LESSON 4
·
Unit II — The Noun System
·
~45 minutes + drilling
By the End of This Lesson
- Decline 2nd-declension masculine and neuter nouns in nominative and accusative
- Recognize and produce the eight forms of the article (masc & neut, both numbers, two cases)
- Translate simple Greek sentences with subject, verb, and direct object
- Memorize the 14 vocabulary words below — your first Greek vocabulary list
Part 1: Two Cases — Nominative and Accusative
From Lesson 3 you know that Greek nouns change form based on their function in a sentence. Two of the most common functions are the subject and the direct object. The forms that mark them are called nominative and accusative.
| Case | Function | Example sentence |
|---|
| Nominative | Subject of the verb | The apostle sees the man. |
| Accusative | Direct object of the verb | The apostle sees the man. |
The same noun (man, apostle) might appear as either subject or direct object — but Greek shows you immediately which by changing the ending. There are no other clues you have to wait for. The case ending tells you the function.
Part 2: 2nd-Declension Masculine Nouns
The simplest noun pattern in Greek. Most masculine nouns ending in -ος follow this pattern. Memorize the four endings (two cases × two numbers) cold.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|
| Nominative |
λόγος — a word, the word (subject) |
λόγοι — words (subject) |
| Accusative |
λόγον — a word (direct object) |
λόγους — words (direct object) |
The pattern
The stem is λογ- ('word'). The endings are added to the stem:
-ος (nom sg) -ον (acc sg) -οι (nom pl) -ους (acc pl)
Every 2nd-declension masculine noun follows this pattern. θεός ('God'): θεός, θεόν, θεοί, θεούς. ἄνθρωπος ('man, person'): ἄνθρωπος, ἄνθρωπον, ἄνθρωποι, ἀνθρώπους. The endings are the same; only the stem changes.
Part 3: 2nd-Declension Neuter Nouns
Most neuter nouns ending in -ον follow this pattern. Note the rule that distinguishes neuter from masculine.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|
| Nominative |
ἔργον |
ἔργα |
| Accusative |
ἔργον |
ἔργα |
⚠ Important rule
Neuter nominative and accusative are always identical — both singular and plural. So ἔργον can be either subject or direct object; only context tells you which. This is true for every neuter noun in Greek, in every declension.
A second peculiarity: neuter plural subjects often take a singular verb in Greek. So τὰ ἔργα μένει means 'the works remain' — but the verb μένει is technically singular. This is a feature, not a bug; we just have to accept it.
Part 4: The Article
The Greek article is the most important paradigm in the language. It appears more than 19,000 times in the New Testament. Learn it cold.
Greek has a definite article ('the') but no indefinite article ('a/an'). The article changes its form to match the gender, number, and case of the noun it goes with.
For now, we'll learn the masculine and neuter forms in the nominative and accusative. (The full 24-form table — adding feminine, dative, and genitive — comes in later lessons.)
| Masculine sg | Masculine pl | Neuter sg | Neuter pl |
|---|
| Nominative |
ὁ |
οἱ |
τό |
τά |
| Accusative |
τόν |
τούς |
τό |
τά |
The pattern matches the noun endings
Notice how the article endings rhyme with the noun endings: ὁ λόγος, τὸν λόγον, οἱ λόγοι, τοὺς λόγους. The article and noun agree in gender, number, and case. Once you know one, the other is predictable.
Also notice: the masculine nominative forms ὁ and οἱ have rough breathing (the 'h' marker) but no consonant. They're pronounced 'ho' and 'hoi'.
Part 5: A Tiny Bit of Verb
To form sentences, you need at least one verb. Here are three common Greek verbs in their 3rd-person singular present-active form. The full verb system comes in Unit III; for now, just memorize these three forms:
| Greek | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|
| βλέπει | blepei | he/she sees |
| ἀκούει | akouei | he/she hears |
| ἔχει | echei | he/she has |
The ending -ει means 'he/she/it [verbs]'. Greek doesn't need a separate pronoun — the verb ending alone tells you who's doing the action. So βλέπει is a complete sentence: 'he sees' or 'she sees' or 'it sees,' depending on context.
