Greek Resources

The Dual
In the early years of the Greek language, some of the Greek dialects used a form known as the "Dual" when
speaking of a pair of objects. So there were three "numbers" - singular (speaking of one), dual (speaking of a pair),
and plural (speaking of more than one).
The plural supplanted the dual at an early stage in the history of the language.
Homer uses the dual occasionally, but not consistently.
The Aeolic dialect did not have a dual. The Ionic dialect lost the dual at a very early stage. The Attic dialect lost the
dual by 300 BC.
Nouns, Adjectives, Participles : The dual has identical endings for
the Nominative, Vocative and Accusative; and for
the Genitive and Dative.
Typical endings : Nouns
First Declension Second Declension Third Declension
Sing. Nom. nikh - victory o0fqalmoj - eye xeir - hand
Dual : N.V.A. nika o0fqalmw xeire
Dual : G.D. nikain o0fqalmoin xeiroin
Sing. Nom. glwtta - tongue1 i9ppoj - horse qhr - wild beast
Dual : N.V.A. glwtta i9ppw qhre
Dual : G.D. glwttain i9ppoin qhroin
Sing. Nom. neaniaj - young man dwron - gift pathr - father
Dual : N.V.A. neania dwrw patere
Dual : G.D. neaniain dwroin pateroin
Sing. Nom. krithj - judge o(doj - way a)nhr - man
Dual : N.V.A. krita o(dw a)ndre
Dual : G.D. kritain o(doin a)ndroin
Sing. Nom. 0Atreidhj - son of Atreus newj, naoj - temple2 genoj - tribe
Dual : N.V.A. 0Atreida new, nhw3 genei (gene-e)
Dual : G.D. 0Atreidain new|n, nhoin3 genoin (gene-oin)
Sing. Nom. ui(oj - son h(rwj - hero
Dual : N.V.A. ui(ei h(rwe
Dual : G.D. ui(eoin h(rwoin
Sing. Nom. basileuj - king
Dual : N.V.A. basilh
Dual : G.D. basileoin

(1) glwtta was the early form. By the time of the NT this had become glwssa
(2) newj was the Attic form, naoj was the form in Koinh Homer sometimes uses nhoj
(3) new, new|n were the Attic forms, nhw, nhoin were the Ionic forms

NOTE - Homer also uses the forms -oiin and -aiin for Dual Genitive/Dative endings.
Homer uses variant spellings for many words.

A dual subject may take a dual or plural verb; a neuter dual may take a dual, singular, or plural verb.
A plural subject may take a dual verb if the subject is a pair.
A plural participle may be used with a dual verb, and a dual participle may be used with a plural verb.
A dual subject may be followed by a plural predicate adjective or participle.
 Typical endings : Adjectives
Sing. Nom. a0gaqoj -h -on - good megaj megalh mega - great
Dual : N.V.A. a0gaqw -a -w megalw megala megalw
Dual : G.D. a0gaqoin -ain -oin megaloin megalain megaloin
Sing. Nom. a0cioj -a -on - worthy meizwn meizon - greater
Dual : N.V.A. a0ciw -a -w meizone meizone
Dual : G.D. a0cioin -ain -oin meizonoin meizonoin
Sing. Nom. a0lhqhj -ej - true taxuj taxeia taxu - swift
Dual : N.V.A. a0lhqei -ei taxe-e taxeia taxe-e
Dual : G.D. a0lhqoin -oin taxe-oin taxeiain taxe-oin

Typical endings : Participles

Sing. Nom. w)n ou)sa o)n - being tiqeij tiqeisa tiqen - placing
Dual : N.V.A. o)nte ou)sa o)nte tiqente tiqeisa tiqente
Dual : G.D. o)ntoin ou)sain o)ntoin tiqentoin tiqeisain tiqentoin
Sing. Nom. luwn -ousa -on - loosing didouj didousa didon - giving
Dual : N.V.A. luonte -ousa -onte didonte didousa didonte
Dual : G.D. luontoin -ousain -ontoin didontoin didousain didontoin
Sing. Nom. lusaj lusasa lusan - having loosed lelukwj lelukuia lelukon - having loosed
Dual : N.V.A. lusante lusasa lusante lelukote lelukuia lelukote
Dual : G.D. lusantoin lusasain lusantoin lelukotoin lelukuiain leluktoin
Sing. Nom. ei)dwj ei)duia ei)doj - knowing
Dual : N.V.A. ei)dote ei)duia ei)dote
Dual : G.D. ei)dotoin ei)duiain ei)dotoin

