NOUNS

There are a few declensions to learn in Greek. Whilst most of them are straightforward and similar to Latin, there are some strange ones to learn!

1st Declension Feminine:

OR

This is used if the stem ends in a vowel or in rho (ρ) - the singular endings use alpha instead of eta.

There are some masculine nouns in the first declension - these are mostly words denoting male occupations/roles (sailor, poet, judge, young man etc.)

Most of them decline like τιμη (with an added sigma onto the end of the nominative singular):

  • κριτης

  • ναυτης

  • ποιητης

  • πολιτης

  • στρατιωτης

But a few correspond to χωρα (again with an added sigma):

  • νεανιας

The only thing that differs is the genitive form. This still carries the masculine ending of -ου despite the rest of the endings being feminine.`

There are some exceptions to feminine nouns in the first declension:

1) κορη (girl) declines like τιμη, even though the stem ends in rho.

2) Some nouns combine both forms of the first declension in the singular - E.g. θαλασσα (sea)

2nd Declension Masculine:

Note, some nouns are feminine but decline like the second declension masculine. These words need to be learnt so that the feminine definite article is used.

  • E.g. ἡ βιβλος (book), ἡ νησος (island), ἡ νοσος (disease), ἡ ὁδος (road)

2nd Declension Neuter:

Notice how just like in Latin, the nominative and accusative are always the same in the neuter!

3rd Declension:

With 3rd declension nouns, the genitive ending must be learnt. This is because this changes and thus affects the stem.

The nominative singular forms all look very different (E.g. ἡ νύξ, τό ὂνομα, ὁ φύλαξ)

There is a basic pattern of endings:

E.g. φύλαξ, - ακος ὁ —> φύλακες (Nom Plural)

E.g. σώμα, - ατος τό —> σώματα (Nom Plural)

Remember these nouns in particular:

  • ὁ γέρων, -οντος = old man

  • ὁ γίγας, -αντος = giant

  • ἡ νύξ, -νυκτός = night

  • τό όνομα, -ατος = name

  • τό σώμα, -ατος = body

  • ὁ φύλαξ, -ακος = guard

  • ὁ ἀρών, -ῶνος = contest

  • ὁ ἂρχων, -οντος = ruler

  • ὁ λέων, -οντος = lion

  • ὁ λιμήν, -ένος = harbour

  • ὁ/ἡ ὀρνις, -ιθος = bird

  • ὁ/ἡ παῖς, -παιδός = boy, girl, child

  • ὁ πούς, -ποδός = foot

The dative plural is the only part of the 3rd declension that is harder to predict.

  • φύλαξ —> φύλαξι(ν)

  • γίγας —> γίγασι(ν)

  • νύξ —> νύξι(ν)

There are some irregular 3rd declension nouns to learn:

1) πατήρ (father), μήτηρ (mother), θυυάτηρ (daughter)

2) ἀνήρ ιs mainly predictable by resembles the above table in vocative and dative plural

3) γυνή is predictable but has a strange genitive and thus stem of γυναικός

4) Ζεύς changes to a completely different stem (Δι-) and of course has no plural

5) 3rd declension nouns ending in sigma in the nom sg usually have an acc sg ending in nu

6) There are also irregular 3rd declension nouns that have a genitive ending in -εως (E.g. βασιλεύς, πόλις, ναῦς). They decline as such:

Nouns with an epsilon contract! (Pg 106)

Finally, there is a group of common 3rd declension neuter nouns to learn with an epsilon contract (E.g. τεῖχος). Be careful not to confuse them with 2nd declension masculine nouns like λόγος.

  • τό τεῖχος, -ους

  • τό ἒτος, -ους

  • τό ξίφος, -ους

  • τό ὂρος, -ους

They decline like this:

There are a few masculine and feminine 3rd declension nouns with epsilon contraction, but none are needed for GCSE!