DECLENSIONS OF ADJECTIVES

REGULAR DECLENSIONS

• Καλός (good), ξένος (foreign), όμορφος (beautiful, handsome) all decline the same way
• Adjectives in -ος form their feminine singular in -η if a consonant precedes an ending
• Exceptions include γρίζος (grey), μοντέρνος (modern), πανούργος (sly), προνομιούρχος (privileged), προσοδοφόρος (profitable), σκούρος (dark), στείρος (barren), which form their feminine singular in –α
• Other adjectives in –ος which form their feminine singular in -η, are those having unstressed vowel, other than /i/ (ι, ει, οι, υ), before the ending -ος.
• Adjectives declined this way retain the stress on the same syllable in all cases.
• Participles in -μένος decline this way.
• When the feminine form of these adjectives is nominalised, the stress remains on the third to last syllable, for example, άρρωστη (sick but also sick woman, patient).  The stress remains on the third to last syllable throughout the declension except in the genitive plural where the stresss falls on the second to last syllable, for example, αρρώστων.
• Μεγάλος (big) also declines this way.  Old forms of the μεγάλος are μέγας (masculine nominative) and μέγα (masculine accusative, neuter nominative and accusative).

 

• Ωραίος (nice), γαλάζιος (blue), πλούσιος (rich) all decline this way.
• Adjectives in -ος form the feminine singular in -α if the ending is preceded by a stressed vowel or by an unstressed /i/ (ι, ει, οι, υ).
• Exceptions are discussed above with adjectives declined in -ος, -η,-ο
• Adjectives in -ος, -α,-ο stressed on the second to last syllable follow the declension pattern of ωραίος
• Adjectives in -ιος, -ειος, -οιος, -υος are stressed either on the second to last syllable (e.g. γαλάζιος) or on the third to last syllable (e.g. πλούσιος).
• They are stressed on the second to last syllable, if the vowel preceding the endings -ος, -α,-ο constitutes a diphthong with the ending.
• Some adjectives may be stressed either on the second to last or third to last syllable, for example άγιος (ά-γι-ος or ά-γιος).
• There are only a few adjectives in -ος, -α,-ο which are stressed on the last syllable, for example, δεξιός and παλιός.
• Adjectives retain the stress on the same syllable in all cases.
• When an adjective in -ος is stressed on the third to last syllable is nominalised, the stress shifts to the second to last syllable  in the genitive singular, genitive plural and accusative plural, for example ο πλούσιος (rich man), του πλουσίου, των πλουσίων, τους πλουσίους.
• When the feminine form of these adjectives is nominalised, the stress shifts to the second last syllable, for example, κύρια (main) versus κυρία (Mrs, lady).  The stress remains on the second last syllable before the endings -α, -ας, -ων.
• Nominalised adjectives, such as κυρία, follow the stress pattern of the nouns in η χαρά.
• Norminalised neuter nouns, for example, δίκαιο (law), follow the pattern of the noun το πρόσωπο.

 

• Γλυκός (sweet, cute), φτωχός (poor), γνωστικός (prudent), κακός (bad) all decline this way.
• Adjectives in -óς, -ιά, -ό, with the exception of γλυκός, may show the feminine form in -ή, i.e φτωχή, γνωστική, κακή.
• Nominalised feminine forms of these adjectives mostly occur with the endings -ια, for example η ξανθιά (the blond lady).
• Adjectives in -óς, -ιά, -ό usually drop the -ι- of the ending in the feminine plural, particulary when κ or γ precede the ending, for example, φτωχιάàφτωχές.
• These adjectives retain the stress on the last syllable in all their cases.
• A few adjectives in this group are stressed on the second to last syllable (e.g. φρέσκος) and retain the syllable on the second to last syllable.
• Most adjectives in this group end in -κος.

 

• Βαθύς (deep), μακρύς (long), παχύς (thick, fat) all decline this way.
• Adjectives in -ύς, -ιά, -ύ and -ής, -ιά, -ί show a common feminine ending in ία, for example, βαριά and σταχτιά
• The masculine and neuter gender singular of the adjectives in -ύς may also occur with the ending -υ.
• Adjectives in -ύς are stressed on the last syllable in all cases.
• The nominative, accusative and vocative cases of the masculine and neuter singular of adjective in -ύς spell the endings in -ύ, all other cases and all the feminine endings are spelt in -ί.

 

• Θαλασσής  (blue), στάχτης (ashen) all decline this way.
• Adjectives in -ύς, -ιά, -ύ and -ής, -ιά, -ί show a common feminine ending in ία, for example, βαριά and σταχτιά
• The masculine and neuter gender singular of the adjectives in -ής may also occur with the ending -ή.
• Adjectives in -ής are stressed on the last syllable in all cases.
• Some adjectives in -ής occur with the old endings, for example βραχύς (short), ευθύς (straight), ευρύς (wide), οξύς (acute).  I.e. -έος. -έων, -έα instead of  -ιού, -ιών, -ιά; -είς instead of -ιοί or -ιούς and feminine -ειά, -ειάς etc instead of -ιά and -ιάς etc.
• The nominative, accusative and vocative cases of the masculine singular of adjective in -ής spell the endings in -ή, all other cases and all the feminine and neuter endings are spelt in -ί.