Pronouns, The Definite Article

Sing. Nom. e0gw - I1 au)toj au)th au)to - he, she, it o( h( to - the
Dual : N.V.A. nw - we two1 au)tw& au)ta& au)tw& tw& tw& tw&
Dual : G.D. nw|n au)toin au)tain au)toin toin toin toin
Sing. Nom. su - you2 ou(toj au(th touto - this o3j h# o# - who, which
Dual : N.V.A. sfw - you two tou&tw tou&tw tou&tw w3 w3 w3
Dual : G.D. sfw|n toutoin toutoin toutoin oi(n oi(n oi(n
Sing. Nom. e0keinoj e0keinh e0keino - that tij ti - someone
Dual : N.V.A. e0keinw e0keinw e0keinw tine tine
Dual : G.D. e0keinoin e0keinoin e0keinoin tinoin tinoin
(1) Homer has e0gw, e0gwn, NVA nwi+, nw ; GD nwi+n
(2) Homer has su, tunh, NVA sfwi+, sfw, sfwe; GD sfwi+n, sfw|n

Verbs
The First Person Dual is the same as the First Person Plural except for a few instances in poetry.
The forms of the Second and Third Persons Dual are identical or very similar to each other.
Tense, Mood, Voice Person
2 -ton
Primary tenses Indicative Active, and Subjunctive Active 3 -ton
2 -ton
Secondary tenses Indicative Active, and Optative Active 3 -thn
2 -sqon
Primary tenses Indicative Middle/Passive, and Subjunctive Middle/Passive 3 -sqon
2 -ston
Secondary tenses Indicative Middle/Passive, and Optative Middle/Passive 3 -sqhn
2 -ton
Imperative Active 3 -twn
2 -sqon
Imperative Middle/Passive 3 -sqwn
Tense, Mood, Voice Pers. luw I loose tiqhmi I place didwmi I give ei)mi I am
2 lueton tiqeton didoton 0iton
Present Indicative Active 3 lueton tiqeton didoton 0iton
2 luseton
Future Indicative Active 3 luseton
2 e0lueton e0tiqeton e0didoton h|)ton
Imperfect Indicative Active 3 e0luethn e0tiqethn e0didothn h)|thn
2 e0lusaton e0qeton e0dosqon
Aorist Indicative Active 3 e0lusathn e0qethn e0dosqhn
2 lelukaton
Perfect Indicative Active 3 lelukaton
2 e0lelukaton
Pluperfect Indicative Active 3 e0lelukathn
2 luhton tiqhton didwton 0ihton
Present Subjunctive Active 3 luhton tiqhton didwton 0ihton
2 lushton qhton dwson
Aorist Subjunctive Active 3 lushton qhton dwson
2 lelukhton
Perfect Subjunctive Active 3 lelukhton
2 luoiton tiqeiton didoiton 0ioiton
Present Optative Active 3 luoithn tiqeithn didoithn 0ioithn
2 lusoiton
Future Optative Active 3 lusoithn
2 lusaiton qeiton doiton
Aorist Optative Active 3 lusaithn qeithn doithn
2 lelukoiton
Perfect Optative Active 3 lelukoithn
2 lueton tiqeton didoton 0iton
Present Imperative Active 3 luetwn tiqetwn didotwn 0itwn
2 lusaton qeton doton
Aorist Imperative Active 3 lusatwn qetwn dotwn
2 luesqon tiqesqon didosqon
Present Indicative Middle 3 luesqon tiqesqon didosqon
2 lusesqon
Future Indicative Middle 3 lusesqon
2 e0luesqon
Imperfect Indicative Middle 3 e0luesqon
2 e0lusasqon e0qesqon e0dosqon
Aorist Indicative Middle 3 e0lusasqhn e0qesqhn e0dosqhn
2 lelusqon
Perfect Indicative Middle 3 lelusqon
2 e0lelusqon
Pluperfect Indicative Middle 3 e0lelusqon
2 luhsqon tiqhsqon didwsqon
Present Subjunctive Middle 3 luhsqon tiqhsqon didwsqon
2 lusqhsqon qhsqon dwsqon
Aorist Subjunctive Middle 3 lusqhsqon qhsqon dwsqon
2 luoisqon tiqeisqon didoisqon
Present Optative Middle 3 luoisqhn tiqeisqhn didoisqhn
2 lusoisqon
Future Optative Middle 3 lusoisqhn
2 lusaisqon qeisqon doisqon
Aorist Optative Middle 3 lusaisqhn qeisqhn doisqhn
2 luesqon tiqesqon didosqon
Present Imperative Middle 3 luesqwn tiqesqwn didosqwn
2 lusasqon qesqon dosqon
Aorist Imperative Middle 3 lusasqwn qesqwn dosqwn
2 luqhsesqon
Future Indicative Passive 3 luqhsesqon
2 e0luqhton
Aorist Indicative Passive 3 e0luqhthn
2 luqhton
Aorist Subjunctive Passive 3 luqhton
2 luqhton
Aorist Imperative Passive 3 luqhtwn