Πτώσεις
Greek has four cases, which means that three parts of speech – pronouns, nouns, and articles – each have up to four forms, depending on how they are used in a sentence. (And that doesn’t even include gender and number differences! More about
those in future lessons.)
1. Nominative case – Ονομαστική
Also known as the "naming case," the nominative is the form of nouns and
pronouns that serves as either the subject or the complement of a verb.
| Ο Μάρκος μένει στην Αθήνα. | Markos lives in Athens. | |
| Είναι γιατρός. | He’s a doctor. |
2. Accusative case – Αιτιατική
The accusative is the case used for direct objects and objects of prepositions.
| Ξέρω τον Μάρκο. | I know Markos. | |
| Μιλάω με τον γιατρό. | I’m talking to the doctor. |
3. Genitive case – Γενική
The genitive case is used for many different things, including
- Possession
- Indirect objects
- Characteristics, nouns describing other nouns (e.g., history book)
(I haven’t studied this yet so will add examples later.)
FWIW: My Greek teacher says that the genitive is always introduced as the second case.
4. Vocative case – Κλητική
The vocative case is used only when addressing someone.