Ancient Greek for Everyone:

A New Digital Resource for

Beginning Greek
Unit 3 part 2:
Feminine Nouns
2015 edition
Wilfred E. Major
wmajor@lsu.edu
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
AGE Unit 3 part 2: Feminine Nouns
• You have learned the basics of Greek verbs and
masculine nouns.
• Next we add feminine nouns.
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
• A NOUN indicates a person, place or thing.
• A Greek noun, however, normally communicates
THREE pieces of information:
– Gender
– Number
– Case
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Building a Greek Noun
• All the nouns in the first part of this unit were masculine in
gender.
• This part of the unit adds nouns that are feminine in
gender.
• Feminine nouns use the same endings as masculine nouns,
so review the endings for nouns.
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Singular Plural

• Nominative –ς • Nominative –ες

• Genitive –ος • Genitive –ων
• Dative –ι • Dative –σι
• Accusative –α • Accusative –ας

Building a Greek Noun

Third Declension Endings
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Building a Greek Noun
• To begin building a Greek noun, start with the “stem.”
• The stem indicates to what person, place or thing the
noun refers:

ἐλπιδ = “hope”
νυκτ = “night”
παιδ = “child”
δαιμον = “divinity”
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Building a Greek Noun
• All the nouns in this part are feminine in gender.
• We begin with nouns whose stem ends in a dental (-τ/-δ/-θ/-ν).
• Notice that two of the noun endings involve adding a sigma to
the stem: Nom. sing. = -ς, Dat. plu. = -σι.
• Recall that when a sigma follows a dental, the dental disappears
and the sigma remains: δ + σ = σ.

ἐλπιδ = “hope”
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Singular Plural

• Nom. (ἐλπιδς ) ἐλπίς • Nom. ἐλπίδες

• Gen. ἐλπίδος • Gen. ἐλπίδων
• Dat. ἐλπίδι • Dat. (ἐλπιδσι ) ἐλπίσι
• Acc. ἐλπίδα • Acc. ἐλπίδας

Building a Greek Noun

declension of ἐλπίς, ἐλπίδος ἡ hope
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Building a Greek Noun
• All the nouns in this part are feminine in gender.
• We begin with nouns whose stem ends in a dental (-τ/-δ/-θ/-ν).
• Notice that two of the noun endings involve adding a sigma to
the stem: Nom. sing. = -ς, Dat. plu. = -σι.
• Recall that when a sigma follows a dental, the dental disappears
and the sigma remains: τ + σ = σ.
• Also recall that when a sigma follows a palatal (κ/-γ/-χ), the
letter ξ represents the combination: κ + σ = ξ.

νυκτ = “night”
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Singular Plural

• Nom. (νυκτς ) νύξ • Nom. νύκτες

• Gen. νυκτός • Gen. νυκτῶν
• Dat. νυκτί • Dat. (νυκτσι ) νυξί
• Acc. νύκτα • Acc. νύκτας

Building a Greek Noun

νύξ, νυκτός ἡ night
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
• VOCABULARY: Since the nominative singular displays
variations in response to the sigma, nouns are listed in
three parts:
– The nominative singular: so you always see exactly
how this form appears.
– The genitive singular: so you can see the stem
(everything before the ending -ος)
– The gender: the word ἡ indicates that these nouns are
feminine.
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Examples of Vocabulary entries
• δαίμων, δαίμονος ὁ, ἡ divinity
• ἐλπίς, ἐλπίδος ἡ hope
• νύξ, νυκτός ἡ night
• παῖς, παιδός ὁ, ἡ child
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Building a Greek Noun
• The word ἡ indicates the noun is feminine in gender.
• This is the feminine form of the definite article in Greek.
• Recall that the definite article in Greek must match its noun in
gender, number and case. The first part of the unit presented the
masculine forms of the definite article. This part presents the
feminine form of the definite article. Within the feminine
gender, it still needs eight forms to cover the two numbers
(singular and plural) and four cases (nominative, genitive,
dative, accusative).
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Singular Plural

• Nom. ἡ • Nom. αἱ
• Gen. τῆς • Gen. τῶν
• Dat. τῇ • Dat. ταῖς
• Acc. τήν • Acc. τάς

Building a Greek Noun

The feminine definite article
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Singular Plural

• Nom. ἡ παῖς • Nom. αἱ παῖδες

• Gen. τῆς παιδός • Gen. τῶν παίδων
• Dat. τῇ παιδί • Dat. ταῖς παισί
• Acc. τὴν παῖδα • Acc. τὰς παῖδας

Building a Greek Noun

Declension + article of παῖς, παιδός ἡ child
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Singular Plural

• Nom. ἡ δαίμων • Nom. αἱ δαίμονες

• Gen. τῆς δαίμονος • Gen. τῶν δαιμόνων
• Dat. τῇ δαίμονι • Dat. ταῖς δαίμοσι
• Acc. τὴν δαίμονα • Acc. τὰς δαίμονας

Building a Greek Noun

declension + article of δαίμων -ονος ἡ divinity
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Singular Plural

• Nom. ἡ ἐλπίς • Nom. αἱ ἐλπίδες

• Gen. τῆς ἐλπίδος • Gen. τῶν ἐλπίδων
• Dat. τῇ ἐλπίδι • Dat. ταῖς ἐλπίσι
• Acc. τὴν ἐλπίδα • Acc. τὰς ἐλπίδας

Building a Greek Noun

declension of ἐλπίς, ἐλπίδος ἡ hope
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Singular Plural

• Nom. ἡ νύξ • Nom. αἱ νύκτες

• Gen. τῆς νυκτός • Gen. τῶν νυκτῶν
• Dat. τῇ νυκτί • Dat. ταῖς νυξί
• Acc. τὴν νύκτα • Acc. τὰς νύκτας

Building a Greek Noun

νύξ, νυκτός ἡ night
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 3 part 2 Vocabulary: DCC Classical
• δαίμων -ονος ὁ, ἡ divinity
• ἐλπίς -δος ἡ hope
• μυριάς -άδος ἡ ten thousand (= a countless amount)
• νύξ, νυκτός ἡ night
• παῖς, παιδός ὁ, ἡ child
• πατρίς -ίδος ἡ fatherland
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 3 part 2 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament)
• ἐλπίς -δος ἡ hope
• νύξ, νυκτός ἡ night
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 3 part 2 Vocabulary: Core
• ἐλπίς -δος ἡ hope
• νύξ, νυκτός ἡ night
 Ancient Greek for Everyone
• Next
– Neuter nouns.