A is a word that takes the place of (or represents) a noun. It can do anything a noun can do. For example, it can be the subject of a sentence (or the direct object, the indirect object, or the object of a preposition).

Examples: “he”, “she”, “me”, “those”

ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν John 1:3

en autō zōē ēn

in him life it was

In him was life

** αὐτῷ** is a taking the place of the noun “λόγος”.

Article

Pronoun demonstrative

Glossary

A demonstrative pronoun points to another noun (e.g., this, that, those).

Article

1. A demonstrative pronoun can refer to a noun which is near (οὗτος, this).

   οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ῥηθεὶς (Mat 3:3)

   for this is what was spoken

2. A demonstrative pronoun can refer to a noun which is far away (ἐκεῖνος, that).

   ἐκεῖνος κλέπτης ἐστὶν καὶ λῃστής (Jhn 10:1)

   That one is a thief and a robber.

Pronoun indefinite

Glossary

An indefinite pronoun refers to a noun which is unspecified (e.g., τις, a certain one, someone, anyone).

εἶπέν τις ἐξ αὐτῶν (Tit 1:12)

a certain one of them said

Article

Pronoun interrogative

Glossary

An interrogative pronoun is a part of speech which stands for a noun and asks a questions (e.g., what, who, what kind, how many?; τίς, ποῖος, ποταπός, πόσους).

τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν (Mat 3:7)

who warned you?

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Pronoun personal

Glossary

A personal pronoun stands for a personal noun indicating grammatical purpose: first person (I, we), second person (you), third person (he, she, they).

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Pronoun reciprocal

Glossary

A reciprocal pronoun stands for a noun and indicates that two or more people are interacting by performing an action and receiving the results of the action. It is often translated one another.

Article

A reciprocal pronoun indicates that two or more people are interacting with one another, both doing and receiving the action. In the NT, there is only one reciprocal pronoun, ἀλλήλων. It is always in the plural, and only in the accusative, genitive or dative. It never appears in the nominative or singular, so the lemma is the genitive plural.

καὶ ἔλεγον πρὸς ἀλλήλους (Mrk 4:41)

and they said to one another

Pronoun reflexive

Glossary

A reflexive pronoun stands in place of a noun and indicates that the subject itself is affected by the verbal action.

Article

ὃς ἔδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν (Tit 2:14)

who gave himself for us

It is found in the NT in the following forms:

ἐμαυτόν myself

σεαυτόν yourself

ἑαυτόν (αὑτόν) himself

ἑαυτήν (αὑτήν) herself

ἑαυτό (αὑτό) itself

ἑαυτού ourselves, yourselves, themselves

Pronoun relative

Glossary

A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause and refers back to another nominal as its antecedent. Common relative pronouns are who, whom, which and what.

Article

A relative pronoun refers back to another nominal as it’s antecedent and introduces a relative clause. Who, whom,what and which are common relative pronouns.

ἐπίστευσαν τῇ γραφῇ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ ὃν εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. (Jhn 2:22)

they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus said

A relative pronoun always agrees with its antecedent in gender and number, but not in case. The case is determined by its function in the relative clause (see ###advanced).

A relative pronoun sometimes takes on the same case as its antecedent, 1) when it is in close proximity to its antecendent and 2) when the relative pronoun would normally be accusative but has been changed to match a genitive or dative antecedent.

ὑμεῖς ἐστὲ οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τῆς διαθήκης ἧς ὁ θεὸς διέθετο πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ὑμῶν (Act 3:25)

you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God gave to our fathers

In this verse, the relative pronoun ἧς (of which) is genitive, to match its antecedent, τῆς διαθήκης (of the covenant), though it should be accusative ἥν (which) since it is the direct object of the verb (διέθετο, [God] gave).

***The case of the *relative pronoun* is determined by its function in the relative clause which may be

(***need to finish and provide examples). 1. object of the relative clause: *accusative* 1. subject of the relative clause: *nominative* 1. *dative* 1. *genitive*

Punctuation

Glossary

There are four marks as reflected in the following table.

