Lesson 2
Overview
Daily Dose of Greek overview:
Lark Kelsey overview:
Ted Hildebrandt for another perspective:
Memory
Start by remembering how to set up the parsing table. The case is written in the far left column followed by the singular and plural forms. The cases can be remembered with an acronym based on NGDA. I came up with "Never Go Down Amor" → "Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative."
Next, work on memorizing the article so that you will be able to write it out from memory. The article is used over 20,000 in the New Testament, so it is well worth mastering. Also note that the feminine article stays the same for all feminine nouns, whether α-type or η-type.
Notice that the singular and plural nominative forms in the first boxes are the only ones with rough breathing marks. The rest of the boxes start with τ, so that can be filled in. The singular nominative article is ἡ, and the η carries through each row in the column, albeit with different accent marks. That just leaves the ς to add to the end of the genitive singular, the subscripted ῇ for the dative singular, and the ν at the end of the accusative singular.
Now all of the singular articles are filled in. The feminine genitive plural article, τῶν, is the genitive plural for the masculine and neuter articles also, so it is good to just remember that. And just like the η was easy to remember in the singular column because the first item started with ἡ, the αῖς and ὰς endings of the dative and accusative plural forms should be easy to remember since the column starts with αἱ.
Now we can work on our two representative examples, ζωή for the η-type and καρδία for the α-type. Conveniently, the case endings for η-type nouns nearly match their articles. Each time you write out the declension (the full pattern), include the article in the table and the case endings are very easy. The α-type is exactly the same in the plural column. It only has a very slight difference in the singular column. The η's become α's, and the accents change. The dative singulars in both types have the iota subscript.
Finally, we can look at the irregular noun δόξα. It's irregular because of the consonant ending. It follows the alpha-type for the nominative and accusative and follows the eta-type for the genitive and dative. Getting these first declension nouns on lock will help greatly for learning the second declension nouns as they share certain similarities that we will see in the next chapter.
Don't forget to memorize the vocabulary now! Go through the flashcards multiple times and try to recall their meanings before looking at the definition. I included more vocabulary than the book, but you are now equipped to recognize and parse every word found below!
Parsing
Feminine Article
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ἡ | αἱ |
| Genitive | τῆς | τῶν |
| Dative | τῇ | ταῖς |
| Accusative | τὴν | τὰς |
Declension of ζωή (η-type)
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ἡ ζωή | αἱ ζωαί |
| Genitive | τῆς ζωῆς | τῶν ζωῶν |
| Dative | τῇ ζωῇ | ταῖς ζωαῖς |
| Accusative | τὴν ζωήν | τὰς ζωάς |
Declension of καρδία (α-type)
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ἡ καρδία | αἱ καρδίαι |
| Genitive | τῆς καρδίας | τῶν καρδιῶν |
| Dative | τῇ καρδίᾳ | ταῖς καρδίαις |
| Accusative | τὴν καρδίαν | τὰς καρδίας |
Declension of δόξα (α-type with Consonantal Stem)
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ἡ δόξα | αἱ δόξαι |
| Genitive | τῆς δόξης | τῶν δοξῶν |
| Dative | τῇ δόξῃ | ταῖς δόξαις |
| Accusative | τὴν δόξαν | τὰς δόξας |
Vocabulary
Textbook vocabulary video which goes along with material in the next chapter: Vocab 1.