What determines the function of the word in a sentence in Greek?
- word order or case ending?
Case ending.
what issues affect which case ending is used in specific instances?
Stem
Gender
Number
Declensions
Stem
Carries the meaning of the word. When you take the case ending off a noun you are left with the stem.
Gender
either masculine, feminine, or neuter. a noun has only one gender and it never varies.
Number
the difference between the singular and plural is indicated by the case endings sigma and iota
Declensions.
in Greek, there are basically three inflectional patterns used to create the different case endings. Each pattern is called a "declension".
what do the different declensions affect?
only the form of the case ending - no bearing on the meaning of the word.
what declension are nouns that have a stem ending in alpha or eta?
1st declension
what declension are nouns with a stem ending in omicron?
2nd declension.
what declension are nouns with stems than end in a consonant?
3rd declension
how many declension can a noun belong to?
only 1. since the final letter of the noun stem determines its declension.
What does it mean if a word is indeclinable?
some words in Greek are indeclinable, such as personal names and words borrowed from other languages. their for does not change regardless of their meaning or function in the sentence.
what is the primary function of the Nominative Case?
indicates the subject of the sentence.
What is the primary function the Accusative Case?
indicates the direct object of the verb.
the masculine and feminine case endings are often ____.
identical
Neuter nominative and accusative singular are always ________.
the same.
this is also true of the plural.
context will usually show you whether the word is the subject or direct object.
all first declension nouns that have eta in the singular