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Adjectives · entry 7 of 10

Numbers 1-20 & Gender Agreement

Only three cardinals inflect for gender: 1 is ένας (masc) / μία (fem) / ένα (neuter) - the very indefinite article you already know; 3 is τρεις (masc = fem) / τρία (neuter); 4 is τέσσερις (masc = fem) / τέσσερα (neuter). Every other number - 2 (δύο) and 5–20 (πέντε … είκοσι) - is INDECLINABLE and never changes for gender. The teens 13–19 compound as δέκα + the neuter unit (δεκατρία, δεκατέσσερα). Everyday Greek prefers the doublets εφτά / οχτώ / εννιά over the formal επτά / οκτώ / εννέα.

The rule

Only three cardinals inflect for gender, and you already know one of them. 1 is ένας / μία / ένα - the indefinite article itself, with the masculine accusative έναν. 3 is τρεις for masculine and feminine, τρία for neuter. 4 is τέσσερις and τέσσερα the same way. Everything else - δύο, and πέντε through είκοσι - is indeclinable and never changes for anything at all. The teens compound as δέκα plus the neuter unit: δεκατρία, δεκατέσσερα, δεκαπέντε. And everyday Greek prefers the doublets εφτά, οχτώ, εννιά over the formal επτά / οκτώ / εννέα; both are correct, but the first set is what you will hear.