Lesson 3 | First Noun Pattern

1. Greek nouns have four parts: stem, case, gender, and number.
2. A noun’s case–not word order–tells us its role in the sentence.
3. There are five Greek cases that communicate particular roles:
4. Nominative: The verb’s subject
5. Genitive: A noun’s possessor (key word: “of”)
6. Dative: The verb’s indirect object (key words: “to” or “for”)
7. Accusative: The verb’s direct object
8. Vocative: Direct address (when the author is speaking directly to someone or something)
9. The First Noun Pattern
10. Most first pattern nouns have stems that end in η or α
11. Most first pattern nouns are feminine
12. A few important first pattern nouns are masculine and end in ης (like μαθητής and προφήτης)
13. If an α-stem’s second to last letter is anything other than ε, ι, or ρ, then the α will change to an η in the genitive and dative singular.
14. For an α-stem whose second to last letter is ε, ι, or ρ (like καρδία), only context determines whether an -ας ending (like καρδίας) is genitive, feminine, singular or accusative, feminine, plural.

Quiz