Greek gender isn’t just about biology—it’s a grammatical system that shapes how nouns, articles, adjectives, and pronouns interact. Masculine, feminine, and neuter forms follow distinct patterns, with agreement in gender, case, and number revealing relationships within a sentence. While ἀδελφός (“brother”) and γυνή (“woman”) reflect natural gender, words like θάλασσα (“sea,” feminine) or παιδίον (“child,” neuter) show that gender assignment can be arbitrary. Neuter forms are especially tidy—nominative and accusative are identical. Spotting these patterns helps unlock meaning, clarify syntax, and sharpen interpretation, especially in texts where subtle shifts carry theological weight.
Overview of Greek Grammatical Gender
Greek nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles fall into three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Gender is a morphological category: each noun belongs to one of these classes, and any word agreeing with it must match in gender, case, and number. Grammatical gender does not always correspond to biological sex; many inanimate or abstract nouns have a gender that must be learned along with the vocabulary.
Definite Article Forms by Gender
| Gender | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | ὁ (nom.), τοῦ (gen.), τῷ (dat.), τὸν (acc.) | οἱ (nom.), τῶν (gen.), τοῖς (dat.), τοὺς (acc.) |
| Feminine | ἡ (nom.), τῆς (gen.), τῇ (dat.), τὴν (acc.) | αἱ (nom.), τῶν (gen.), ταῖς (dat.), τὰς (acc.) |
| Neuter | τὸ (nom.), τοῦ (gen.), τῷ (dat.), τὸ (acc.) | τά (nom.), τῶν (gen.), τοῖς (dat.), τά (acc.) |
Note: In neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are identical in both singular and plural.
Examples of Gendered Nouns
- Masculine: ἀδελφός – “brother” (natural gender), λόγος – “word” (inanimate)
- Feminine: ἀλήθεια – “truth” (abstract), γυνή – “woman” (natural gender)
- Neuter: παιδίον – “child” (can refer to any sex), σῶμα – “body” (inanimate)
Gender Agreement
Articles, adjectives, pronouns, and participles must agree with their nouns in gender, case, and number:
- ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἀνήρ – “the good man” (masc. nom. sing.)
- ἡ ἀγαθὴ γυνή – “the good woman” (fem. nom. sing.)
- τὸ ἀγαθὸν παιδίον – “the good child” (neut. nom./acc. sing.)
Gender and Semantics
Some nouns’ gender matches natural gender (e.g., πατήρ – “father” [masc.], μήτηρ – “mother” [fem.]). Many others are assigned gender arbitrarily, such as θάλασσα – “sea” (fem.) or δένδρον – “tree” (neut.). In interpretation, gender affects pronoun reference and helps determine an antecedent in complex sentences, which can influence exegesis.
Practical Learning Tips
- Memorize each noun’s gender together with its vocabulary form and definite article.
- Recognize declension patterns: many first-declension nouns are feminine, second-declension nouns are often masculine or neuter, and third-declension nouns vary.
- Look for agreement clues in reading; they often reveal the role and relationships of words in a sentence.