Part 6: Sentences
Now read these — your first real Greek sentences. Each uses words from the vocabulary list at the bottom of this lesson, in the forms you've just learned.
ὁ ἀπόστολος βλέπει τὸν ἄνθρωπον.
— ho apostolos blepei ton anthrōpon.
The apostle sees the man. ὁ ἀπόστολος = nominative (subject). τὸν ἄνθρωπον = accusative (direct object). The verb βλέπει sits in between.
ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀκούει τοὺς λόγους.
— ho anthrōpos akouei tous logous.
The man hears the words. Notice the accusative plural τοὺς λόγους matches both noun and article endings.
οἱ ἀπόστολοι βλέπουσι τὰ ἔργα.
— hoi apostoloi blepousi ta erga.
The apostles see the works. οἱ ἀπόστολοι = nominative plural. τὰ ἔργα = neuter accusative plural. βλέπουσι is the 3rd-person plural form ('they see').
ὁ θεὸς ἔχει τὸν υἱόν.
— ho theos echei ton huion.
God has the son. Demonstrates the same pattern with different nouns. The article ὁ is part of how 'God' is expressed in Greek — even where English doesn't use 'the,' Greek often does (especially for proper nouns and abstract concepts).
Word order is freer than English
You'll see Greek sentences like τὸν ἄνθρωπον βλέπει ὁ ἀπόστολος. with the direct object first. The case endings still tell you 'apostle is subject, man is object,' so the meaning is the same: 'the apostle sees the man.' Greek uses word order for emphasis, not for grammar.
Translation Exercises
Translate from Greek to English
- ὁ θεὸς ἀκούει τὸν λόγον.
- οἱ ἄνθρωποι βλέπουσι τὰ ἔργα.
- ὁ υἱὸς ἔχει τοὺς ἀδελφούς.
- ὁ ἀπόστολος ἀκούει τοὺς λόγους τοῦ θεοῦ. [hint: τοῦ θεοῦ = 'of God,' a genitive form we'll formally learn later]
- τὰ ἔργα βλέπει ὁ θεός. [note the word order]
Answers
1. God hears the word.
2. The men see the works.
3. The son has the brothers.
4. The apostle hears the words of God.
5. God sees the works. (Word order is unusual — direct object first — but the case endings tell you that ὁ θεός in nominative is the subject and τὰ ἔργα in accusative is the object.)
Practice — drill the concepts
Eight drill sets covering every concept of Lesson 4 — what the cases mean, the λόγος paradigm, other masculines, ἔργον and the neuter rule, the article, the neuter-plural-singular-verb quirk, free word order, and full translation. Items you miss loop back until you nail them; progress is saved between sessions.
Vocabulary — Lesson 4
14 words · all from the top 100 most-frequent NT words
| Greek | Translit. | Meaning | NT Freq. |
|---|
| ὁ ἀδελφός | adelphos | brother | 343 |
| ὁ ἄνθρωπος | anthrōpos | man, human being, person | 550 |
| ὁ ἀπόστολος | apostolos | apostle, sent one, messenger | 80 |
| ὁ θεός | theos | God, god | 1317 |
| ὁ Ἰησοῦς | Iēsous | Jesus | 917 |
| ὁ κόσμος | kosmos | world, universe | 186 |
| ὁ κύριος | kyrios | lord, master, sir | 717 |
| ὁ λόγος | logos | word, message, reason | 330 |
| ὁ υἱός | huios | son | 377 |
| ὁ Χριστός | Christos | Christ, Messiah, anointed one | 529 |
| τὸ ἔργον | ergon | work, deed, action | 169 |
| βλέπει | blepei | he/she sees | 132 |
| ἀκούει | akouei | he/she hears | 428 |
| ἔχει | echei | he/she has | 708 |
Practice plan
Day 1: Read this lesson; copy the article paradigm and the noun paradigms by hand. Reading and writing both engage memory.
Day 2-3: Drill the article and noun endings until automatic. Use the
Vocabulary Trainer on the new words.
Day 4: Re-read the example sentences; do the exercises without looking at the answers.
Day 5+: Continue the daily vocabulary drill while moving to Lesson 5.