Language/Modern-greek-1453/Grammar/Modern-Greek-Nouns
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Modern Greek Nouns
Greek nouns change their endings accoring to gender, case, and number, while retaining the root of the noun unchanged.
One characteristic of Modern Greek nouns is that they are preceded by an article. Even proper names are preceded by articles: ο Γιώργος (George); η Μαρία (Mary); το Λονδίνο (London). As a rule, definite articles always appear before a noun. These are the cases where the meaning could also be expressed by “some”, “any” (“there is some problem”), and their negations. If the indefinite article has the meaning of “one”, it is never omitted (cf.: υπάρχει ένα πρόβλημα: “there is one problem”).
Masculine Noun Patterns[edit | edit source]
| Masculine ending | Example | Frequency of pattern |
|---|---|---|
| -ος | κόσμος (people, cosmos) | most common |
| -ης | πελάτης (client) | common |
| -ας / -ες (plural) | κανόνας (rule) | rather common |
| -ας / -αδες (plural) | μπαμπάς (dad) | rather rare |
| -ης / -ηδες (plural) | μπακάλης (grocer) | rather rare |
| -ες | καφές (coffee) | rare |
| -έας / -είς (plural) | γραμματέας (secretary) | rare |
| -ους / -οι (plural) | νους (mind) | very rare |
| -ους / -ουδες (plural) | παππούς (grandpa) | very rare |
| -ης / -εις (plural) | λάτρης (fan, lover) | very rare |
| -υς | πέλεκυς (axe) | very rare |
| -ωρ | μέντωρ (mentor) | obsolete |
| -ων | Πλάτων (Plato) | obsolete |
| -ας / -ηδες (plural) | αέρας (air, wind) | only this one |
| -ης / -ητες (plural) | γόης (charmer) | only this one |
Feminine Noun Patterns[edit | edit source]
| Feminine ending | Example | Frequency of pattern |
|---|---|---|
| -α / -ες (nom. plural), -ών (gen. plural) | ώρα (hour) | most common |
| -α / -ες (nom. plural), -ων (gen. plural) | αγελάδα (cow) | rare |
| -η / -ες (plural) | αγάπη (love) | common |
| -η / -εις (plural) | πόλη (city) | common |
| -ος | μέθοδος (method) | rare |
| -ου | αλεπού (fox) | very rare |
| -έας / -είς (plural) | γραμματέας (secretary) | very rare |
| -ίας / -ίες (plural) | ταμίας (cashier) | very rare |
Neuter Noun Patterns[edit | edit source]
| Neuter ending | Example | Frequency of pattern |
|---|---|---|
| -ι | σπίτι (house, home) | most common |
| -ο | βιβλίο (book) | very common |
| -α | πρόβλημα (problem) | common |
| -ος / -ους (genitive) | τέλος (end) | rather common |
| -ός / -ότος (genitive) | γεγονός (fact) | very rare |
| -υ / -ιου (genitive) | βράδυ (evening) | obsolete |
| -υ / -ατος (genitive) | δόρυ (spear) | very rare |
| -ας | κρέας (meat) | very rare |
| -ως | φως (light) | very rare |
| -ον / -ου (genitive) | μέσον (meson [phys.], medium) | very rare |
| -ον / -οντος (genitive) | προσόν (qualification, ability) | rare |
| -εν / -εντος (genitive) | φωνήεν (vowel) | very rare |
| -αν / -αντος (genitive) | σύμπαν (universe) | very rare |
| -α / -ακτος (genitive) | γάλα (milk) | only this one |
Loan Words Entering the Language[edit | edit source]
In addition to nouns following the above patterns, there are nouns borrowed from foreign languages. Such nouns, remain unchanged in all cases, in both numbers.
- αλκοόλ (alcohol; from French “alcool”)
- ασανσέρ (elevator [Brit.: lift]; from French “ascenseur”)
- βίντεο (video, any home movie-playing device; from English, from Latin “videre”, which is akin to ancient Greek ’ιδεîν, “to see”)
- κομπιούτερ (computer; but note that the word υπολογιστής is used instead of κομπιούτερ much more often now)
- μετρό (subway, metro; from French “métro”)
- μπιτ, μπάιτ, κιλομπάιτ, μεγαμπάιτ, etc. (bit, byte, kilobyte, megabyte, etc.)
- σινεμά (movie theater; from French “cinéma”, which derives from Greek κίνημα: movement; κίνησις: motion)
- σπορ (sports, athletics; sport, from French)
- στυλ (style; from French)
- στυλό (pen, stylus; from French stylo, perh. akin to Greek στύλος, “pillar, column”)
- τανξ (tanks, the plural form of an armored combat vehicle, used also in the singular)
- ταξί (taxi; from French)
- τζιπ (jeep, or any 4WD vehicle)
- τσιπ (computer chip, but sometimes ψηφιακό κύκλωμα — lit.: “digital circuit” — is used instead)
- names of several animals, made known to Greeks in recent centuries: καγκουρώ (kangaroo), κοάλα (koala), πάντα (panda), τζάγκουαρ (jaguar), etc.
Author[edit source]
- Ευγενική χορηγία που στοχεύει να βοηθήσει μαθητές ή μη, απανταχού της Γης, που επιδίδονται στην εκμάθηση της ελληνικής γλώσσας!
- Contribution bénévole visant à aider les personnes, partout dans le monde, qui sont engagées dans l'apprentissage de la langue grecque !
- Voluntary contribution aimed at helping people, all over the world, who are committed to learning the Greek language!
Other lessons[edit | edit source]
- Common Mistakes in Learning Greek
- Indefinite pronouns
- Verbs ending in «–ίζω»
- The final v
- Contract Verbs
- Verbes auxiliaires
- Direct and indirect speech
- The predicate
- Various Greek linguistic terms
- Greek voices verbs Φωνή και συζυγίες ρημάτων
- Sentense Structure
- The degrees of the adjective
- Demonstrative Pronouns
- Syllabification
- Pronouns (Summary)