Introduction
Morphology
Declension
Nouns in Ancient Greek change their ending to show their case and number. Based on which set of endings nouns take, they can be divided into three groups called declensions.
The process of changing a noun’s form in this way is known as declining and is straight-forward:
- Extract the stem by removing the ending of the genitive singular form.
- Add the appropriate ending depending on the noun’s case and number.
Since the stem is extracted from the genitive singular form, you will need to learn the nominative singular and genitive singular forms of many nouns separately. Luckily, this mainly applies to nouns of the third declension because you can extract the stem of nouns of the first and second declensions by removing the ending of the nominative singular.
Tip: Wiktionary
You can use Wiktionary to see all forms of every noun.
First Declension
The first declension is also known as the a-declension. It contains mainly feminine nouns and some masculine ones. There are no neuter nouns in this declension.
Two types of feminine nouns exist - those with a nominative singular ending in a short -ᾰ and those with a nominative singular ending in a long -ᾱ.
| Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |||
| Case | Nominative | -ᾰ | -ᾱ / -η | -ᾱ | -αι |
| Genitive | -ᾱς / -ης | -αιν | -ων | ||
| Dative | -ᾳ / -ῃ | -αις | |||
| Accusative | -ᾰν | -ᾱν / -ην | -ᾱ | -ᾱς | |
| Vocative | =Nominative | ||||
A long -ᾱ- in singular endings is only retained after ε, ι and ρ. In all other situations it changes to -η-.
Example: First-Declension Feminine Nouns in -ᾰ
μοῦσᾰ (muse) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative μοῦσᾰ μούσᾱ μοῦσαι Genitive μούσης μούσαιν μουσῶν Dative μούσῃ μούσαιν μούσαις Accusative μοῦσᾰν μούσᾱ μούσᾱς Vocative μοῦσᾰ μούσᾱ μούσᾱς
δῐᾰ́νοιᾰ (thought) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative δῐᾰ́νοιᾰ δῐᾰνοίᾱ δῐᾰ́νοιαι Genitive δῐᾰνοίᾱς δῐᾰνοίαιν δῐᾰνοιῶν Dative δῐᾰνοίᾳ δῐᾰνοίαιν δῐᾰνοίαις Accusative δῐᾰ́νοιᾰν δῐᾰνοίᾱ δῐᾰνοίᾱς Vocative δῐᾰ́νοιᾰ δῐᾰνοίᾱ δῐᾰ́νοιαι
Example: First-Declension Feminine Nouns in -ᾱ / -η
χώρᾱ (location, place, spot) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative χώρᾱ χώρᾱ χῶραι Genitive χώρᾱς χώραιν χωρῶν Dative χώρᾳ χώραιν χώραις Accusative χώρᾱν χώρᾱ χώρᾱς Vocative χώρᾱ χώρᾱ χῶραι
φῠγή (flight, retreat) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative φῠγή φῠγᾱ́ φῠγαί Genitive φῠγῆς φῠγαῖν φῠγῶν Dative φῠγῇ φῠγαῖν φῠγαῖς Accusative φῠγήν φῠγᾱ́ φῠγᾱ́ς Vocative φῠγή φῠγᾱ́ φῠγαί
The nominative singular of masculine nouns ends in -ᾱς / -ης-. The endings for masculine nouns differ from those for feminine nouns only in the nominative, genitive and vocative singular.
| Number | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
| Case | Nominative | -ᾱς / -ης | -ᾱ | -αι |
| Genitive | -ου | -αιν | -ῶν | |
| Dative | -ᾳ / -ῃ | -αις | ||
| Accusative | -ᾱν / -ην | -ᾱ | -ᾱς | |
| Vocative | -ᾰ, -ᾱ / -η | = Nominative | ||
Once again, a long -ᾱ- in singular endings is only retained after ε, ι and ρ. In all other situations it changes to -η-.
The vocative singular is formed as follows:
- Nouns ending in -της and the names of races use the short ending -ᾰ (e.g. “κριτής”, voc.sg. “κρῐτᾰ́”; “Πέρσης”, voc.sg. “Πέρσᾰ́”).
- All proper names ending -άδης / -ίδης take -ᾱ / -η, respectively (e.g. “Ἀτρείδης”, voc. sg. “Ἀτρείδη”).
- For other nouns, the vocative singular should be learnt separately.
