The Greek article – Definite and Indefinite

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Unlike the English article “the”, the Greek article is a declinable word which has

3 genders:

• masculine

• feminine

• neuter

There are 2 main types of articles in Greek. The Definite (ο, η, το) and the

Indefinite (ένας, μία/μια, ένα). Both are used before singular and plural

adjectives and nouns.

Now let’s see their declensions and when to use them.

The Definite article

In a nutshell, the definite article is used to denote a specific item.

Analytically, we use the definite article when:

• we want to refer to a specific person, animal or object. For example:

Προτιμώ το λεωφορείο όταν ταξιδεύω παρά το τρένο

Protimoto leoforio otan taxidevo parato treno

I prefer the bus when I travel rather than the train

• we want to refer to all persons or things belonging to the same species. For example:

Το λιοντάρι είναι ο βασιλιάς των ζώων

To liontari einai o vasilias ton zoon

The lion is the king of the animals

• we use a proper noun (all words starting with a capital letter). For example:

η Αθήνα

e Athina

(the) Athens

Declension

Note:

The Greek definite article has no Vocative case.

When we use for example a noun in Vocative, we leave the noun without an

article or we use ω or ε.

Examples:

Θεέ μου, βοήθησέ με! – Thee mou, voithise me – My God, help me!

Ω Θεέ μου, βοήθησέ με! – O Thee mou, voithise me – Oh my God, help me!

E, άνθρωπε, που πας; – E, anthrope, pou pas; – Hey, man, where are you going?

Rule (τη/την)

The accusative case of the feminine article retains the final ν when the next word

starts with a vowel or from κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, γκ, μπ, ντ, τσ, τζ.

Let’s see some examples:

η χώρα /τη χώρα – e hora/ti hora – country

η ώρα/ την ώρα – e ora/tin ora – hour

The Indefinite article

We use the Indefinite article when we refer to something indefinite and unknown

or when we refer to something for the first time. For example:

Ήταν ένα όμορφο απόγευμα

Itan ena omorfo apogevma

It was a beautiful evening

Declension

Notes:

The indefinite article has no plural form. Ιndefinite pronouns can be used

instead. Like the definite article, it has no Vocative case.

The accusative case of the feminine article is mainly used without the final ν. For

euphony reasons, the final ν can be used when the next word starts with a vowel.

See the below example:

Θα τα πούμε μιαν άλλη φορά – Tha ta poume mian ali fora – We’ll talk another time

One last thing, I promise 🙂

The Prepositional article

As you reading Greek, there’s a chance that you may have stumbled upon little

words such as στου, στης, στων etc. These words are also articles which are the

result of the combination of the preposition “σε” with the Genitive and Accusative

case (singular and plural) of the Definite article. So, we have the following types:

Let’s see some examples:

Θα έρθω στις 10:00 – Tha ertho stis 10:00 – I will come at 10:00

Θα πάμε στο σπίτι του Γιώργου – Tha pame sto spiti tou Yorgou – We will go to George’s house

Πηγαίνει στην αγορά – Piyenei stin agora – He is going to the market

Do you feel like this is getting too much for you?

Don’t worry if you are not grasping everything immediately.

Soon it will all fall into place.

To help solidify your understanding, visit this helpful guide on avoiding common mistakeswith Greek articlesand try this Greek Article Quiz to test what you’ve learned so far!

Take care, until our next lesson 🙂