Adjective

Summary

Article

In Koiné Greek, adjectives generally match the noun they describe in gender and number. Attributive adjectives specifically must also match the noun they describe in case. Any Greek adjective can take the form of all three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Adjectives show these various forms by using the same kinds of word endings as nouns. Greek adjectives are listed in a lexicon according to the masculine nominative singular form.

Note

Adjectives change form according to the base form of the adjective itself, NOT the base form of the noun it is describing. For example, the feminine dative singular form of the adjective πάς is always πάςῃ. The form will not change when describing any feminine dative noun. This remains true regardless of the kind of feminine dative word ending that appears on the noun.

Form

Paradigm

Most adjectives in Koiné Greek use one of the following sets of word endings. However, there are more sets of word endings for adjectives in Greek than are listed here. See adjective_paradigms for more. See especially Master Table 1 and Master Table 2 Master Tables.

ἀγαθός, “good”
  Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular      
Nominative ἀγαθός ἀγαθή ἀγαθόν
Genitive ἀγαθοῦ ἀγαθῆς ἀγαθοῦ
Dative ἀγαθῷ ἀγαθῇ ἀγαθῷ
Accusative ἀγαθόν ἀγαθήν ἀγαθόν
Vocative ἀγαθέ ἀγαθή ἀγαθόν
Plural      
Nominative ἀγαθοί ἀγαθαί ἀγαθά
Genitive ἀγαθῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀγαθῶν
Dative ἀγαθοῖς ἀγαθαῖς ἀγαθοῖς
Accusative ἀγαθούς ἀγαθάς ἀγαθά
Vocative ἀγαθοί ἀγαθαί ἀγαθά
ἃγioς, “holy”
  Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular      
Nominative ἅγιος ἁγία ἅγιον
Genitive ἁγίου ἁγιάς ἁγίου
Dative ἁγίῳ ἁγἰᾳ ἁγίῳ
Accusative ἃγιον ἁγίαν ἃγιον
Vocative ἅγιε ἁγία ἅγιον
Plural      
Nominative ἃγιοι ἃγιαι ἃγια
Genitive ἁγίων ἁγίων ἁγίων
Dative ἁγίοις ἁγίαις ἁγίοις
Accusative ἁγίους ἁγίας ἃγια
Vocative ἃγιοι ἃγιαι ἃγια
ἂλλος, “other, another”
  Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular      
Nominative ἂλλος ἂλλη ἂλλο
Genitive ἂλλου ἂλλης ἂλλου
Dative ἂλλῳ ἂλλῃ ἂλλῳ
Accusative ἂλλον ἂλλην ἂλλο
Plural      
Nominative ἄλλοι ἄλλαι ἂλλα
Genitive ἂλλων ἂλλων ἂλλων
Dative ἂλλοις ἂλλαις ἂλλοις
Accusative ἂλλους ἂλλας ἂλλα
πᾶς, “all, every”
  Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular      
Nominative πᾶς πᾶσα πᾶν
Genitive παντός πάσης παντός
Dative παντί πάσῃ παντί
Accusative πάντα πᾶσαν πᾶν
Plural      
Nominative πάντες πᾶσαι πάντα
Genitive πάντων πασῶν πάντων
Dative πᾶσι(ν) πάσαις πᾶσι(ν)
Accusative πάντας πάσας πάντα

Examples

Ephesians 1:3, “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing”
ὁ εὐλογήσας ἡμᾶς ἐν πάσῃ εὐλογίᾳ πνευματικῇ
ho eulogēsas hēmas en pasē eulogia pneumatikē
who has blessed us with every blessing spiritual

In the above example the adjectives πάςῃ and πνευματικῇ are in feminine singular form. They agree with the noun εὐλογιᾳ in gender and number. These adjectives are both attributive. Therefore, they also agree in case.

John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd.”
ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός.
Egō eimi ho poimēn ho kalos.
I I am the shepherd the good

The adjective always appears in the form that represents the true gender of the noun. The above example is a statement of Jesus (a man). The pronoun ἐγώ (“I”) is in masculine singular form. Therefore, any adjective describing ἐγώ must also appear in masculine singular form. In this example, the adjective ποίμην appears to be feminine because it ends with “ην”. However, the adjective ποίμην uses a different set of word endings than listed above. In this example, both ποιμήν and καλός are nominative masculine singular.

Ascriptive adjectives

An ascriptive adjective is an adjective that functions as an attributive adjective and is NOT paired with the definite article.

The noun being described by an ascriptive adjective may or may not be paired with the definite article.