Example: First-Declension Masculine Nouns
νεᾱνῐ́ᾱς (young man between 20 and 40 years old) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative νεᾱνῐ́ᾱς νεᾱνῐ́ᾱ νεᾱνῐ́αι Genitive νεᾱνῐ́ου νεᾱνῐ́αιν νεᾱνῐῶν Dative νεᾱνῐ́ᾳ νεᾱνῐ́αιν νεᾱνῐ́αις Accusative νεᾱνῐ́ᾱν νεᾱνῐ́ᾱ νεᾱνῐ́ᾱς Vocative νεᾱνῐ́ᾱ νεᾱνῐ́ᾱ νεᾱνῐ́αι
δεσπότης (master, ruler) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative δεσπότης δεσπότᾱ δεσπόται Genitive δεσπότου δεσπόταιν δεσποτῶν Dative δεσπότῃ δεσπόταιν δεσπόταις Accusative δεσπότην δεσπότᾱ δεσπότᾱς Vocative δέσποτᾰ δεσπότᾱ δεσπόται
Second Declension
The second declension is also known as the o-declension. It contains mainly masculine and neuter nouns but some feminine ones are found as well. There also a few nouns such as “θεός” (“god” / “goddess”) and “ἄνθρωπος” (“man” / “woman”) which can occur in both genders depending on their meaning.
| Number | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
| Case | Nominative | -ος, -ους | -ω | -οι |
| Genitive | -ου | -οιν | -ων | |
| Dative | -ῳ | -οις | ||
| Accusative | -ον | -ω | -ους | |
| Vocative | ε | = Nominative | = Nominative | |
Example: Second Declension Masculine and Feminine Nouns
δοῦλος (slave) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative δοῦλος δούλω δοῦλοι Genitive δούλου δούλοιν δούλων Dative δούλῳ δούλοιν δούλοις Accusative δοῦλον δούλω δούλους Vocative δοῦλε δούλω δοῦλοι
νοῦς (mind) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative νοῦς νώ νοῖ Genitive νοῦ νοῖν νῶν Dative νῷ νοῖν νοῖς Accusative νοῦν νώ νοῦς Vocative νοῦ νώ νοῖ
Warning: Exceptions
For the word “θεός”, the vocative singular is identical to the nominative singular and so does not end in -ε.
There are many second-declension nouns which are neuter. Furthermore, some nouns can be either neuter or masculine.
| Number | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
| Case | Nominative | -ο, -ον, -ουν | -ω | -ᾰ |
| Genitive | -ου | -οιν | -ων | |
| Dative | -ῳ | -οις | ||
| Accusative | = Nominative | |||
| Vocative | = Nominative | |||
Example: Second Declension Neuter Nouns
δῶρον (gift) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative δῶρον δώρω δῶρᾰ Genitive δώρου δώροιν δώρων Dative δώρῳ δώροιν δώροις Accusative δῶρον δώρω δῶρᾰ Vocative δῶρον δώρω δῶρᾰ
ὀστοῦν (bone) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative ὀστοῦν ὀστώ ὀστᾶ Genitive ὀστοῦ ὀστοῖν ὀστῶν Dative ὀστῷ ὀστοῖν ὀστοῖς Accusative ὀστοῦν ὀστώ ὀστᾶ Vocative ὀστοῦν ὀστώ ὀστᾶ
There is also a subset of second-declension nouns which have -ω- in the endings instead of -ο-. This is known as the Attic declension.
| Number | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
| Case | Nominative | -ως | -ω | -ῳ |
| Genitive | -ω | -ῳν | -ων | |
| Dative | -ῳ | -ῳς | ||
| Accusative | -ων | -ω | -ως | |
| Vocative | = Nominative | |||
Example: Attic Declension Masculine and Feminine Nouns
νεώς (temple) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative νεώς νεώ νεῴ Genitive νεώ νεῴν νεών Dative νεῷ νεῴν νεῴς Accusative νεών νεώ νεώς Vocative νεώς νεώ νεῴ
| Number | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
| Case | Nominative | -ων | -ω | -ω |
| Genitive | -ω | -ῳν | -ων | |
| Dative | -ῳ | -ῳς | ||
| Accusative | = Nominative | |||
| Vocative | = Nominative | |||
Third Declension
The third declension is by far the most versatile. It contains nouns of all three genders. The nominative singular of third-declension nouns can have many different endings, mostly in a consonant. This is why the genitive singular is required to determine the stem.
| Number | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
| Case | Nominative | -ε | -ες | |
| Genitive | -ος | -οιν | -ων | |
| Dative | -ῐ | -σῐ(ν) | ||
| Accusative | -ᾰ | -ε | -ᾰς | |
| Vocative | ε | = Nominative | = Nominative | |
| Number | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
| Case | Nominative | -ω | -ᾰ | |
| Genitive | -ος | -οιν | -ων | |
| Dative | -ῐ | -σῐ(ν) | ||
| Accusative | = Nominative | |||
| Vocative | = Nominative | |||
Unfortunately, the third declension is plagued by irregularities.
