Case

Summary

In Koiné Greek, the case ending of a word indicates how that term functions within the sentence.

Article

Koine Greek is an inflected language. In practical terms this means that in Greek, the addition of a suffix to the root word will change it’s function within the sentence. Koiné Greek uses various kinds of word endings.

These word endings (or suffixes) are referred to as “case endings” and instead of being called “suffix endings” they are called “case endings.”

As a result, there is much flexibility with regard to word order in a sentence. It does not matter if the subject of the sentence comes first, of if the verb comes first, or if the object of the sentence comes first because the case of the word will determine its function within the sentence. Yet there are some general patterns that are generally true. Those patterns will be introduced below in the section Order of Words.

The term “Case” in Koiné Greek refers to the function indicated by the case ending.

Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, participles, and definite articles all require case endings. Verbs and adverbs do not require a case ending.

There are five different case endings in Koiné Greek: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and vocative.

Generally, the Nominative case indicates the subject of a sentence and other words that describe the subject, such as a predicate nominative or predicate adjective. It is also used for adjectives and participles modifying the subject of the sentence.

Generally, the Genitive case indicates possession.

However, the genitive can also be used to indicate many other kinds of relationships such as:

• a marital relationship,

• a relationship to a certain place or time, or

• separation between two entities, etc.

Some prepositions take their complement in the genitive case.

Generally, the Dative case indicates the indirect object of a verb. However, the dative case is also commonly used to express location, means, or agency. Some prepositions take their object in the dative case.

Generally, the Accusative case indicates the Direct Object of a verb. However, the accusative case is also commonly used to express the object of an Infinitive Some prepositions take their object in the accusative case.

The Vocative case indicates the addressee of a speech, that is, the person being spoken to.

Form

The case of a noun, pronoun, adjective, article, or participle is indicated by the case ending (or suffix) attached to the end of the word. These changes follow three basic patterns called “First declension,” “Second declension,” and “Third declension.”

First declension nouns have a feminine gender for the most part and in the nominative singular end in an alpha or an eta. See First Declension . A few masculine nouns end in an -ας or –ης. These words also follow a first declension pattern.

Second declension nouns end in –ος or –ον in the nominative singular. Almost all words ending in –ος in the nominative singular are masculine gender. All words that end in –ον in the nominative singular are neuter gender. See Second Declension .

Third declension nouns have stems that end in a consonant or the vowels (ι, υ, ευ). They are made up of all three genders. See Third Declension .

Adjectives and pronouns agree in case and number with the nouns they are modifying (or to which they are referring). Sometimes, the changes may be more significant. [for example the first person singular pronoun ἐγώ in the nominative case changes to μου when it is in the genitive case] See Adjective_paradigm or Pronoun_paradigm .

Order of Words

Because the Greek language has a case system, the sentence word order can be changed to place an emphasize particular words or clauses. The normal word order is conjunction – verb – subject – object. When this order is changed a slight emphasis is likely being made on the words that are moved forward.

Here is an example.

Example: Satan tempting Jesus

Matthew 4:3
Εἰ	υἱὸς	εἶ	τοῦ	θεοῦ	εἰπὲ	ἵνα	οἱ	λίθοι	οὗτοι	ἄρτοι	γένωνται.
Ei	huios	ei	tou	theou	eipe	hina	hoi	lithoi	houtoi	artoi	genōntai.
If	son	you are	of	God	order	that	the	stones	these	bread	they become.

If you are the son of God, order that these stones become bread.

Note: In this sentence the phrase “if you are the son of god” has been moved to the first position in the sentence. The movement of the phrase to the front of the sentence places a slight emphasis or stress on the whole clause (If you the son are”) and in particular an emphasis is being placed on “the son” which has been moved to the front of the clause.