Greek Parts of Speech
For those that are not familiar with the Greek language but are interested in understanding it better I have put together a quick reference list for the Greek parts of speech with a basic meaning for each. It is only meant to be a starting point that will hopefully guide you into understanding the language better. Seeing that the New Testament is mostly in the Greek language it is good if we can have at least a small grasp of the language to help us in our studies of the Word of God.
Noun: a creature or thing
Substantive: a noun or name; e.g. man, horse, city, goodness, excellence.
Pronoun: used instead of a noun or name, e.g. I, thou or you, he, she, it, we, ye, and they.
Number word: numerals; e.g., one, two, etc, first, second, etc. e.g., once, twice, etc.
Adjective: modifies a noun, or pronoun; e.g. a good book, the red book.
Article: the definite article (the).
Case
Nominative: names the main subject or topic of the sentence; e.g. our father is Abraham.
Genitive: expresses source or possession; corresponds to “of” “from” “during,” “for,” “by”
Dative: indirect object that answers the question? (to/for) (by/with) (in/at)
Accusative: direct object, limits the action of the verb as to the extent of action or goal. Answers how far?
Vocative: is used for addressing someone or on occasions, for uttering exclamations; e g O Lord!
Number
Singular: a word in the singular number.
Plural: expresses or denotes more than one; a word in the plural form.
Gender
Masculine: can refer to a mixed group of genders or inanimate objects with an infixed masculine gender.
Feminine: refers to a female when a person or to inanimate objects with an infixed feminine gender.
Neuter: used to refer to a person/s but is normally used to refer to objects which are inflected as neuter.
Verb Type
Verb: asserts what the subject is doing (an action), or who or what he/she/it is (state of being).
Finite: shows agreement with a subject and shows tense (a doing word as apposed to a verbal).
Participle: word that shares characteristics of both a verb and an adjective. (present:-ing) (past:-ed)
Infinitive: a verbal noun that provides an action which is the reason for the main verb: “because”.
Tense
Present: continuous action. (I throw, I am throwing)
Future: action in future time, either continuous or a single event. (I will throw, I shall throw)
Imperfect: continuous action in past time. (I was throwing)
Perfect: a completed act with emphasis on existing present results. (I did throw)
Pluperfect: a completed act which has continuing results in the past. (I had thrown)
Aorist: stresses the occurrence of an event, not its nature. (I threw, I did throw) seen as a snapshot. Second Aorist: same meaning as the aorist just a different form.
Mood
Indicative: assertion or presentation of certainty. Incorrect to say it is the mood of certainty or reality.
Imperative: mood of intention, furthest removed from certainty and is commonly used as a command.
Subjunctive: represents the verbal action or state as uncertain but probable.
Optative: the mood used when a speaker wishes to portray an action or state as possible.
Voice
Active: subject performs, produces, or experiences the action or exists in the state expressed by the verb.
Middle: subject performs or experiences the action expressed by the verb.
Passive: subject is acted upon or receives the action expressed of the verb.
Deponent: has no active form but is active in meaning.