Definite Articles

Definite articles in Greek are equivalent to the English word ''the'', however, in Greek, they vary depending on the
gender and number of the word that follows. .
Greek like Polish, Russian, and many other languages uses 3 grammatical genders to describe nouns. While English
though, has «the» for every gender and number, Greek has six possible articles.
Number and Gender in
Article Example
Nominative
Singular masculine ο ο άντρας = the man
Plural masculine οι οι άντρες = the men
Singular feminine η η γυναίκα = the woman
Plural feminine οι οι γυναίκες = the women
Singular neuter το το παιδί = the child
Plural neuter τα τα παιδιά = the children

Cases in Masculine and Feminine Gender

Modern Greek has four cases in each number (Nominative, Genitive, Accusative, Vocative). The suffix shows the
changes.
Cases and Numbers
Nominative singular
Genitive singular
Accusative singular
Vocative singular
Nominative Plural
Genitive plural
Accusative Plural
Vocative Plural
Example Masculine Example Feminine
ο άντρας = the man η γυναίκα = the woman
του άντρα = of the man της γυναίκας = of the woman
τον άντρα = the man τη γυναίκα = the woman
άντρα = man γυναίκα = woman
οι άντρες = the men οι γυναίκες = the women
των αντρών = of the men των γυναικών = of the women
τους άντρες = the men τις γυναίκες = the women
άντρες=men γυναίκες=women

Cases in Neuter Gender

Cases and Numbers Example Neuter 1 Example Neuter 2
Nominative singular το παιδί = the child το βιβλίο = the book
Genitive singular του παιδιού = of the child του βιβλίου = of the book
Accusative singular το παιδί = the child το βιβλίο = the book
Vocative singular παιδί = child βιβλίο = book
Nominative Plural τα παιδιά = the children τα βιβλία = the books
Genitive plural των παιδιών= of the children των βιβλίων = of the books
Accusative Plural τα παιδιά = the children τα βιβλία = the books
Vocative Plural παιδιά = children βιβλία = books

INDEFINITE ARTICLES
For the Indefinite articles (A/AN/ONE in English) Greek has 3 possible types according to the gender of the word
that follows.
Singular Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Neuter
NOMINATIVE: ένας μία or μια ένα
GENITIVE: ενός μίας or μιας ενός
ACCUSATIVE: ένα or έναν μία or μια ένα
VOCATIVE: --- --- ---

Examples:
·        Ένας ελέφαντας (masculine) = An / one elephant
·        Μία γάτα (feminine) = A / one cat
·        Ένα φίδι (neuter) = A / one snake

The indefinite articles ένας, μία, ένα can be omitted when:

 ·        The meaning of the sentence is general.
·        The subject of the sentence can only be one.
·        The number of subjects does not matter.

Examples:
The cat is an animal - Η γάτα είναι ζώο.
These two are not a couple - Αυτοί οι δύο δεν είναι ζευγάρι.

Examples: To BE
(Εγώ) είμαι = I am
(Εσύ) είσαι = you are (singular)
(Αυτός, αυτή, αυτό) είναι = he, she or it is
(Εμείς) είμαστε = we are
(Εσείς) είσαστε = you are(plural) (or είστε)
(Αυτοί, αυτές, αυτά) είναι =they are

Important note: the pronoun (Εγώ, εσύ ...is not always needed.)

Pronouns Example
1st person singular εγώ = I εγώ τρώω = I eat
2nd person singular εσύ = you εσύ τρως = you eat
3rd person singular αυτός/αυτή/αυτό = he/she/it αυτός τρώει = he eats
1st person plural εμείς = we εμείς τρώμε = we eat
2nd person plural εσείς = you εσείς τρώτε = you eat
3rd person plural αυτοί/αυτές = they (masculine/feminine) αυτοί τρώνε = they eat
Note that they has two types. If it refers to a group all males or male and female or its gender composition is
unknown, αυτοί is used. If the group is composed of only females, αυτές is used instead.
Keep in mind that in Greek the personal pronoun (I, you etc) is not needed before the verb to define which person
it is (as in English).

The verb ending shows the person so for example:

Πίνω I drink.
Πίνεις You drink (singular)
Πίνει He/She/It drinks.
Πίνουμε & We drink
Πίνετε You drink (plural
Πίνουν & πίνουνε oral. They drink

Spelling Note
·        The word άντρας can also be written as άνδρας. This can happen in all types of this word, just by replacing
the letter τ with the δ.