Biblical Greek First Year Lesson 10

First Declension Nouns

The First Declension

The first declension encompasses primarily feminine nouns because they are characterized by certain endings and follow a specific pattern in their cases.

First Declension Endings:

 

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	α / η	αι
Genitive/Ablative	ας / ης	ῶν
Dative/Locative/Instrumental	ᾳ / ῃ	αις
Accusative	αν / ην	ας
Vocative	α / η	αι

Nominative Singular: Ends in α or η. The naming case, typically used for the subject.

Genitive/Ablative Singular: ας or ης. Genitive expresses limitation. Ablative emphasizes source or separation.

Dative/Locative/Instrumental Singular: ᾳ or ῃ, used for indirect objects. It is the case of personal association.

Accusative Singular: αν or ην, the direct object form.

Vocative Singular: Usually identical to the nominative and used for direct address.

Plural Forms: The nominative and vocative plural end is αι, genitive/ablative is ῶν, dative/locative/instrumental is αις (for indirect objects), and accusative plural is ας.

The Article Agreement

Nouns take articles and adjectives that agree in gender, number, and case. Feminine nouns take the feminine forms of articles and adjectives, and masculine nouns take masculine forms.

Feminine Definite Article Forms:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ἡ	αἱ
Genitive/Ablative	τῆς	τῶν
Dative/Locative/Instrumental	τῇ	ταῖς
Accusative	τήν	τάς

 

Masculine Definite Article Forms:

Although the First Declension is primarily feminine, a few masculine nouns belong to this declension (e.g., μαθητής, “disciple”; νεανίας, “young man”).

The masculine article forms applied to First Declension nouns are as follows:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ	οἱ
Genitive/Ablative	τοῦ	τῶν
Dative/Locative/Instrumental	τῷ	τοῖς
Accusative	τόν	τούς

 

 

Examples of the article with First Declension Nouns:

1. Feminine First Declension Example (χώρα – “country”):
   • Singular:
     • Nominative: ἡ χώρα – “the country”
     • Genitive/Ablative: τῆς χώρας – “of/from the country”
     • Dative/Locative/Instrumental: τῇ χώρᾳ – ” for/with/by the country”
     • Accusative: τήν χώραν – “the country” (direct object)
   • Plural:
     • Nominative: αἱ χῶραι – “the countries”
     • Genitive/Ablative: τῶν χωρῶν – ” of/from the countries”
     • Dative/Locative/Instrumental: ταῖς χώραις – ” for/with/by the countries”
     • Accusative: τάς χώρας – “the countries” (direct object)

2. Masculine First Declension Example (μαθητής – “disciple”):
   • Singular:
     • Nominative: ὁ μαθητής – “the disciple”
     • Genitive/Ablative: τοῦ μαθητοῦ – ” of/from the disciple”
     • Dative/Locative/Instrumental: τῷ μαθητῇ – ” for/with/by the disciple”
     • Accusative: τόν μαθητήν – “the disciple” (direct object)
   • Plural:
     • Nominative: οἱ μαθηταί – “the disciples”
     • Genitive/Ablative: τῶν μαθητῶν – ” of/from the disciples”
     • Dative/Locative/Instrumental: τοῖς μαθηταῖς – “for/with/by the disciples”
     • Accusative: τούς μαθητάς – “the disciples” (direct object)