GCSE Classical Greek OCR

The definite article

The Definite Article

• The definite article in Greek corresponds to "the" in English.

• It agrees in gender, number and case with the noun it modifies.

• It has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.

• Each gender has four cases: nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative.

Forms of the Definite Article

Masculine

• Nominative Singular: ὁ

• Genitive Singular: τοῦ

• Dative Singular: τῷ

• Accusative Singular: τὸν

• Nominative Plural: οἱ

• Genitive Plural: τῶν

• Dative Plural: τοῖς

• Accusative Plural: τούς

Feminine

• Nominative Singular: ἡ

• Genitive Singular: τῆς

• Dative Singular: τῇ

• Accusative Singular: τήν

• Nominative Plural: αἱ

• Genitive Plural: τῶν

• Dative Plural: ταῖς

• Accusative Plural: τάς

Neuter

• Nominative Singular: τό

• Genitive Singular: τοῦ

• Dative Singular: τῷ

• Accusative Singular: τό

• Nominative Plural: τά

• Genitive Plural: τῶν

• Dative Plural: τοῖς

• Accusative Plural: τά

Key Usage Notes

• Unlike English, Greek often uses the definite article with proper names.

• The definite article is also used before adjectives that are used substantively, i.e., as nouns.

• The article can also appear with infinitives, with a participle acting as a substantive, with adverbs, with a clause that is acting as a noun, and with prepositions.