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Ancient Greek

Example output

Cases, endings and the article — the machinery that makes word order free.

Source: greek-unit1.pdf · pages 3–9

Summary

Unit 1 introduces the definite article and the first two declensions. Your notes copy out the paradigms accurately, but the reason they matter is never stated: the ending, not the position, tells you what job a noun is doing in the sentence. That single idea is what lets Greek put words in almost any order.

Case endings carry the grammar

English fixes meaning by word order — 'the dog bites the man' reverses if you swap them. Greek marks the subject and object on the noun itself, so the order can change for emphasis without changing who bites whom.

The article agrees

ὁ, ἡ and τό match their noun in gender, number and case. Because the article is easier to recognise than the noun ending, it is usually the fastest way to work out a noun's case.

Where Greek uses the article and English does not

Abstract nouns normally take it — ἡ δικαιοσύνη is 'justice', not 'the justice'. Your notes show this only by example.

Key terms

ὁ λόγοςpage 3
The word, speech, or reasoned account — second declension masculine.
ἡ ψυχήpage 4
The soul or life-breath — first declension feminine.
τὸ ἔργονpage 5
The work or deed — second declension neuter.
nominativepage 6
The case of the subject: ὁ λόγος, the word (as doer).
accusativepage 6
The case of the direct object: τὸν λόγον, the word (as thing acted on).
genitivepage 7
Most often 'of' — τοῦ λόγου, of the word.
Vocabulary grouped by theme, from your own pages
ὁ λόγοςthe word, accountmasc. 2nd
ἡ ψυχήthe soulfem. 1st
τὸ ἔργονthe work, deedneut. 2nd
ὁ ἄνθρωποςthe human beingmasc. 2nd
ἡ δικαιοσύνηjusticearticle, no 'the'

Flashcards

ὁ λόγος — accusative singular?
τὸν λόγον. The -ον ending marks the object, wherever it sits in the sentence.
ὁ λόγος — genitive singular?
τοῦ λόγου — 'of the word'.
ὁ λόγος — dative singular?
τῷ λόγῳ — note the iota subscript under both words.
Why can Greek reorder a sentence when English cannot?
Because the case ending, not the position, states the noun's role. Moving a word changes emphasis, not meaning.

Practice question

In τὸν λόγον γράφει ὁ ἄνθρωπος, who is writing?

Pick an answer to see the reasoning.

Study plan

  1. 1
    Write out the article in all three genders, singular
    15 min
  2. 2
    Decline λόγος and ψυχή side by side
    20 min
  3. 3
    Label the case of every noun in five sentences from page 8
    20 min
  4. 4
    Rewrite three sentences in a different word order, same meaning
    15 min

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