This comprehensive glossary provides clear definitions of grammatical terms commonly used in the study of New Testament Greek. It is organized by grammatical categories to assist both beginning and advanced students in understanding the structure and function of the Greek language as found in the New Testament. From basic parts of speech and verb forms to complex syntactical constructions and advanced grammar concepts, this reference is designed to support accurate reading, parsing, and interpretation of the Greek text.
Parts of Speech:
- Noun: Names a person, place, thing, or idea (e.g., λόγος – word).
- Verb: Expresses action or state (e.g., γράφω – I write).
- Adjective: Describes or modifies a noun (e.g., ἀγαθός – good).
- Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb (e.g., ταχέως – quickly).
- Pronoun: Replaces a noun (e.g., αὐτός – he, she, it).
- Preposition: Shows relation (e.g., ἐν – in).
- Conjunction: Connects words or clauses (e.g., καί – and).
- Article: Definite article (ὁ, ἡ, τό) marking definiteness.
- Participle: A verbal adjective (e.g., λέγων – saying).
- Infinitive: Verbal noun (e.g., γράφειν – to write).
- Interjection: Word expressing emotion (e.g., ἰδού – behold!).
Cases:
- Nominative: Subject of the verb.
- Genitive: Describes ownership, source, or relation (“of”).
- Dative: Used for indirect object, means, or location (“to,” “by,” “in”).
- Accusative: Marks the direct object.
- Vocative: Used for direct address.
Genders:
- Masculine: Gender category often used for male nouns or grammatical gender.
- Feminine: Gender category often used for female nouns or grammatical gender.
- Neuter: Gender category typically used for inanimate or abstract nouns.
Numbers:
- Singular: Refers to one item.
- Plural: More than one.
Verb Moods:
- Indicative: States reality or asks questions.
- Imperative: Issues commands.
- Subjunctive: Expresses potential or contingency.
- Optative: Expresses desire or possibility (rare in NT).
- Infinitive: Non-finite form of the verb, used abstractly.
- Participle: Verbal adjective expressing action with adjectival function.
Tenses (Aspect):
- Present: Continuous or repeated action.
- Imperfect: Past continuous or repeated action.
- Future: Action that will happen.
- Aorist: Undefined or simple action (usually past).
- Perfect: Completed action with ongoing results.
- Pluperfect: Completed action in the past with past results.
- Future Perfect: Completed action in the future (very rare).
Voices:
- Active: Subject performs the action.
- Middle: Subject acts on or for itself.
- Passive: Subject receives the action.
Common Syntax and Sentence Elements:
- Subject: The doer of the action.
- Direct Object: Receives the action of the verb.
- Indirect Object: Receives the benefit or target of the action.
- Predicate Nominative: Renames the subject after a linking verb.
- Predicate Adjective: Describes the subject after a linking verb.
- Apposition: A noun explaining or renaming another noun.
Clauses and Constructions:
- Relative Clause: Introduced by ὅς, ἥ, ὅ to describe a noun.
- Conditional Sentence: Includes “if…then” construction (varies by class).
- Purpose Clause: Indicates purpose; usually introduced by ἵνα + subjunctive.
- Result Clause: Shows effect or result; often with ὥστε + infinitive or indicative.
- Concessive Clause: Grants a contrary condition; may use εἰ καί or καίπερ.
- Genitive Absolute: Genitive noun + participle forming an independent clause.
- Articular Infinitive: Infinitive with the definite article, acting as a noun.
- Epexegetical Infinitive: Infinitive explaining a noun or adjective.
Special Uses of Cases:
- Instrumental Dative: Indicates means (“by,” “with”).
- Locative Dative: Indicates location (“in,” “on,” “at”).
- Dative of Advantage: Indicates for whose benefit something is done.
- Dative of Disadvantage: Indicates who is negatively affected.
- Accusative of Respect: Limits a statement to a specific respect or aspect.
- Appositional Genitive: Genitive that restates or identifies the head noun.
Advanced Grammar Concepts:
- Periphrastic Construction: A finite form of εἰμί + participle, emphasizing aspect.
- Granville Sharp Rule: When two singular, personal, non-proper nouns share one article and are joined by καί, they refer to the same person.
- Hendiadys: Two nouns joined by καί expressing a single concept.
- Crasis: Contraction of two words into one (e.g., καὶ ἐγώ → κἀγώ).
- Elision: Omission of a final vowel before a vowel at the start of the next word.
- Anacoluthon: A grammatical break or irregular construction, often rhetorical.