1 John 2:7, “I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment…”
οὐκ   ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν ἀλλ’   ἐντολὴν παλαιὰν
ouk   entolēn kainēn graphō hymin all’   entolēn palaian
not commandment new I write to you but commandment old    

Restrictive adjectives

A restrictive adjective is an adjective that functions as an attributive adjective and IS paired with the definite article

The noun being described by a restrictive adjective may or may not be paired with the definite article but is always a definite noun.

John 2:1, “and there was a wedding on the third day”
Καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ γάμος ἐγένετο
Kai tē hēmera tē trite gamos egeneto
And the on day the third wedding there was

Function

Describes a noun

In Koiné Greek, an attributive adjective may come either before or after the noun it describes. Attributive adjectives are usually paired with the definite article, but not always. As state above, attributive adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, case, and number.

Matthew 12:35, “The good man from the good treasure”
ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ
ho agathos anthrōpos ek tou agathou thēsaurou
the good man out of the good treasure

Note

Adjectives that function as predicative adjectives are classified as nouns (“NP”) in the UGNT.

Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”
Μακάριοι   οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι
makarioi   hoi ptōchoi tō pneumati
Blessed are the poor the in spirit
John 3:33, “God is true”
ὁ θεὸς ἀληθής ἐστιν
ho Theos alēthēs estin
the God true he is
James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who endures testing.”
Μακάριος   ἀνὴρ ὃς ὑπομένει πειρασμόν
makarios   anēr hos hypomenei peirasmon
Blessed is the man who he endures a trial

When an adjective itself functions as a noun in a sentence, the adjective is describing some unnamed person or object. It is NOT describing some other noun in the sentence. Therefore, there is no other noun with which the adjective can agree in gender, case, or number. When an adjective functions as a noun, its case word ending is determined by how the word functions within the sentence. Its gender and number word ending is determined by the actual unnamed person or object to which the adjective refers. In Koiné Greek, nominal adjectives are often paired with the definite article, but not always.

Note

Adjectives that function as nominal adjectives are classified as nouns (“NS”) in the UGNT.

Romans 1:17, “as it has been written, ‘But the righteous will live by faith.’”
καθὼς γέγραπται ὁ δὲ δίκαιος   ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται
kathōs gegraptai ho de dikaios   ek pisteōs zēsetai
as it has been written the but righteous [man/person] by faith he will live  

When an adjective is used as an adverb, usually the adjective will have the neuter accusative (or sometimes neuter dative) word ending. The most common of these adjectives that used adverbs include: βραχύ (“short”), ἲδιον (“one’s own”), μίκρον (“small”), ὀλίγον (“little”), μόνον (“alone”), πολύ (“many”), πρῶτον (“first”), ὕστερον “(second”).

Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom”
ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν
zēteite de proton tēn basileian
you seek but first the kingdom

Other uses of adjectives

In Koiné Greek, a comparative adjective is often formed by adding a specific kind of word ending to the base form of that adjective. These comparative adjective word endings differ according to gender: -τερος (masculine), -τερα (feminine), or -τερον (neuter).

(Some irregular adjectives take the suffixes -(ι)ων or -ον instead.)

Note

Some adjectives use the comparative word ending to indicate a superlative adjective instead. You must always be observant of the context and take it into account when translating an adjective with a comparative word ending.

John 13:16, “a servant is not greater than his master”
οὐκ ἔστιν δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ
ouk estin doulos meizōn tou kyriou autou
not he is a slave greater than master his

Note

Sometime both/either comparative and/or superlative word endings can be used to express an intensive meaning to that particular adjective rather than either a comparative meaning or a superlative meaning.

Mark 4:1, “and a large crowd gathered around him”
καὶ συνάγεται πρὸς αὐτὸν ὄχλος πλεῖστος
kai synagetai pros auton ochlos pleistos
and it is gathered to him crowd very large
Luke 1:3, “most excellent Theophilus”
κράτιστε Θεόφιλε
kratiste Theophile
most excellent Theophilus

In Koiné Greek, a comparative adjective is often formed by adding a specific kind of word ending to the base form of that adjective. These comparative adjective word endings differ according to gender: -τατος (masculine), -τατη (feminine), and -τατον (neuter), OR -ιστος (masculine), -ιστη (feminine), and -ιστον (neuter).

Note

Some adjectives use the superlative word ending to indicate a comparative adjective instead. You must always be observant of the context and take it into account when translating an adjective with a comparative word ending.

1 Corinthians 15:9, For I am the least of the apostles.
ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ὁ ἐλάχιστος τῶν ἀποστόλων
egō gar eimi ho elachistos tōn apostolōn
I for I am the least of the apostles
John 10:11          
ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός
egō eimi ho poimēn ho kalos
I I am the shepherd the good

I am the good shepherd…