Recognising Greek Declensions

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Why Declension Matters (Greek)

Knowing the declension of a noun is critically important to understanding a sentence in Greek. Some endings are at least similar, but they behave differently depending on the declension. If you do not know the declension, your translation will often be guesswork.

Take this sentence:

τὸ δῶρον τὰ σώματα ἔθραυσε

Does this mean “the gift broke the bodies” or “the bodies broke the gift”?
You may try to guess, but Greek does not reward guessing.

If you know that δῶρον is second declension neuter, you will know that
τὸ δῶρον can only be nominative singular or accusative singular.
If you know that σῶμα is third declension neuter, you will know that
τὰ σώματα can only be nominative plural or accusative plural.

Now look at the verb. ἔθραυσε is third person singular, so its subject must be singular. Therefore τὸ δῶρον is the subject, and τὰ σώματα is the object.
The sentence can now be translated accurately:

The gift broke the bodies.

There is no need for guessing. Once you know the declensions, the grammar tells you what the sentence means.

At a minimum, you must know the declension of every noun. Its gender is also essential, because adjectives and articles must agree with it.

Therefore, when you learn a new Greek noun, you must learn these principal parts:

σῶμα (nom. sing.), σώματος (gen. sing.), n. — body

This may seem demanding, but it is the most efficient method. Once learned properly, the noun does not need to be relearned.

Rule: Never learn a Greek noun as a single word. Learn its nominative, genitive, and gender together.

How to Use These Tables

Learn each noun by its principal parts: nominative, genitive, and gender.
Then identify the stem and the endings.

What to Notice

1st declension: usually ends in -α or -η.

2nd declension masculine: usually ends in -ος, genitive -ου.

2nd declension neuter: nominative and accusative are always the same (e.g. δῶρον, δῶρον).

3rd declension: more varied; the genitive shows the stem (e.g. σῶμα → σώματος).

Greek Nouns – Declensions Overview

Note: Only the most common forms are given here for the sake of brevity. Greek nouns have further variations which you will meet later.
1st declension
(mostly feminine)		 2nd declension
(masc and neut)		 3rd declension
(m/f/n)
honour
(f)		 country
(f)		 word
(m)		 gift
(n)		 guard
(m)		 old man
(m)		 body
(n)
Singular
Nominative		 τιμή χώρα λόγος δῶρον φύλαξ γέρων σῶμα
Accusative τιμήν χώραν λόγον δῶρον φύλακ-α γέροντ-α σῶμα
Genitive τιμῆς χώρας λόγου δῶρου φύλακ-ος γέροντ-ος σώματ-ος
Dative τιμῇ χώρᾳ λόγῳ δῶρῳ φύλακ-ι γέροντ-ι σώματ-ι
Plural
Nominative		 τιμαί χώραι λόγοι δῶρα φύλακ-ες γέροντ-ες σώματ-α
Accusative τιμάς χώρας λόγους δῶρα φύλακ-ας γέροντ-ας σώματ-α
Genitive τιμῶν χωρῶν λόγων δώρων φυλάκ-ων γερόντ-ων σωμάτ-ων
Dative τιμαῖς χώραις λόγοις δώροις φύλαξ-ι(ν) γέρουσ-ι(ν) σώμασ-ι(ν)
On smaller screens, scroll sideways to see the whole table.

Greek Nouns are Modular

σωμάτ-ος

Stem – gives the basic meaning (σωματ- = body)

Ending – tells you case and number (-ος = genitive singular)