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Pronouns · entry 7 of 13

Question Words: ποιος, τι, πόσος

The three everyday question words reuse grammar you already know. ποιος (“who / which”) and πόσος (“how much / how many”) are ADJECTIVES that AGREE with their noun in gender, number, and case - they decline on the -ος/-η/-ό pattern: ποιος δάσκαλος; ποια μητέρα; ποιο παιδί; πόσος καφές; πόση δουλειά; πόσα παιδιά; Note ποιος takes the vowel-stem feminine -α (ποια, like νέα). τι (“what”) is the odd one out: it is INVARIABLE - one fixed form for every gender, number, and case (τι είναι; τι θέλεις;). So of the three, only τι never changes.

The rule

The three everyday question words reuse grammar you already have. ποιος (“who / which”) and πόσος (“how much / how many”) are adjectives: they agree with their noun in gender, number and case, declining on the -ος / -η / -ο pattern - ποιος δάσκαλος;, ποια μητέρα;, ποιο παιδί;, πόσος καφές;, πόση δουλειά;, πόσα παιδιά;. Note that ποιος takes the vowel-stem feminine -α (ποια, like νέα) while πόσος takes the ordinary πόση. τι (“what”) is the odd one out: it is completely invariable, one shape for every gender, number and case. So of the three, only τι never changes - and only τι can stand in front of a verb without agreeing with anything at all.

Paradigm

Masculine
CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeποιοςποιοι
Accusativeποιονποιους
Genitiveποιουποιων
Vocativeποιοςποιοι
  • Interrogatives have no vocative; set equal to the nominative for table completeness.
  • No vocative; equals the nominative plural.
Feminine
CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeποιαποιες
Accusativeποιαποιες
Genitiveποιαςποιων
Vocativeποιαποιες
  • No vocative; equals the nominative.
  • No vocative; equals the nominative plural.
Neuter
CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeποιοποια
Accusativeποιοποια
Genitiveποιουποιων
Vocativeποιοποια
  • No vocative; equals the nominative.
  • No vocative; equals the nominative plural.
Masculine
CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeπόσοςπόσοι
Accusativeπόσοπόσους
Genitiveπόσουπόσων
Vocativeπόσοςπόσοι
  • Interrogatives have no vocative; set equal to the nominative for table completeness.
  • No vocative; equals the nominative plural.
Feminine
CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeπόσηπόσες
Accusativeπόσηπόσες
Genitiveπόσηςπόσων
Vocativeπόσηπόσες
  • No vocative; equals the nominative.
  • No vocative; equals the nominative plural.
Neuter
CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeπόσοπόσα
Accusativeπόσοπόσα
Genitiveπόσουπόσων
Vocativeπόσοπόσα
  • No vocative; equals the nominative.
  • No vocative; equals the nominative plural.