BBG Chapter 6 — Nominative and Accusative; Article

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Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, Mounce, 4th Edition

1. The Second Declension (BBG §6.1–6.2)

The second declension covers the largest and most central group of Greek nouns. Most masculine nouns (and all neuter nouns that follow the -ον pattern) belong to the second declension.

Characteristics of the second declension:
- The stem ends in ο (the "omicron declension")
- Masculine nouns: nominative singular ends in -ος
- Neuter nouns: nominative singular ends in -ον

2. Second Declension Masculine Endings (BBG §6.3)

Paradigm word: λόγος (word) — stem: λογ-

Endings only:

Note: The vocative plural is identical to the nominative plural (-οι). Context distinguishes them — the vocative is direct address; the nominative is subject.

3. Second Declension Neuter Endings (BBG §6.4)

Paradigm word: ἔργον (work) — stem: ἐργ-

Endings only:

The Neuter Rule: In neuter nouns (and neuter adjectives), the nominative, accusative, and vocative are always identical — in both singular and plural. This means that for neuter nouns, you often must determine whether the form is a subject or object from context alone.

Neuter Plural Rule: Neuter plural nominative/accusative subjects often take a singular verb. This is a standard Greek idiom: τὰ τέκνα ἔρχεται = "the children come" (neuter plural subject + singular verb). Do not "fix" this when translating.

4. The Definite Article (BBG §6.5)

Greek has a definite article (equivalent to English "the") but no indefinite article (no Greek word for "a/an"). The absence of the article does not automatically mean "a/an" — context and grammar determine translation.

The Greek definite article is fully inflected in all three genders, four cases, and two numbers. It must be memorized completely.

Full Definite Article Paradigm

Patterns to Notice

• The article never has a vocative form (you do not say "the O word!").
• The masculine and neuter article share identical forms in the genitive, dative (sg. and pl.), and accusative plural is close.
• The feminine nominative forms (ἡ, αἱ) are the only article forms that do not begin with τ. They begin with the rough breathing η-sound alone.
• The genitive plural (τῶν) is the same for all three genders.

Memory tip for the article: The nominative forms (ὁ, ἡ, τό / οἱ, αἱ, τά) do not follow the regular noun endings pattern. They must be memorized separately. Everything else follows the standard endings.

5. Nominative Case: Functions (BBG §6.6)

The nominative case marks the subject of a finite verb and the predicate nominative.

Subject

The nominative noun (or noun phrase) identifies who or what performs the action of the verb (active voice) or receives the action (passive voice).

ὁ θεὸς ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον — "God loves the world" (John 3:16)
θεὸς ἐστίν = "he is God" (predicate nominative — see below)

Predicate Nominative

When a linking verb (especially εἰμί, "to be") connects two nouns, both nouns are in the nominative case. The first is the subject; the second is the predicate nominative.

ὁ λόγος θεὸς ἦν — "the Word was God" (John 1:1)
→ λόγος is the subject (with article ὁ); θεός is the predicate nominative (no article)

The Granville Sharp Rule: When two nouns in the nominative (or any case) are connected by καί and the first has a definite article but the second does not, both nouns refer to the same person. Classic example: Titus 2:13 — "our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" — both nouns refer to one person.

6. Accusative Case: Functions (BBG §6.7)

The accusative case marks the direct object of a transitive verb and the object of many prepositions.

Direct Object

The accusative noun receives the action of the verb.

ὁ θεὸς ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον — "God loves the world"
→ τόν κόσμον is accusative: it receives the action of "loves"

ἐγείρω τὸν νεκρόν — "I raise the dead (man)"
→ τόν νεκρόν is accusative singular masculine

Object of Prepositions

Several prepositions take their object in the accusative:

Note: Several of these prepositions can also take the genitive — and their meaning changes accordingly. Learning preposition + case pairings is essential for NT reading.

7. The Absence of an Indefinite Article (BBG §6.8)

Greek has no word for "a" or "an." When a noun lacks the definite article, it may be translated with "a/an" — but not always.

Anarthrous (without article) nouns are not automatically indefinite. In John 1:1, θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος — the predicate nominative θεός lacks the article not because it is indefinite but because it is qualitative: the Word has the nature/character of God. Context and grammar — not merely the presence or absence of the article — determine translation.

8. Identifying Word Function by Ending, Not Position (BBG §6.9)

Repeat of the core principle from Ch5, now illustrated with real forms:

Both sentences mean "The law saves the man" — word order is rhetorical, not grammatical.

9. Practice Vocabulary — Ch6 Words (2nd Declension)

These high-frequency 2nd-declension nouns appear constantly in the NT:

Lexical entry format: λόγος, -ου, ὁ — the genitive singular ending is given in the dictionary form to confirm the declension, and ὁ/ἡ/τό identifies the gender.