The Article and Adjectives of the First and Second Declension

The article

Greek has a definite article ('the') but no separate indefinite article ('a, an'). ὁ λόγος commonly means 'the word'. Without an article, λόγος may mean 'a word', but it can also refer to a particular word or describe a quality. Choose the English wording from the sentence; a missing article does not automatically call for 'a' or 'an'.

The article changes form to match its noun in gender, case, and number: ὁ λόγος (nominative), τοῦ λόγου (genitive), τῷ λόγῳ (dative), τὸν λόγον (accusative). Because the article is so frequent and so regular, it is often your best clue to the case of the noun next to it — sometimes clearer than the noun's own ending.

Greek also uses the article where English does not: with proper names (ὁ Ἰησοῦς, 'Jesus') and with abstract nouns (ἡ ἀγάπη, 'love'). Do not translate these extra articles into English.

• τὸν λόγον — the word (accusative — note the -ν endings)
• ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει — Jesus says (article with a proper name)

Agreement

An adjective must match the noun it describes in gender, case, and number. If the noun is feminine accusative singular, the adjective must be feminine accusative singular too. This matching is called agreement, and it is how you know which adjective belongs with which noun in a long sentence.

Important: agreement means matching grammar, not matching spelling. A masculine noun like προφήτης has first-declension endings, but its adjective takes masculine (second-declension) endings: ὁ ἀγαθὸς προφήτης, 'the good prophet'. The endings look different, but the gender, case, and number agree perfectly.

The standard adjective ἀγαθός ('good') uses second-declension endings for the masculine and neuter (ἀγαθός, ἀγαθόν) and first-declension endings for the feminine (ἀγαθή). One vocabulary entry therefore covers three small sets of endings you already know.

• ὁ ἀγαθὸς λόγος — the good word (masculine nominative)
• τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἀρχήν — the good beginning (feminine accusative)
• ὁ ἀγαθὸς προφήτης — the good prophet (endings differ, but they agree)

Positions

Where the adjective stands relative to the article changes the meaning. In the attributive position the adjective sits inside the article-noun phrase — ὁ ἀγαθὸς λόγος or ὁ λόγος ὁ ἀγαθός — and simply describes the noun: 'the good word'.

In the predicate position the adjective stands outside the article — ἀγαθὸς ὁ λόγος or ὁ λόγος ἀγαθός — and the sentence makes a statement: 'the word is good'. Greek does not need a verb 'is' here; the position itself does the work.

With an article-noun phrase, first check whether the adjective belongs inside that group or stands outside it. This helps distinguish a description from a statement. If the noun has no article, position alone does not settle the question; read the whole sentence.

• οἱ πιστοὶ μαθηταί — the faithful disciples (attributive)
• πιστοὶ οἱ μαθηταί — the disciples are faithful (predicate)

Substantival use

When an adjective stands with an article but no noun, it becomes a noun itself — this is called the substantival use. ὁ ἀγαθός means 'the good man', οἱ ἀγαθοί 'the good people', τὸ ἀγαθόν 'the good thing'. The gender and number of the article tell you who or what is meant.

This is extremely common in the New Testament: οἱ ἅγιοι is 'the holy ones, the saints', and ὁ πονηρός can mean 'the evil one'. When you see an article plus adjective with no noun nearby, supply 'man', 'men', 'thing', or 'things' from the context.

• οἱ ἅγιοι — the saints (literally 'the holy [ones]')
• τὸ καλόν — the good, what is noble (neuter = 'thing')

Some verbs call for a particular case

A verb may need another word to complete its meaning. Greek does not always put that word in the accusative. πιστεύω can take a dative for the person trusted: πιστεύω τῷ προφήτῃ, 'I believe the prophet'. Learn the case together with the verb and its meaning.

With ἀκούω, a person heard often stands in the genitive, while the thing heard often stands in the accusative: ἀκούω τοῦ μαθητοῦ, 'I listen to the disciple'; ἀκούω τὸν λόγον, 'I hear the message'. These are common patterns, not the only possible constructions with this verb.

A dictionary may write '+ gen.', '+ dat.', or '+ acc.' to show the case of the accompanying word. Read these as 'with a genitive', 'with a dative', and 'with an accusative'. First find the verb and its meaning, then ask which case fits the relationship.

Vocabulary (15)

ὁ, ἡ, τό

the

ἀγαθός, -ή, -όν

good

ἀγαπητός, -ή, -όν

beloved, dearly loved

ἅγιος, -α, -ον

holy; (pl.) saints

δίκαιος, -α, -ον

righteous, just

ἔσχατος, -η, -ον

last, final

καλός, -ή, -όν

good, beautiful, noble

κακός, -ή, -όν

bad, evil

μόνος, -η, -ον

only, alone

νεκρός, -ά, -όν

dead

πιστός, -ή, -όν

faithful, trustworthy; believing

πονηρός, -ά, -όν

wicked, evil

πρῶτος, -η, -ον

first

ἴδιος, -α, -ον

one's own

μακάριος, -α, -ον

blessed, happy