Agia Anna Beach, a very quiet bay on the Cyclade island Naxos, in Greece.
Perceived in the sea in Agia Anna.
On the following links you will find some highly qualified websites on English Grammar, including parsing sentences:
GrammarpediaUCL-English Grammar
Irene Droppert
Dutch - Modern Greek
Vlaardingen-The Netherlands
The articles in Modern Greek
In MG the noun has three endings for genders, viz masculine, feminine and neuter. In order to determine the gender of a substantive we may look at the ending of a Greek word, for example:
- when a word ends on «-ος», «-ας»- or «-ης» it is probably masculine.
- ending on «-η» and «-α » it is probably feminine.
- ending on «-ο», «-ι» or «-μα» it is probably neuter.
Fortunately, the substantives in Greek, almost always are accompanied by an article. The article tells us the gender of the substantive. The presence or absence of an article will change the sense of the sentence. The absence of an article is related to the property of the substantive.
The Modern Greek articles are characterized as either definite or indefinite. The definite article points out some specific person or thing, in contrast to the indefinite article which is used for non-specific components. Both have various forms, according to grammatical attributes such as gender, number and case.
The article has three cases, as well as the noun and the adjective. Since the third case has been disappeared virtually, except for some old expressions, the second and the third case together represent the genetive in the New Greek language. The first case represents the subject, i.e. the person performing the operation, and the nominal part of the predicate. The second case represents the possessive pronoun and the indirect object. With the fourth case, the direct object and the determiners are designated.
An article is a modifier that precedes a noun, to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.
The definite article - το οριστικό άρθρο
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|
| ο | η | το |
The definite article has a singular and plural form
Singular - ενικός αριθμός
| Cases | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st case | ο | η | το |
| 2nd case | του | της | του |
| 4th case | το(ν) | τη(ν) | το |
Plural - πληθυντικός αριθμός
| Cases | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st case | οι | οι | τα |
| 2nd case | των | των | των |
| 4th case | τους | τις | τα |
N.B.
- The last «ν» in «το(ν)», «τη(ν)» and «ένα(ν)» (indef.article)
- in the 4the case masc. and fem.
- The «ν» is always used before vowels and mostly before the following consonants and clusters: «κ, ξ, π, τ, ψ,μπ, ντ, γκ, τζ en τσ».e.g.: την αγάπη - the lover, τον άγγελο - the angel, την γκρίνια - the nagger, έναν καφέ - a coffee, την τσάντα - the bag, etc.
- it may be omitted before: «β, γ, δ, ζ, θ, μ, ν, λ, ρ, σ, χ en φ», e.g.: το(ν) δήμο - community, τη(ν) βελόνα - needle, το(ν) νησί - island, τη(ν) μέρα - day, etc.
- However you will often still hear the last «ν» in conversations, despite the above explanation.
In some situations, particularly in the 1st and 4th case neuter, singular and plural, the final vowel of the article or the initial vowel of the next word can be omitted on an optional basis:
When a word begins with «α» or «ο»
- το αχνάρι changes in τ'αχνάρι - The footprint
- το όνομα changes in τ'όνομα - the name
When a word begins with «ε» or «ει»
- το έλεος changes in το'λεος - the compassion
- το εισόδημα changes in το'σόδημα' - the harvest
When a word behind the neuter article plural «τα» begins with an «α»
- τα αυτοκίνητα changes in τ'αυτοκίνητα - the cars
- τα άκρα changes in τ'άκρα - hands and feet
More about this article you'll find on: the definite article
When a situation is described as at, in or on a location, as well as describing a movement of to, into or on to a location the preposition «σε» is shortened to «σ'» and conjoined with the definite article as «στον», «στην», «στα» etc. look here
The indefinite article - το aόριστο άρθρο
for the indefinite article in singular a is used. It harmonizes in all genders in form with the number one, but not in meaning.
Singular - ενικός αριθμός
| Cases | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1stcase | ένας | μια, μία | ένα |
| 2nd case | ενός | μιας, μίας | ενός |
| 4th case | ένα(ν) | μια(ν), μία(ν) | ένα |
N.B.
- The indefinite article is used when we describe a person or object with no specific identification.
- The indefinite article is in singular.
- Occasionally the stressed «μία» is used for the feminine singular form instead of «μια». These two form only differ in pronunciation, not in meaning. Two examples in which it is used:
- μια κατάσταση - one situation
- μόνο μία κατάσταση - only one situation
