Declining Adjectives
A Greek adjective AGREES with its noun in gender, number, and case, so it changes ending to match. The workhorse three-ending adjective declines just like the nouns you know: masculine -ος (καλός, like δάσκαλος), feminine -η (καλή), neuter -ο (καλό) - καλός άνθρωπος, καλή μητέρα, καλό παιδί. Two things to watch: when the stem ends in a vowel or ρ the feminine takes -α instead of -η (νέος → νέα, not *νέη), and a few everyday adjectives are irregular - πολύς (“much/many”) switches to a double-λ stem in the feminine and all plurals (πολλή, πολλοί, πολλά). Learn the -ος/-η/-ό pattern first; everything else agrees off it. (This is the base every comparative - μεγαλύτερος - is built on.)
The rule
An adjective agrees with its noun in gender, number and case, and the workhorse pattern declines exactly like nouns you already have: masculine -ος (like δάσκαλος), feminine -η, neuter -ο - καλός άνθρωπος, καλή μητέρα, καλό παιδί, and in the plural καλοί, καλές, καλά. Two things to watch. When the stem ends in a vowel or ρ the feminine takes -α instead of -η: νέος → νέα (never «νέη»), genitive νέας, plural νέες. And a few everyday adjectives are irregular - πολύς (“much / many”) keeps the short πολύ in the masculine accusative singular and right through the neuter singular, but switches to a double-λ stem everywhere else: πολλού, πολλή, πολλοί, πολλές, πολλά, πολλών. One difference from the nouns is worth pinning down: an adjective's stress does not shift. γρήγορος → γρήγορου → γρήγορων stays put where the noun άνθρωπος → ανθρώπου moves.
Paradigm
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | καλός | καλοί |
| Accusative | καλό | καλούς |
| Genitive | καλού | καλών |
| Vocative | καλέ† | καλοί† |
- Masculine singular takes the distinct -ε vocative (like -ος nouns: δάσκαλε).
- Vocative plural equals the nominative plural.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | καλή | καλές |
| Accusative | καλή | καλές |
| Genitive | καλής | καλών |
| Vocative | καλή† | καλές† |
- Vocative equals the nominative.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | καλό | καλά |
| Accusative | καλό | καλά |
| Genitive | καλού | καλών |
| Vocative | καλό† | καλά† |
- Vocative equals the nominative.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | νέος | νέοι |
| Accusative | νέο | νέους |
| Genitive | νέου | νέων |
| Vocative | νέε† | νέοι† |
- Masculine singular takes the distinct -ε vocative.
- Vocative plural equals the nominative plural.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | νέα† | νέες |
| Accusative | νέα | νέες |
| Genitive | νέας | νέων |
| Vocative | νέα† | νέες† |
- Vowel-stem sub-rule: the feminine ends -α (νέα), not -η, because the stem νε- ends in a vowel.
- Vocative equals the nominative.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | νέο | νέα |
| Accusative | νέο | νέα |
| Genitive | νέου | νέων |
| Vocative | νέο† | νέα† |
- Vocative equals the nominative.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | πολύς† | πολλοί† |
| Accusative | πολύ† | πολλούς† |
| Genitive | πολλού† | πολλών† |
| Vocative | πολύς† | πολλοί† |
- Irregular double-λ stem (πολλ-) throughout the plural.
- Also πολύν before a following vowel or a stop consonant.
- Irregular double-λ stem (πολλ-) in the genitive singular.
- πολύς has no everyday vocative; set equal to the nominative for table completeness.
- Vocative plural equals the nominative plural.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | πολλή† | πολλές† |
| Accusative | πολλή† | πολλές† |
| Genitive | πολλής† | πολλών† |
| Vocative | πολλή† | πολλές† |
- Vocative equals the nominative.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | πολύ† | πολλά† |
| Accusative | πολύ† | πολλά† |
| Genitive | πολλού† | πολλών† |
| Vocative | πολύ† | πολλά† |
- Irregular double-λ stem (πολλ-) throughout the plural.
- Irregular double-λ stem (πολλ-) in the genitive singular.
- Vocative equals the nominative.