Ancient Greek study reference
Ancient Greek Abbreviations: grammar reference
Study Ancient Greek abbreviations: Case, Number, gender & person, Tense-form, Voice, Mood & verbal forms, Chart notation. Reference tables, labeled forms, and…
Case
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | Nominative | Commonly marks the subject or a predicate complement. |
| Gen. | Genitive | Often expresses possession, source, or another relationship; also governed by some prepositions. |
| Dat. | Dative | Often marks a recipient, means, or location; also governed by some prepositions. |
| Acc. | Accusative | Commonly marks a direct object; also follows many prepositions. |
| Voc. | Vocative | Used when directly addressing someone or something. |
Number, gender & person
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| sg. | Singular | One person or thing. |
| pl. | Plural | More than one person or thing. |
| masc. / m. | Masculine | Grammatical gender; it does not always indicate biological sex. |
| fem. / f. | Feminine | Grammatical gender used for noun, adjective, pronoun, and participle agreement. |
| neut. / n. | Neuter | Nominative and accusative forms are identical within the same number. |
| 1st | First person | The speaker: I or we. |
| 2nd | Second person | The listener: you, singular or plural. |
| 3rd | Third person | Someone or something spoken about: he, she, it, or they. |
Tense-form
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| pres. | Present | Normally imperfective aspect: an action viewed as ongoing or unfolding. Time depends on mood and context. |
| impf. | Imperfect | Past indicative with imperfective aspect. |
| fut. | Future | A future tense-form; often refers to an expected or future event. |
| aor. | Aorist | Views an event as a whole. Usually past in the indicative, but not inherently past in every mood. |
| perf. | Perfect | Often presents a resulting state in relation to an earlier event. |
| plupf. | Pluperfect | A perfect-system indicative presenting a resulting state in past time. |
Voice
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| act. | Active | The subject is presented as carrying out the action. |
| mid. | Middle | The subject participates with particular involvement; the meaning depends on the verb and context. |
| pass. | Passive | The subject is presented as receiving or undergoing the action. |
| m./p. | Middle / passive | One set of forms serves both voices in several tense systems. Context distinguishes their use. |
Mood & verbal forms
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| ind. | Indicative | Typically presents a statement or question as an assertion. |
| subj. | Subjunctive | Used in constructions such as purpose, exhortation, and certain conditions. |
| impv. | Imperative | Used for commands, requests, or prohibitions. Distinguish impv. from imperfect impf. |
| opt. | Optative | Used for wishes, potential events, and some reported speech; uncommon in the New Testament. |
| inf. | Infinitive | A nonfinite verbal form with tense-form and voice but no grammatical person. |
| ptcp. | Participle | A verbal adjective with tense-form and voice, inflected for gender, number, and case. |
Chart notation
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg / 2pl | Person + number | 1sg means first-person singular; 2pl means second-person plural. The same pattern gives 1pl, 2sg, 3sg, and 3pl. |
| PP | Principal parts | The six conventional citation forms used to identify a verb’s main stems. |
| (ν) | Movable nu | A parenthesized ν can be present or absent under Greek spelling conventions. |
| / | Alternatives or shared forms | Read the label: a slash may separate accepted spellings or identify a shared middle/passive form. |
| — | Not supplied | A dash marks an unavailable or omitted form. It is not an ending to memorize. |
| 2–1–2 / 3–1–3 | Adjective declension pattern | The numbers identify the declensions used for masculine, feminine, and neuter forms, in that order. |
| -μι | Athematic verb family | The present active first-person singular ends in -μι, as in δίδωμι. Many forms attach endings without the usual thematic connecting vowel. |
| NT | New Testament | The Greek New Testament; the charts also use model forms for learning patterns. |
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- Alphabet
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Noun System
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Definite Articles
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Adjective
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Pronouns
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Verb Master Chart
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Prepositions
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Voice Endings
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Mood Forms
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Participles
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Principal Parts
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Augment + Reduplication
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- εἰμί (To Be)
Ancient Greek grammar reference
- Contract Verbs
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- Liquid Verbs
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- μι Verbs
Ancient Greek grammar reference
Sources and scope
Selected reference content from the Word Radicals curriculum, shared with the iOS app. Model forms illustrate patterns; they do not give every form of every word.