Character	English	Greek
λόγος.	period	period
λόγος,	comma	comma
λόγος·	dot above the line	colon or semiolon
λόγος;	semicolon	question mark

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Superlative

Glossary

Superlative is a degree, expressed by an adjective, indicating that something is the most or greatest in comparison with other entities.

Article

Best is in the superlative degree and shows what is the greatest or “most” when comparing three or more things.

ἐξενέγκατε στολὴν τὴν πρώτην (Luk 15:22)

bring out the best robe

Tense

Glossary

Tense is a form of a verb which indicates the speaker’s perspective or viewpoint of the time of action and the kind of action of the verb.

Article

The time of action can be past, present or future. The kind of action can be mere occurrence, duration or completion.

Greek has 10 * forms*:

1. present tense generally refers to present time and durative action
2. imperfect tense generally refers to past time and durative action
3. aorist tense generally refers to past time and mere occurrence
4. 2nd aorist is different in form but has the same meaning as aorist
5. perfect tense generally refers to past time and completed action
6. 2nd perfect is different in form but has the same meaning as perfect
7. pluperfect tense generally refers to (more remote) past time and completed action
8. 2nd pluperfect is different in form but has the same meaning as pluperfect
9. future tense refers to future time and any of the kinds of action
10. 2nd future is different in from but has the same meaning as future

Older Greek grammars often refer to tense while some newer grammars call this ** form** in order to emphasis verbal aspect. A modern approach is to refer to the form (or morphological encoding) as tense form, while referring to the concept of the viewpoint of the action * as *aspect.

Tense aorist

Glossary

Aorist is a verb tense-form used to express an unspecified kind of action (merely that it has occurred or occurs), usually in the past. The action is described as a whole (e.g., he wrote).

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Tense future

Glossary

Future is a verb tense-form the speaker uses to refer to an action which will take place at a point future from when he is speaking (e.g., she will sleep, I will run, they will eat). It can also be used also to give a command (e.g., you will obey me!)

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Tense imperfect

Glossary

Imperfect is a verb tense-form which the speaker can use to describe an action as imperfective, describing the action as a process, and usually describes actions which took place in the past (e.g., he was eating, they were sleeping, she was running).

Article

Tense no_tense_stated

Glossary

Article

Tense perfect

Glossary

Perfect is the verb tense-form a speaker can use to describe an action which either describes a present state (e.g., you are forgiven) or which took place in the past (e.g., we have eaten, they have traveled). It is often thought of as a completed action where the results continue on to the present.

Article

Tense pluperfect

Glossary

Pluperfect is the verb tense-form a speaker can use to describe an action which took place in the more remote past (e.g., we had eaten, they had traveled).

Article

Tense present

Glossary

Present is a verb tense-form which a speaker uses to describe an action as imperfective, and is often used to depict an action is being in process (e.g., I am running, she is reading, they are sleeping).

Article

Tense second_aorist

Glossary

Second aorist is a verb tense-form with the same meaning as the aorist but which is formed on a different stem and without adding σ.

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Tense second_future

Glossary

The second future is a verb tense-form with the same meaning as the future but it only occurs in the passive and is called second to indicate that it is similar in form to the second aorist passive.

Article

Tense second_perfect

Glossary

Second perfect is a verb tense form which has the same meaning as the perfect, but is built on the tense formative α rather than κα.

Article

Second perfect only occurs in the active voice and is very rare in the NT.

Tense second_pluperfect

Glossary

Second pluperfect is a verb tense form with the same meaning as the pluperfect, but is formed without the κ tense formative used in the (first) pluperfect.

Article

The second pluperfect is very rare in the NT.

Verb

Glossary

A verb is a word used to describe an action, event, or state of being. It is the main part of the predicate of a sentence.

