20.1 Nouns in this declension are mostly MASCULINE and use endings like the masculine article, and identical to the pronouns αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό and ἐκεῖνος, ἐκείνη, ἐκεῖνο. The few FEMININE nouns in this declension use the same endings as the masculine. Only the article marks their feminine gender.
Most NOUN STEMS of the second declension end in –ο. As with the first declension, the vowel stem combines with the SECOND DECLENSION case endings in a stable, consistent way, so you actually learn the stem vowel and the personal ending together as one combined case ending (S 229). Note that the endings for the nominative and accusative singular, as well as the nominative plural, are short. All other endings are long (S 231, G 62).
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