Noun – Nominative plural

ObjectivesLearning objectives

Long and short vowels
The morphology of the pl nom case (masc, fem, neut)
The syntax of subject-verb agreement with neut pl subjects

VocabularyVocabulary

Greek	Gloss	Part of speech	Paradigm
ἡ οἰκοδομή, -ῆς	the building	noun	B.a.α.i
ἡ σελήνη, -ης	the moon	noun	B.a.α.i
ὁ τόπος, -ου	the place	noun	B.a.β.i
τὸ πλοῖον, -ου	the boat	noun	B.a.β.ii
τὸ χρυσίον, -ου	the gold	noun	B.a.β.ii
ὁ οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ	the house of God	phrase

VocabularyPhrases as vocabulary items

Words are often interpreted differently when co-occurring with other words. The phrase (abbreviated phr) ὁ οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ, literally ‘the house of God’, is more specifically a reference to the temple. When learning a new language, it is often helpful to learn entire phrases when they refer to specific things.

PhonologyPhonology: Long and short vowels

As we saw with the genitive and dative, long vowels can change the accents (3.1.3), e.g. ὁ ἄνθρωπ-ος, τοῦ ἀνθρώπ-ου. Vowel length is also important for the circumflex accent – it is never found on an (exclusively) short vowel (i.e. ε or ο), and a long, accented penultima must take a circumflex if the ultima is short (e.g. δοῦλος). Because of these rules, it is important to know which vowels are long and which are short; the following table distinguishes all of Greek’s vowel sounds based on length:

Phonology: Long and short vowels

Short	Long	Short/long	Diphthongs (variable at end)	Diphthongs (always long)
ε, ο	η, ω	α, ι, υ	αι, οι	αυ, ει, ευ, ηυ, ου, υι

Diphthongs were introduced in the introduction as a complex vowel sound made up of two individual sounds. They are almost always considered to be long, except for when αι or οι end a word by themselves (e.g., οι is short in ἄνθρωποι but long in ἀνθρώποις). In such cases, they are ordinarily short.

MorphologyMorphology: Noun – Nominative plural

The masc nom pl ending has an o-class vowel (like the singular; see 1.1.4.1).
The fem ending has an α (η and α endings are common for fem).
A final ι in the masc and fem endings mark the nom pl.
The endings for the masc and fem are identical to the corresponding articles, except that the articles have a rough breathing mark.
An α marks the ending for the neut, with an added τ for the article.

Morphology: Noun – Nominative plural

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative plural	οἱἄνθρωπ-οι	αἱἀδελφ-αί	τὰτέκν-α

SyntaxSyntax: Subject-verb agreement with neut pl subjects

The normal expectation is for plural subjects to exhibit agreement with their verb in number, that is, plural subjects would have plural verbs. This expectation is not always met:

Example 38No agreement between pl subject and verb

τὰ πρόβατα τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούει (John 10:3)

The sheep hear his voice

There was a rule in Attic Greek, the form of Greek used several hundred years before the New Testament, where a non-human plural neuter subject (like πρόβατα) would take a singular verb (like ἀκούει). This “rule” is inconsistently applied within the Greek of the NT, though John 10:3 demonstrates that it is still occasionally found.

Become a fluent reader of the biblical languages

Biblingo is the only language-learning app (mobile and web) that provides everything you need to go from zero knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and Latin to reading the Bible in its original and historic languages — all in one place.

Start Free Trial