Article

As stated in the Glossary, a verb is a word used to describe an action, event, or state of being.

The action of the verb may require an object to complete the action of the verb. Verbs that require a direct object to complete the action are Transitive_Verbs . Verbs that do not require a direct object to complete the action are Intransitive_Verbs . A few verbs can be used both as a transitive verb and as an intransitive verb.

A Linking_Verb does not express an action but connects the subject of the verb to additional information in the predicate.

Components of Verbs

Verbs are made up of six basic components:

• The root which carries the basic meaning of the verb.
• The Tense which indicates the speaker’s perspective or viewpoint of the time of action and the kind of action of the verb. The kind of action may be continuous, completed, or completed with an ongoing effect.
• The Voice which indicates whether the subject performs the action (active voice), whether the action is performed on the subject (passive voice), or indicates that the subject does the action of the verb but also is somehow affected by the action of the verb or is participating in the action of the verb (middle voice). Many verbs are said to be deponent. A deponent verb is a verb whose stem is middle or passive in form, but active in meaning. The definitions of many verbs that are classified as deponent have a meaning that implies the participation of the person doing the action.
• The Mood which indicates the speaker’s viewpoint of the verbal action in relation to reality. Greek has four moods: indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and optative.
• Number which signifies whether one (singular) or more (plural) participants are indicated by a word.
• Gender which indicates if the subject of the verb is masculine, feminine, or neuter.

Verbs must agree with the subject of the verb in both number and person. Therefore, the pronoun (I, you, he, she, or it) is included in the verb itself and it is not necessary for it to be restated as a separate word.

Parts

Verbs are made up of :

1. The root is the most basic part of a word. The root conveys the basic meaning of the word. The root may be modified to make the word a noun, an adjective, a verb, or to indicate the tense of the verb.
2. The stem is the form of the root in a particular verbal tense. For some verbs, the present tense stem is identical to the root, but this is not always the case.
3. Prefix - A prefix may be added to the stem of a verb to change its tense or the meaning of the root.
4. Suffixes and connecting vowels (and sometimes with a prefix) are added to the end of the stem to change the person, number, tense, mood, or voice of a verb.
5. Connecting vowels are often added before the suffix to aid in pronunciation, but may also be used to change the mood of the verb.

Example: ἐπιγνώσομαι

prefix	stem	tense formative	connecting vowel	personal ending
επι	γνω	σ	ο	μαι

Note: In this example, επι is a prefix that serves to intensify the meaning of the verb γινώσκω (to know). It therefore changes the meaning from “to know” to “to really know”, or “to know completely”.

Verb intransitive

Glossary

Intransitive verbs are verbs that do not have a direct object. Therefore verbs that take their object in the predicate nominative are intransitive. Most verbs in the passive tense will be intransitive. (There are a few exceptions). [ example: I stand. My name is Joe. “stand” and “is” are intransitive.]

ποῦ... ὁ   χριστὸς **γεννᾶται **     Matthew 2:4

pou... ho christos **gennatai**

where the christ  **to be born**

Where is the Christ **to be born**?

The passive verb γεννᾶται is intransitive.

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Verb linking

Glossary

Linking verbs “link” the subject of the sentence by showing a relationship with another noun, pronoun, or adjective. Most verbs show action. Linking verbs show relationship. [Example: David *is* King of Israel. The linking verb “is” shows a relationship between David and King of Israel.

• Ὁ λύχνος τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ὁ ὀφθαλμός. (Matthew 6:22)

• HO lychnos tou sōmatos estin ho ophthalmos.

• The lamp of the body is the eye.

• The eye **is** the lamp of the body.
  

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Verb transitive

Glossary

A verb which can take a direct object is transitive (e.g. He ate the bread).

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Voice

Glossary

Voice is an attribute of a verb indicating whether the subject performs the action (active voice), whether the action is performed on the subject (passive voice), or whether the subject performs the action on itself (middle voice). Examples are: He washed the baby (active voice); The baby was washed by the mom (passive voice); The girl washed herself (middle voice).

