Lesson 25
Further Third-Declension Nouns and Adjectives
Vowel stems, changing stems, and adjectives with third-declension endings.
Vowel stems: πόλις and βασιλεύς
The basic third-declension endings remain useful, but vowel-stem nouns change the stem or contract vowels. πόλις, πόλεως, ἡ means 'city'. Its singular forms are πόλις, πόλεως, πόλει, πόλιν; plural πόλεις, πόλεων, πόλεσιν, πόλεις. Do not create a genitive πόλιςος.
Other nouns in -ις, including πίστις ('faith'), often use this pattern. The genitive -εως and dative -ει are important recognition clues. Accusative singular -ιν and matching nominative/accusative plural -εις differ from the simple consonant-stem pattern.
βασιλεύς, βασιλέως, ὁ ('king') has singular βασιλεύς, βασιλέως, βασιλεῖ, βασιλέα, βασιλεῦ; plural βασιλεῖς, βασιλέων, βασιλεῦσιν, βασιλεῖς. Its vowel changes are best learned as a family, not guessed from the nominative alone.
- ἐν τῇ πόλει — in the city
- ὁ λόγος τοῦ βασιλέως — the message of the king
Stems that shorten and lengthen
Some very common nouns show several stem shapes. πατήρ, πατρός, ὁ ('father') loses a vowel in the genitive and dative singular: πατρός, πατρί. The accusative is πατέρα and the vocative πάτερ. In the dative plural, an α appears: πατράσιν.
μήτηρ ('mother') behaves similarly. ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ ('man / husband') also adds δ in most forms: ἀνδρί, ἄνδρα, ἄνδρες. The genitive entry is again your best clue to the forms you will actually meet.
σ-stem neuters such as γένος, γένους ('kind / family') lose σ between vowels and contract. Their nominative/accusative plural is γένη. A singular ending in -ος does not automatically make a noun masculine or second declension: learn its article and genitive.
| Case | γένος: singular | γένος: plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative / accusative / vocative | γένος | γένη |
| Genitive | γένους | γενῶν |
| Dative | γένει | γένεσι(ν) |
- τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῇ μητρί — to the father and mother
- τὸ γένος τοῦ ἀνδρός — the family of the man
Adjectives that do not look like ἀγαθός
An adjective still agrees in gender, case, and number, even when it uses third-declension endings. ἀληθής, ἀληθές ('true') has the same masculine and feminine nominative, with a separate neuter. The genitive for all genders is ἀληθοῦς; the dative is ἀληθεῖ.
The masculine/feminine accusative singular is ἀληθῆ, and neuter nominative/accusative plural is also ἀληθῆ. Matching spelling does not guarantee matching case or number. Look at the article, noun, and clause to decide.
Other adjectives combine third-declension masculine/neuter forms with first-declension feminine forms, as participles and πᾶς do. When meeting a new adjective, learn all dictionary gender forms and its genitive pattern before applying endings.
- ὁ ἀληθὴς λόγος — the true message
- τὰ ἀληθῆ ῥήματα — the true sayings
Paradigms
πόλις — City
Lesson 25
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | πόλις | πόλεις |
| Genitive | πόλεως | πόλεων |
| Dative | πόλει | πόλεσι(ν) |
| Accusative | πόλιν | πόλεις |
| Vocative | πόλι | πόλεις |
βασιλεύς — King
Lesson 25
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | βασιλεύς | βασιλεῖς |
| Genitive | βασιλέως | βασιλέων |
| Dative | βασιλεῖ | βασιλεῦσι(ν) |
| Accusative | βασιλέα | βασιλεῖς |
| Vocative | βασιλεῦ | βασιλεῖς |
πατήρ — Father
Lesson 25
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | πατήρ | πατέρες |
| Genitive | πατρός | πατέρων |
| Dative | πατρί | πατράσι(ν) |
| Accusative | πατέρα | πατέρας |
| Vocative | πάτερ | πατέρες |
γένος — Kind / Family
Lesson 25
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | γένος | γένη |
| Genitive | γένους | γενῶν |
| Dative | γένει | γένεσι(ν) |
| Accusative | γένος | γένη |
| Vocative | γένος | γένη |
ἀληθής, ἀληθές — True
Lesson 25
| Masc. Sg | Fem. Sg | Neut. Sg | Masc. Pl | Fem. Pl | Neut. Pl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ἀληθής | ἀληθής | ἀληθές | ἀληθεῖς | ἀληθεῖς | ἀληθῆ |
| Genitive | ἀληθοῦς | ἀληθοῦς | ἀληθοῦς | ἀληθῶν | ἀληθῶν | ἀληθῶν |
| Dative | ἀληθεῖ | ἀληθεῖ | ἀληθεῖ | ἀληθέσι(ν) | ἀληθέσι(ν) | ἀληθέσι(ν) |
| Accusative | ἀληθῆ | ἀληθῆ | ἀληθές | ἀληθεῖς | ἀληθεῖς | ἀληθῆ |
Vocabulary (14)
- πόλις, πόλεως, ἡ
- city, town
- πίστις, πίστεως, ἡ
- faith, trust, faithfulness
- βασιλεύς, βασιλέως, ὁ
- king
- πατήρ, πατρός, ὁ
- father
- μήτηρ, μητρός, ἡ
- mother
- ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ
- man, husband
- γυνή, γυναικός, ἡ
- woman, wife
- γένος, γένους, τό
- family, race, kind
- ἔθνος, ἔθνους, τό
- nation; plural often Gentiles
- ἔτος, ἔτους, τό
- year
- ἀληθής, -ές
- true, truthful
- ἀσθενής, -ές
- weak, sick
- ὕδωρ, ὕδατος, τό
- water
- Μωϋσῆς, -έως, ὁ
- Moses