Lesson 4: Second Declension Nouns
1. Verbs
ἀγω - I lead
ἀκουω - I hear
βλεπω - I see
ἐχω - I have
λυω - I loose, I destroy
2. Second Declension Nouns
ἀγγελος - messenger
ἀδελφος - brother
δουλος - slave, servant
καρπος - fruit
λογος - word
ἀνθρωπος- man
ἀποστολος - apostle, messenger
ἀρτος - bread
γαμος - marriage
δωρον - gift
θανατος - death
ἱερον - temple
λιθος - stone
νομος - law
ὀχλος - crowd
υἱος - son
και - and
ASSIGNMENT: Memorize the vocabulary words above. Note that list 1 are verbs, and list 2 are nouns of the second declension.
There are three ways of classifying nouns in Greek. The second declension (class) are the most frequent in the New Testament, so it is with these that we begin our study of nouns.
The following endings are attached to the noun root to obtain the endings of the second declension:
| Singular | Plural | Case |
| -ος | -οι | nominative |
| -ου | -ων | genitive |
| -ῳ | -οις | locative, instrumental, dative (note the ῳ with subscript ι) |
| -ον | -ους | accusative |
| -ε | - (none) | vocative |
For example, the stem of ἀνθρωπος is ἀνθρωπ- to which are added the endings of the second declension as follows:
| Singular | Plural |
| ἀνθρωπ- ος | ἀνθρωπ-οι |
| ἀνθρωπ-ου | ἀνθρωπ-ων |
| ἀνθρωπ-ῳ | ἀνθρωπ-οις |
| ἀνθρωπ-ον | ἀνθρωπ-ους |
| ἀνθρωπ-ε | (none) |
ASSIGNMENT: Decline (or add the appropriate endings, as above) all the nouns in the vocabulary at the beginning of lesson 4.
Now, we must briefly discuss the meanings of these endings:
The Nominative case (or ending) is the case that the subject of the sentence is found in.
The Genitive case is the case used to describe ownership of something. For example, oi0kou a0nqrwpou means "a man's house" or "a house of a man".
The Locative case indicates where something is located. "oi0kw| " means "in a house"
The Instrumental case indicates the means by which something is. "oi0kw| " means "by means of a house".
The Dative case indicates the direction of something. "oi0kw| " means "to a house".
The astute reader will notice that the Locative, Instrumental and Dative cases are all the same in form. The correct translation can only be gained by means of the context.
The Accusative case shows limits. "oi0kon" means "the house" (only).
The Vocative (which occurs only in the singular) is the case of address. "a0nqrwpe" means "man!"
Accurate translation means that the translator must know these forms and their meanings.
ASSIGMENT: Translate the following sentences:
- ἀνθρωπος γινωσκει τον νομον
- πεμπετε δωρα τῳ ἱερῳ
- λαμβανω δωρα καρπου και ἀρτον