Greek 1.2: Articles

Definite and Indefinite Nouns

In the last post of the Greek series, we covered nouns, specifically the three qualifying conditions of all nouns in Greek, gender, number, and case. These conditions apply to all different kinds of nouns, that might belong to any of Greek’s three declensions (we’ve only met the first two): Common and Proper, Abstract and Concrete, Collective, Possessive, Gerund, etc. But more basic than all these types are two distinct sorts of nouns that can be any of these types: definite and indefinite nouns. A definite noun is one whose identity is known to the reader; an indefinite noun is any, indistinct noun whose identity is not necessarily known to the reader. In that sentence, for instance, a definite noun and an indefinite noun are both indefinite nouns; the reader is a definite noun. In English, we distinguish between definite and indefinite nouns with articles: so a definite noun and an indefinite noun are both indefinite designated by a/an, and the reader is a definite noun designated by the. A, an, and the are all articles. Ancient Greek in general has many more forms of its articles than English does, but that is largely because Greek is an inflected language in which the gender, number, and cases of nouns change their spelling, and with it, change their articles. In this lesson, we will consider two ways that Greek expresses whether a noun is definite or indefinite: anarthrous nouns and definite articles.