Warning: Exceptions for Stems Ending in -τ- (except -ντ-), -δ- or -θ-:
- The final letter of the stem disappears before the σ in the dative plural: nom. sg. “ἐλπίς”, gen. sg. “ἐλπίδος”, dat. pl. “ἐλπίσι(ν)”; nom. sg. “τέρας”, gen. sg. “τέρᾰτος”, dat. pl. “τέρασι(ν)“.
- Nouns ending in -ις / -υς whose accent in the stem does not fall on the final syllable drop the final syllable in the accusative singular and add the ending -ιν / -υν, respectively: nom. sg. “ὄρνις”, gen. sg. “ὄρνιθος”, acc. sg. “ὄρνιν”; nom. sg. “κόρυς”, gen. sg. “κόρυθος”, acc. sg. “κόρυν”; BUT nom. sg. “ἐλπίς”, gen. sg. “ἐλπίδος”, acc. sg. “ἐλπίδα”.
- The vocative singular is usually formed by dropping the -τ / -δ / -θ from the stem: nom. sg. “παῖς”, gen. sg. “παιδός”, voc. sg. “παῖ”. For some nouns, however, it is identical to the nominative.
Warning: Exceptions for Stems Ending in -ντ-:
- The -ντ- of the stem disappears before the σ in the dative plural and the preceding syllable is lengthened: nom. sg. “γέρων”, gen. sg. “γέροντος”, dat. pl. “γέρουσῐ(ν)”; nom. sg. “δρᾰ́κων”, gen. sg. “δρᾰ́κοντος”, dat. pl. “δρᾰ́κουσῐ(ν)“.
- The vocative singular is usually formed by dropping the -τ- from the stem: nom. sg. “γέρων”, gen. sg. “γέροντος”, voc. sg. “γέρον”; nom. sg. “δρᾰ́κων”, gen. sg. “δρᾰ́κοντος”, voc. sg.. “δρᾰ́κον”
Warning: Exceptions for Stems Ending in -ν-:
- The -ν- of the stem disappears before the σ in the dative plural and the preceding syllable is lengthened: nom. sg. “ᾰ̓γών”, gen. sg. “ᾰ̓γῶνος”, dat. pl. “ᾰ̓γῶσῐ(ν)”; nom. sg. “δαίμων”, gen. sg. “δαίμονος”, dat. pl. “δαίμοσῐ(ν)“.
- The vocative singular is usually identical to the nominative singular, although some nouns shorten a final long vowel: nom. sg. “Ἀγαμέμνων”, voc. sg. “Ἀγάμεμνον”; nom. sg. “δαίμων”, voc. sg. “δαῖμον”; nom. sg. “Ἀπόλλων”, voc. sg. “Ἄπολλον”; nom. sg. “Ποσειδῶν”, voc. sg. “Πόσειδον”.
- The words “Ἀπόλλων” and “Ποσειδῶν” have two interchangeable forms for the accusative singular: “Ἀπόλλω” / “Ἀπόλλωνᾰ” and “Ποσειδῶ” / “Ποσειδῶνᾰ”.
Warning: Exceptions for Stems Ending in -λ- or -ρ-
- The vocative singular is usually just the stem with the final syllable shortened: nom. sg. “ῥήτωρ”, gen. sg. “ῥήτορος”, voc. sg. “ῥῆτορ”. In other situations, it is identical to the nominative singular: nom. sg. “κρᾱτήρ”, voc. sg. “κρᾱτήρ”.
- The dative plural of “χείρ” is “χερσί”.
- The dative plural of “μᾰ́ρτῠς” is “μάρτυσι”.
Warning: Exceptions for Nouns Ending in -τηρ
The nouns “πᾰτήρ” (“father”), “μήτηρ” (“mother”), “θυγάτηρ” (“daughter”), “γαστήρ” (“belly”) have stems ending in -τρ- which are also found in the dative singular and dative plural. However, an -ε- is inserted between the τ and the ρ in the accusative and vocative singular, all dual forms and the nominative, genitive and accusative plural.
μήτηρ (mother) Number Singular Dual Plural Case Nominative μήτηρ μητέρε μητέρες Genitive μητρός μητέροιν μητέρων Dative μητρῐ́ μητέροιν μητρᾰ́σῐ(ν) Accusative μητέρᾰ μητέρε μητέρᾰς Vocative μῆτερ μητέρε μητέρες
There are also many other exceptions, but these are best learnt on a case-by-case basis.