✏️ The Definite Article in Greek: The Little Word You Need Every Day

Welcome to Matheno Ellinika!

If you’re learning Greek, one of the very first things you need to master is the definite article — the word “the”.
It may look small, but it appears in almost every sentence.

In Greek, the definite article agrees with the gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and the number (singular/plural) of the noun.

When Do We Use the Definite Article?

We use the definite article in Greek:

To talk about something specific
- Δώσε μου το βιβλίο. (Give me the book – not any book, a specific one.)
Before proper nouns (names, places, family members)
- Ο Γιάννης, η Μαρία, το Παρίσι.
With general categories
- Μου αρέσει ο καφές. (I like coffee.)
With days of the week and times
- Την Δευτέρα πήγα σινεμά. (On Monday I went to the cinema.)

✅ The Definite Article in All Cases

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine Pl.	Feminine Pl.	Neuter Pl.	English
Nominative	ο	η	το	οι	οι	τα	Subject: the
Accusative	τον	την	το	τους	τις	τα	Object: the
Genitive	του	της	του	των	των	των	Possessive: of the
Vocative	–	–	–	–	–	–	Direct address

✅ Common Endings

Gender	Singular Endings	Examples
Masculine	-ος, -ας, -ης, -ες, -ους	ο φίλος, ο πατέρας, ο μαθητής, ο καφές, ο παππούς
Feminine	-α, -η	η μητέρα, η αγάπη, η δασκάλα
Neuter	-ι, -μα, -ο	το παιδί, το μάθημα, το βιβλίο, το γράμμα

Full Examples per Gender

Masculine (ο φίλος = the friend)

Singular

Case	Form
Nominative	ο φίλος
Genitive	του φίλου
Accusative	τον φίλο
Vocative	φίλε

Plural

Case	Form
Nominative	οι φίλοι
Genitive	των φίλων
Accusative	τους φίλους
Vocative	φίλοι

Feminine (η φίλη = the friend – fem.)

Singular

Case	Form
Nominative	η φίλη
Genitive	της φίλης
Accusative	τη(ν) φίλη
Vocative	φίλη

Plural

Case	Form
Nominative	οι φίλες
Genitive	των φίλων
Accusative	τις φίλες
Vocative	φίλες

Neuter (το παιδί = the child)

Singular

Case	Form
Nominative	το παιδί
Genitive	του παιδιού
Accusative	το παιδί
Vocative	παιδί

Plural

Case	Form
Nominative	τα παιδιά
Genitive	των παιδιών
Accusative	τα παιδιά
Vocative	παιδιά

Additional Examples

Masculine – ο παππούς (the grandfather)

Singular

Case	Form
Nominative	ο παππούς
Genitive	του παππού
Accusative	τον παππού
Vocative	παππού

Plural

Case	Form
Nominative	οι παππούδες
Genitive	των παππούδων
Accusative	τους παππούδες
Vocative	παππούδες

Feminine – η δασκάλα (the teacher)

Singular

Case	Form
Nominative	η δασκάλα
Genitive	της δασκάλας
Accusative	την δασκάλα
Vocative	δασκάλα

Plural

Case	Form
Nominative	οι δασκάλες
Genitive	των δασκάλων
Accusative	τις δασκάλες
Vocative	δασκάλες

Neuter – το γράμμα (the letter)

Singular

Case	Form
Nominative	το γράμμα
Genitive	του γράμματος
Accusative	το γράμμα
Vocative	γράμμα

Plural

Case	Form
Nominative	τα γράμματα
Genitive	των γραμμάτων
Accusative	τα γράμματα
Vocative	γράμματα

Mini Story

Ο Γιάννης και ο Παύλος είναι φίλοι.
Η Μαρία αγαπάει την μητέρα της.
Το παιδί διαβάζει το βιβλίο του.
Την Κυριακή πήγαμε στο πάρκο με τους φίλους μας.

Translation:
Giannis and Pavlos are friends.
Maria loves her mother.
The child reads the book.
On Sunday we went to the park with our friends.

Quick Quiz

Fill in the blanks with the correct article:

___ πατέρας (father – masculine)
___ αγάπη (love – feminine)
___ παιδί (child – neuter)
___ καφέδες (coffees – masculine plural)
___ Γιάννης (Giannis – proper name)

Answers: 1. ο, 2. η, 3. το, 4. οι, 5. ο ✅

Final Thoughts

The definite article is everywhere in Greek.
It helps us talk about something specific, refer to names and places, and make our sentences clear.

Learn the patterns, cases, and endings, and you’ll always know which article to use!

Today’s key forms:

ο (masculine) → -ος, -ας, -ης, -ες, -ους
η (feminine) → -α, -η
το (neuter) → -ι, -μα, -ο
οι (plural masculine/feminine)
τα (plural neuter)

Try writing 3 nouns you know in Greek with the correct article — in nominative, accusative, and genitive!

Καλή τύχη! Good luck!