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Lesson 22.2 — Noun Declensions

You have had months of language instruction for me, and I have never asked you to memorize anything.  But now I do.  Memorize these things, and they will pay huge dividends for you as you translate.

 

Case Endings

Declension 2 1 2
Gender masculine feminine neuter
Nominative Singular ς - ν
Accusative Singular ν ν ν
Nominative Plural ι ι α
Accusative Plural υς ς α

Where you see an underlined α, it means the vowels at the end contract.  Hence:


ο + α = α

 

The First Three Noun Rules

  1.  Stems ending in alpha or eta are in the first declension.  Stems ending in omicron are in the second declension, and consonantal stems are in the third declension.
     
  2. Every neuter word has the same form in the nominative and accusative.
     
  3. Almost all neuter words end in alpha in the nominative and accusative plural.

 

The Definite Article

Declension 2 1 2
Gender masculine feminine neuter
Nominative Singular ὁ ἡ τό
Accusative Singular τόν τήν τό
Nominative Plural οἱ αἱ τά
Accusative Plural τούς τάς τά

 

Assignment

Download and print out this worksheet:

Fold it in half, and then fill in the case endings paradigm and the definite article paradigm, as well as the first three noun rules.

Then turn the page over, so the part you filled out on top is no longer visible, and do the same thing on the bottom half of the page.

If you are able to print this form double sided, then do so.

Continue to print and fill out the worksheet until you are confident that you have memorized these two paradigms and the three rules.