30.1 You have already learned Greek nouns and pronouns. This lesson introduces a closely related category of words: the ADJECTIVE.
Adjectives describe or further define nouns (and pronouns). An adjective must agree with its noun in GENDER, NUMBER, and CASE. Like definite articles and pronouns, therefore, adjectives must have forms to represent each possible combination of gender, number and case.
Greek adjectives are formed using the SAME THREE DECLENSIONS – and the SAME PERSISTENT ACCENT RULES – that are used by Greek nouns. Furthermore, just as each noun belongs to a particular declension, each adjective belongs to a specific declension family or grouping. There are four main declension families:
- Three-Ending 1st and 2nd Declension Adjectives (2-1-2)
- Two-Ending 2nd Declension Adjectives (2-2)
- Two-Ending 3rd Declension Adjectives (3-3)
- Three-Ending 1st and 3rd Declension Adjectives (3-1-3)
30.2 In order to make clear the declension family to which a given adjective belongs, each is listed with all of its NOMINATIVE SINGULAR forms in a vocabulary entry or lexicon. For example:
- Nominative singular forms in –ος, –η (-ᾱ), –ον
- Three-Ending 1st and 2nd Declension Adjective (2-1-2)
- Nominative singular forms in –ος, –ον
- Two-Ending 2nd Declension Adjective (2-2)
- Nominative singular forms in –ς, —
- Two-Ending 3rd Declension Adjective (3-3)
- Nominative singular forms in –ς, –α, —
- Three-Ending 1st and 3rd Declension Adjectives (3-1-3)
In this lesson, we review the most common type of adjective: Three-Ending 1st and 2nd Declension (2-1-2).