- Asyndeton: Omission of conjunctions for emphasis or rapid flow.
- Parataxis: Coordination of clauses without subordination (e.g., “He came and saw and left”).
- Hypotaxis: Use of subordinate clauses for syntactic complexity.
- Chiasmus: Reversal of grammatical structure (ABBA pattern).
- Enallage: Use of one grammatical form in place of another for rhetorical effect.
Other Key Grammatical Terms:
- Declension: Pattern of endings for nouns/adjectives by case and number.
- Conjugation: Pattern of verb endings based on person, number, tense, mood, and voice.
- Lexeme: Base form or dictionary form of a word.
- Parsing: Identifying all grammatical characteristics of a word.
- Augment: Prefix (usually ε-) indicating past time in indicative mood.
- Reduplication: Doubling of a consonant (e.g., λε-λέκα) in perfect tense forms.
- Contract Verbs: Verbs ending in α, ε, or ο that undergo contraction.
- Deponent Verbs: Verbs that are middle/passive in form but active in meaning.
- Athematic Verbs: Irregular verbs that do not follow regular vowel stem patterns.
- Aspect: How an action is viewed—ongoing, completed, undefined.
- Syntax: Word order and sentence structure rules.
- Antecedent: The noun referred to by a pronoun or relative clause.
- Demonstrative Pronoun: Points out something specific (e.g., οὗτος – this).
- Reflexive Pronoun: Refers back to the subject (e.g., ἑαυτοῦ – himself).
- Interrogative Pronoun: Used for questions (e.g., τίς – who?).
- Correlative: Paired terms used together (e.g., ὅσος…τοσοῦτος).
- Anarthrous: Noun used without the definite article.
- Proclitic: A word that does not carry its own accent and leans forward.
- Enclitic: A word that does not carry its own accent and leans backward.
Expanded Concepts for Existing Entries:
- Article: The Greek definite article (ὁ, ἡ, τό) functions much like “the” in English, but with broader use. It can mark specificity, abstraction, or class. An anarthrous noun (without the article) may suggest indefiniteness or emphasize quality. The “generic” use of the article refers to an entire class (e.g., ὁ ἄνθρωπος – “man” or “mankind”).
- Aspect (Tense): Greek tenses primarily express aspect (kind of action) rather than time. Three major aspects are: punctiliar (aorist – single event), linear (present/imperfect – ongoing or repeated), and perfective (perfect/pluperfect – completed action with results).
- Middle Voice: In addition to reflexive meaning (acting on oneself), the middle can express intensive (acting with special interest) or reciprocal action (each other). Meaning is often determined by context and lexicon.
- Conditional Sentences: There are four classes of conditional sentences:
- First Class: Assumed true for argument’s sake (εἰ + indicative).
- Second Class: Contrary to fact (εἰ + past indicative + ἄν).
- Third Class: Likely future (ἐάν + subjunctive).
- Fourth Class: Possible but less probable (εἰ + optative, rare).
- Purpose and Result Clauses: Purpose clauses typically use ἵνα + subjunctive; result clauses often use ὥστε with either infinitive (intended result) or indicative (actual result). Context determines nuance.
New Grammatical Terms:
- Particles: Small, often untranslatable words that structure thought:
- δέ: “but, and” – marks contrast or continuation.
- γάρ: “for” – introduces explanation or reason.
- οὖν: “therefore, then” – shows logical consequence.
- μέν…δέ: Balanced contrast – “on the one hand…on the other”.
- Historical Present: Use of the present tense to vividly describe past events (e.g., λέγει instead of εἶπεν for “he said”). Common in narrative, especially in the Gospels.
- Polysyndeton: Repetition of conjunctions (especially καί) to slow down the pace or emphasize each item (e.g., καί…καί…καί).
- Tmesis: The separation of the parts of a compound word by the insertion of another word (rare in NT Greek, more common in poetry).
- Discourse Analysis Terms:
- Topic: What the sentence is about; often fronted for emphasis.
- Focus: The new or emphasized information in a clause.
- Foreground: Mainline narrative events, often in aorist tense.
- Background: Explanatory or supportive information, often in participles or imperfect tense.
- Discourse Markers: Words like οὖν, δέ, γάρ that organize flow of thought.
- Attic vs. Koine Greek: Koine Greek (the language of the NT) developed from Attic Greek but has simpler grammar, more prepositions, fewer optatives, and distinct vocabulary. Occasionally, Attic features appear in formal or literary contexts.
