Notes On Koine Greek: Part 10

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1) Case: Whereas in English, a noun refers to a subject, object, etc. in Greek, such
items are described as different cases. Greek has 5 cases, the first 4 of these are
normative while the “vocative” is not:
Case Name Helping Word When you have these words
Subject = Nominative in a Greek sentence, you
Possessor = Genitive of should use them to help you
Indirect Object = Dative to identify which case is being
Object = Accusative used; this will help you
better translate the sentence.
Addressee = Vocative

2) Gender: In Greek, nouns fall within 3 genders: Masculine, Feminine & Neuter.
Note that these really have nothing to do with “sexual” gender!!! Instead, these
are mere linguistic concepts. More discussion about learning the Gender of Greek
nouns may be offered later.
3) Number: Just as with Greek verbs, Greek nouns have number (e.g. Singular,
Plural). While the same concept for the morphemes of Greek verbs applies to the
morphemes of Greek nouns, there is a difference: Greek verbs have a “Person-
Number Suffix Morpheme” while Greek nouns have a “Case-Number Suffix
Morpheme”. The difference is illustrated here:

Person-Number
Verb: blep|ousin Suffix Morpheme

Noun: anqrwp|oi Case-Number

Suffix Morpheme

Looking at the above two examples, we would say that the Person-Number Suffix
Morpheme of the verb “blepousin” is 3rd Person Plural. Looking at the Case-Number
Suffix Morpheme of the noun “anqropoi”, we would say that it is Nominative Plural.
4) Parsing Key: Use following key when parsing Greek nouns:
Case Gender Number
N = Nominative Mas = Masculine S or Sg = Singular
G = Genitive Fem = Feminine Pl = Plural
D = Dative Neu = Neuter
A = Accusative
V = Vocative

5) Parsing Table: Using the “parsing key” provided in part 8 of the Notes, to fill
in this table using the inflected term “anqrwpoi”.

Inflected Noun Lexical Inflected

Word Case Gender No Form Meaning
anqrwpoi N Mas Pl anqrwpoj Man, Men,
Humans