Greek Cases Explained: Genitive, Accusative and More

Modern Greek has four cases: the nominative, the genitive, the accusative and the vocative. A case is a change of ending that shows the role of a word in the sentence: subject, object, owner, or the person you are speaking to. English has kept this only in its pronouns (he, him, his); Greek does it with articles, nouns and adjectives. In the transliteration the accent marks the stressed syllable, ch sounds like the German ach, d like the th in "this", and th like the th in "think".

Ancient Greek also had a dative. Modern Greek replaced it with σε + accusative (δίνω το βιβλίο στον Νίκο, I give the book to Nikos) or with the genitive (του δίνω το βιβλίο, I give him the book). The dative survives only in fixed phrases such as δόξα τω Θεώ (thank God).

The Greek article in all cases

The article is the best place to start: it is short, it is very regular, and it shows the case even when the noun is unfamiliar.

The feminine accusative keeps its ν before a vowel and before κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ: την Αθήνα, την Πέμπτη, but τη Δευτέρα, τη μητέρα. Masculine τον usually keeps it everywhere. The vocative has no article. The indefinite article declines too: ένας, ενός, έναν (masculine), μία or μια, μιας, μία or μια (feminine), ένα, ενός, ένα (neuter).

Noun endings: the most common types

Most nouns belong to a handful of patterns. Learn one example of each and you can decline the great majority of everyday words. Singular first:

And the plural:

Three things to notice. First, neuter nouns have the same form in nominative, accusative and vocative, so only the genitive changes. Second, the feminine nouns in -α and -η and the masculine nouns in -ας and -ης only drop or add a final ς in the singular. Third, the genitive plural always ends in -ων, and for many nouns the stress moves to the end: των ωρών, των αντρών. In words like ο άνθρωπος the stress also moves in the genitive singular: του ανθρώπου. The plural of nouns and nouns that grow cover the less regular types.

The accusative: object, prepositions and time

The accusative is the case you will use most after the nominative. It marks the direct object (πίνω τον καφέ, I drink the coffee) and comes after almost every common preposition.

Σε joins the article: σε + τον = στον, σε + την = στην, σε + το = στο, and in the plural στους, στις, στα. It also combines with adverbs to make place expressions: μέσα στο σπίτι (inside the house), δίπλα στην πόρτα (next to the door), πάνω στο τραπέζι (on the table). Time expressions use the accusative without a preposition: τη Δευτέρα (on Monday), το καλοκαίρι (in summer), κάθε μέρα (every day). See από and σε, prepositions and nominative and accusative.

The genitive: possession and "to him, to her"

The genitive comes after the noun it describes, like "of" in English:

• το σπίτι του Νίκου (to spíti tu níku) = Nikos's house
• το αυτοκίνητο της Μαρίας (to aftokínito tis marías) = Maria's car
• η πόρτα του σπιτιού (i pórta tu spitiú) = the door of the house
• τα παιχνίδια των παιδιών (ta pechnídia ton pedión) = the children's toys
• ένα ποτήρι νερό = a glass of water: with quantities Greek uses no genitive at all.

The short possessive pronouns are genitives too, and they also come after the noun: μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους (my, your, his, her, our, your, their). Το σπίτι μου = my house, η μητέρα της = her mother, τα παιδιά μας = our children. Before a verb, the same words mean "to me, to you, to him": μου αρέσει (it pleases me, I like it), του τηλεφώνησα (I phoned him), σας δίνω το κλειδί (I give you the key). For emphasis, use δικός μου: είναι δικό μου (it's mine). Read the genitive, the possessives and whose? δικό μου.

The vocative: calling people by name

When you speak directly to someone, masculine nouns in -ος change their ending; all other nouns look like the nominative.

So you greet a man politely with Καλημέρα, κύριε Παπαδόπουλε and a woman with Καλημέρα, κυρία Παπαδοπούλου: women's surnames are often in the genitive form of the family name. Names are covered in proper names, and greetings in the greetings guide.

How to learn the Greek cases

• Learn the article table by heart. It is only a dozen short words, and it carries the case in most sentences.
• Learn every noun with its article, so the gender, and therefore the endings, come for free.
• Nominative and accusative first. They cover most of beginner Greek. Add the genitive when you start saying "my", "his" and "of".
• Notice cases in set phrases: στο σπίτι, με το λεωφορείο, το σπίτι μου. Then compare them with the tables. The next step is the full case system and, at advanced level, using the cases.

Frequently asked questions

How many cases are there in Greek?

Four in Modern Greek: nominative, genitive, accusative and vocative. Ancient Greek had five, including the dative.

Which case comes after σε, από, με and για?

The accusative. Almost all common prepositions in Modern Greek take the accusative; a few learned ones, like κατά in some meanings or υπέρ, take the genitive.

When do you use the genitive in Greek?

Mainly for possession and "of" (το σπίτι του Νίκου), and in the short pronouns μου, σου, του for "my, your, his" and "to me, to you, to him".

Why do Greeks say Γιώργο instead of Γιώργος?

That is the vocative, used when you speak to someone. Masculine names in -ος lose the ς and usually end in -ο or -ε.

Cases are introduced gently, one at a time, in our free A1 Greek course. You can start it here.