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Voice active

Glossary

A verb in the active voice indicates that the subject performs the action (e.g., He washed the baby).

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Voice middle

Glossary

Middle voice indicates that the action of a verb is done by the subject to itself, or for its benefit (e.g., He washed himself).

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Voice passive

Glossary

A verb in the passive voice indicates that the action of the verbs is performed on the subject (e.g., The baby was washed by the mother.)

Article

Bibliography

The following resources were consulted in the creation and revision of the unfoldingWord Greek Grammar.

Black, David Alan. Learn to Read New Testament Greek. 3rd ed. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2009.

Black, David Alan. It’s Still Greek to Me: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to Intermediate Greek. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998.

Buttmann, Alexander. A Grammar of the New Testament Greek. Andover: Warren F. Draper, 1891.

Caragounis, Chrys C. The Development of Greek and the New Testament: Morphology, Syntax, Phonology, and Textual Transmission. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004.

Dana, H.E., and Mantey, Julius R. A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament New York, NY: The Macmillan Company, 1957.

Davis, William Hersey. Beginner’s Grammar of the Greek New Testament. Revised and expanded edition. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2005.

Decker, Rodney J. Reading Koine Greek: An Introduction and Integrated Workbook. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014.

Dionysios Thrax. The Grammar of Dionysios Thrax. Translated by Thomas Davidson. St. Louis: R. P. Studley, 1874.

Fanning, Buist M. Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek. Oxford Theological Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon, 1990.

Farrar, Frederic W. A Brief Greek Syntax and Hints on Greek Accidence. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1867.

Groton, Anne H. From Alpha to Omega: A Beginning Course in Classical Greek. Fourth Edition. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 2013.

Harvey, John D. Greek Is Good Grief: Laying the Foundation for Exegesis and Exposition. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2007.

Heiser, Michael S., and Vincent M. Setterholm*. Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology.* Lexham Press, 2013; 2013.

Jannaris, Antonius N. An Historical Greek Grammar: Chiefly of the Attic Dialect as Written and Spoken from Classical Antiquity Down to the Present Time. London: MacMillan & Co., 1897.

Long, Fredrick J. Kairos: A Beginning Greek Grammar. Mishawaka, IN: Fredrick J. Long, 2005.

Long, Gary A. Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Greek: Learning Biblical Greek Grammatical Concepts through English Grammar. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.

Machen, J. Gresham. New Testament Greek for Beginners. New York, NY: The Macmillan Company, 1951.

Matthewson, David L., and Elodie Ballantine Emig. Intermediate Greek Grammar: Syntax for Students of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016.

Moulton, James Hope. An Introduction to the Study of New Testament Greek. London: Charles H. Kelly, 1895.

Mounce, William D. Basics of Biblical Greek: Grammar. Edited by Verlyn D. Verbrugge. Third Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009.

Mounce, William D. Biblical Greek: A Compact Guide. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011.

Nunn, H. P. V. The Elements of New Testament Greek. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1923.

Porter, Stanley E. Idioms of the Greek New Testament. Sheffield: JSOT, 1999.

Porter, Stanley E., Jeffrey T. Reed, and Matthew Brook O’Donnell. Fundamentals of New Testament Greek. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010.

Robertson, A. T. A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research. Logos Bible Software, 2006.

Sophocles, E. A. A Greek Grammar, for the Use of Learners. Ninth Edition. Hartford: H. Huntington, 1844.

Summers, Ray, and Thomas Sawyer. Essentials of New Testament Greek. Rev. ed. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995.

Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996.

Young, Richard A. Intermediate New Testament Greek: A Linguistic and Exegetical Approach. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1994.

Zerwick, Max. Biblical Greek Illustrated by Examples. Vol. 114. English ed., adapted from the fourth Latin ed. Scripta Pontificii Instituti Biblici. Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1963.