Greek grammar: Nouns
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This page will show the declension of Greek nouns. The declensions are separated in two classes "Common" and "Uncommon". This represents more or less the number of words in the declension and how often words of these groups might appear in texts. Under "Uncommon" are also listed irregularities in the basic declensions. However, this classification may not be accurate, it represents only my view of the situation.
It also intends to show the stress changes that occur, but the information I have about that is quite incomplete. In the descriptions below, syllables are counted from the end, so "1st syllable" is actually the last one. Naturally, when the description says the stress is in the 3rd syllable and the given noun only has two, the stress falls in the 2nd from the end (the first syllable).
When one of the endings in the table shows a stress mark, it means the stress is always in that syllable for all nouns.4
Contents |
Masculine Nouns
Common Declensions
Ending in -ος:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -ος | -οι |
| Gen. | -ου | -ων |
| Acc. | -ο | -ους |
| Voc. | -ε | -οι |
Stress changes:
- Nouns stressed in the 3rd syllable: stress moves to 2nd in genitive sing. and plural and accusative plural.
Ending in -ας:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -ας | -ες |
| Gen. | -α | -ων |
| Acc. | -α | -ες |
Stress changes:
- Nouns stressed in the 3rd syllable: stress moves to 2nd in genitive plural.
- Nouns stressed in the 2nd syllable: stress moves to 1st in genitive plural.
Ending in -ης:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -ης | -ες |
| Gen. | -η | -ων |
| Acc. | -η | -ες |
Stress changes:
- Nouns stressed in the 3rd syllable: stress moves to 2nd in genitive plural.
- Nouns stressed in the 2nd syllable: stress moves to 1st in genitive plural.
Uncommon Declensions
Ending in -εας
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -έας | -είς |
| Gen. | -έα | -έων |
| Acc. | -έα | -είς |
Note: I am not 100% sure the stress is always like the indicated, but I haven't found a noun where it isn't.
Declensions with one extra syllable:
Some masculine nouns ending in -ας or -ης take an extra -δ- in plural form. Other uncommon endings such as -ες and -ους follow the same pattern. The examples below illustrate this:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | ψαράς | ψαράδες |
| Gen. | ψαρά | ψαράδων |
| Acc. | ψαρά | ψαράδες |
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | καφές | καφέδες |
| Gen. | καφέ | καφέδων |
| Acc. | καφέ | καφέδες |
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | παππούς | παππούδες |
| Gen. | παππού | παππούδων |
| Acc. | παππού | παππούδες |
Feminine Nouns
Common Declensions
Ending in -α:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -α | -ες |
| Gen. | -ας | -ων |
| Acc. | -α | -ες |
Stress changes:
- In the genitive plural, the stress is always in the 1st syllable, except for nouns that end in -άδα, -ίδα and -τητα.
Ending in -η:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -η | -ες |
| Gen. | -ης | -ων |
| Acc. | -η | -ες |
Stress changes:
- Nouns stressed in the 2nd syllable: Stress moves to 1st in genitive plural.
Ending in -ση, -ξη and -ψη:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -η | -εις |
| Gen. | -ης | -εων |
| Acc. | -η | -εις |
There are a few nouns with this ending that follow the regular ending in -η.
All nouns in this class are stressed in the 3rs syllable in the singular, and stress moves one syllable forward in the plural.
Πόλη also follow the endings of this group (but has no stress changes).
Uncommon Declensions
Ending in -ος:
A few feminine nouns end in -ος. The conjugation of these is equal to masculine nouns in -ος, but be careful to use feminine articles and adjectives when applicable.
| Case | Endings | Example (modern style) | Example (old style) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sing. | Plural | Sing. | Plural | Sing. | Plural | |
| Nom. | -ος | -οι | η σύζυγος | οι σύζυγοι | η σύζυγος | αι σύζυγοι |
| Gen. | -ου | -ων | της συζύγου | των συζύγων | της συζύγου | των συζύγων |
| Acc. | -ο | -ους | την σύζυγο | τις συζύγους | τη σύζυγο | τας συζύγους |
Ending in -ού:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -ού | -ούδες |
| Gen. | -ούς | -ούδων |
| Acc. | -ού | -ούδες |
Neuter nouns
Common Declensions
Ending in -ο:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -ο | -α |
| Gen. | -ου | -ων |
| Acc. | -ο | -α |
Stress changes:
- Nouns stressed in the 3rd syllable: Stress moves to 2nd in genitive.
Ending in -ι:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -ι | -ια |
| Gen. | -ιού | -ιών |
| Acc. | -ι | -ια |
Stress changes:
- The genitive is always stressed in the last syllable, as indicated.
Ending in -μα:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -μα | -ματα |
| Gen. | -ματος | -μάτων |
| Acc. | -μα | -ματα |
These nouns are always stressed in the 3rd syllable, except in the genitive plural, where the stress is in the second. This means the stress frequently has to change to accomodate this.
Ending in -ος:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -ος | -η |
| Gen. | -ους | -ων |
| Acc. | -ος | -η |
Uncommon Declensions
Ending in -η:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | -η | -ια |
| Gen. | -ιού | -ιών |
| Acc. | -η | -ια |
Neuters with other endings follow a conjugation similar to the ones ending in -μα. The examples below illustrate this:
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | φως | φώτα |
| Gen. | φωτός | φώτων |
| Acc. | φως | φώτα |
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | κρέας | κρέατα |
| Gen. | κρέατος | κρεάτων |
| Acc. | κρέας | κρέατα |
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | καθήκον | καθήκοντα |
| Gen. | καθήκοντος | καθηκόντων |
| Acc. | καθήκον | καθήκοντα |
| Sing. | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | δόρυ | δόρατα |
| Gen. | δόρατος | δοράτων |
| Acc. | δόρυ | δόρατα |
The Vocative
The declensions above only show the Nominative, Genitive and Accusative. However, there is a fourth case in Modern Greek, the Vocative.
It is not shown because it is equal to the accusative in all cases except masculine nouns ending in -ος. In this declension, the vocative singular is made with the ending -ε insted of -ο. In the plural it is equal to the nominative.
However, feminine nouns ending in -ος (which are declined like the masculine ones with this ending) have the vocative equal to the nominative, just like other feminine nouns.
A Note about the Accusative
The attentive reader will have noticed that for neuter nouns, the accusative is always equal to the nominative (and this is also true for the "Common" feminine nouns).
Only masculine (and the few feminine ending in -ος) nouns have a different form for the accusative.
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