Conjunction-preposition: Conjunction-preposition - πλήν

SyntaxConjunction-preposition - πλήν

Because πλήν can be either a preposition or a conjunction, it can take a noun (as a preposition) or a clause (as a conjunction) after it. Some English words like since also have this dual syntactic category, e.g. I have been feeling terrible since Friday (since as preposition) or I have been feeling terrible since I ate that rotten apple (since as a conjunction). Πλήν is similar. It can be a preposition and take the genitive case, in which case it means ‘except,’ or it can be a conjunction where it means ‘but/nevertheless.’

fromLesson 37.4

SemanticsConjunction-preposition - πλήν

The conj/prep πλήν introduces a contrast between a thing or eventuality with something else. Since nouns usually refer to things and clauses to eventualities, the typical pattern is that πλήν contrasts two things when used as a preposition and takes a noun after it, and it contrasts two eventualities when used as a conjunction and takes a clause after it:

• (376) Contrasting two things
• πλὴν τῶν ἀποστόλων (Acts 8:1)
• Except the apostles

fromLesson 37.4