Lesson 6: Adjectives

Vocabulary:

a0gaqoj- good	kainoj- new
a0gaphtoj- beloved	kakoj- bad
a0llon- another (of the same kind)	kaloj- beautiful
basilikoj- royal	mikroj- small
dikaioj- righteous	monoj- only, alone
e0sxatoj- last	nekroj- dead
e(teroj- another (of a different kind)	pistoj- faithful
prwtoj- first	ponhroj- evil

ASSIGNMENT: Memorize the vocabulary list above.

Like nouns, adjectives have gender, number, and case. An adjective is a word that modifies a noun- i.e., "a new house". the adjective is "new" and the noun is "house".

When an adjective is used in Greek it will agree (match) the noun in gender, case, and number. For example:

a0nqrwpoj a0gaqoj = a good man

a0nqrwpwn a0gaqwn = good men

and so on.

Thus, there is nothing new to memorize here, since the student has already memorized the 1st and 2nd declension nouns. What one MUST remember is that an adjective WILL agree with the noun it modifies in gender (masculine or feminine), case (nominative, genitive, etc), and number (singular or plural).

Of particular importance in translating Greek is whether or not the definite article is used IMMEDIATELY before the adjective. Note the following sentences very carefully, paying particular attention to the placement of the article and the translation given:

o( a0gaqoj logoj = the good word

o( logoj o( a0gaqoj = the good word

and

o( logoj a0gaqoj = the word IS good

a0gaqoj o( logoj = the word IS good

If you noticed, when the article immediately precedes the adjective then it is translated "the... (whatever the adjective is). When the article does not precede the adjective, the English wore the translation accurate.

(Note: all of these rules are subject to fine tuning as we learn more of this tremendous language).

ASSIGNMENT: Translate the following sentences as accurately as possible:

1. o( a0gaphtoj maqhthj a0kouei touj a0gaqouj logouj

2. o( basilikoj nomoj didaskei thn doxan a0gaphj

3. o( a0postoloj ginwskei touj dikaiouj kai taj dikaiaj

4. o( dikaioj a0nqrwpoj grafei parabolhn