 

• Ζηλιάρης (jealous), γκρινιάρης (nagger), μικρούλης (tiny), φτωχούλης (poor person) all decline this way
• Adjectives which follow this pattern end in -άρης, the diminutive adjective in -ούλης, descriptive suffixes in -λαίμης (necked), -μάλλης (haired),-μάτης (eyed), -μύτης (nosed), -πόδης (footed), -φρύδης (browed), χείλης (lipped), -χέρης (handed).
• The masculine form of the adjective is anisosyllabic and follows the declension pattern of νοικοκύρης.
• Diminutive adjectives in -ούλης, show an alternate neuter form in –ούλι, for example, μικρούλικο and μικρούλι.
• Some nouns in -ης show an alternate feminine form in -ού or -όυσα, for example, ξανθομάλλης. ξανθομάλλα/ξανθομαλλούσα/ξανθομαλλού, ξανθομάλλικο (fair-headed).
• Some adjectives in -της show the ending -ισσα in the feminine, for example, χωριάτης, χωριάτισσα, χωριάτικο (villager, of a village).  The form χωριάτικο only modifies inanimate nouns; otherwise, neuter forms in -άκι or -όπουλο are used to indicate animate nouns, i.e. χωριατάκι or χωριατόπουλο.
• The feminine form of the adjective s κλέφτης (thief) and ψεύτης (liar) are κλέφτρα and ψεύτρα respectively.  The neuter forms κλέφτικο (thieving) and ψεύτικο (lying, false, artificial) modify mostly inanimate nouns, for example, ψεύτικα δόντια (false teeth).
• The feminine form of the irregular adjective γέρος (old man) is γριά (old lady) and the neuter form is γέρικο (old) which modify only inanimate nouns, for example, γέρικο δέντρο (old tree).
• Some adjectives in -της, for example, κλέφτης, show an alternative anisosyllabic plural: κλέφτηδες instead of κλέφτες.
• Some adjectives in -ας form their feminine in -ού and the neuter in -άδικο, for example, υπναράς, υπναρού, υπναράδικο (fond of sleeping) and decline like παπάς and αλεπού for the masculine and feminine forms respectively.

 

• Συνεχείς (continuous), διεθνείς (international) and ιδεώδης (ideal) all decline this way.
• The masculine and feminine genders show identical endings.
• The masculine genitive and vocative singular show an alternate form in -η, primarily when the adjective is nominalised.
• Some adjectives in -ης, -ης, -ες, for example, συνήθεις (usual), do not shift the stress to the last syllable in the genitive plural, i.e. συνήθων; and some compounds, shift the stress to the third to last syllable in the neuter nominative, accusative and vocative singular, i.e (το) σύνεθες.

 

• Ευγνώμονας (thankful), είρωνας (sarcastic) and αγνώμονας (ungrateful) are all decline this way
• The original forms of the adjectives in -ων, -ων, -ον are being gradually replaced by modern forms.
• The masculine form ευγνώμων is now declined like the isosyllabic masculine nouns in -ας (e.g. γείτονας), although the old endings may occasionally occur in the nominative and less frequently, in the genitive singular, i.e. ο ευγνώμων, του εωγνώμονος.
• The old endings, however, are still prevalent in the feminine singular form of the adjective.
• The neuter form of the adjective of  this group is very limited in use.

 

• Eνδιαφέρων (interesting), μέλλων (future), παρών (present) all decline this way and are participial adjectives.
• The feminine form of these adjectives follows the pattern of the corresponding isosyllabic nouns in -α (e.g. κάμαρα, χώρα).  The feminine genitive singular may occasionally show the endings -ης (i.e. μελλούσης, παρούσης).
• Some of these adjectives may show modern masculine forms in -όντας, -όντα instead of -ων, -οντος, primarily when they are nominalised.
• Adjectives stressed on the second to last syllable, for example, μέλλων, only shift the stress in the genitive plural.  In the masculine and neuter genders, the stress is shifted one syllable to the right, whereas for the feminine gender, it is shifted two syllables to the right, i.e. μελλόντων and μελλουσών.
• Adjectives stressed on the last syllable, for example, παρών, only shifts the stress in the genitive plural in the feminine to the last syllable, i.e. παρούσα à παρουσών.

 

IRREGULAR DECLENSIONS

• The declension of πολύς (much, many, a lot) is incomplete.
• The adjective πολύς shows two stems.  The stem πολ- occurs in the masculine and neuter nominative and accusative singular; the stem πολλ- occurs in all other cases.
• The genitive singular of the masculine and neuter πολύ or πολλού is very limited in its use.
• The vocative plural is not that common and should be avoided.

 

FOREIGN ADJECTIVES

Adjectives of foreign origin which have been assimilated into the Greek language follow the declension pattern of the adjective group to which they belong. For example,

                        μοντέρνος, -α, -ο (modern)
                        ντελικάτος, -η, -ο (delicate)
                        τεμπέλης, -α, ικο (lazy)

Adjectives of foreign origin which have not been assimilated into the Greek language remain uninflected.  The article or the modified noun, which are declined, indicate the gender, number and case of the adjective.  For example,

                        μπεζ (beige)
                        πορτοκάλι (orange)
                        ριγέ (striped)

GENERAL NOTES ON ADJECTIVES

Except for the anisosyllabic masculine forms of the adjectives in -ης, -α, -ικο, and -ας, -ου, ->αδικο and for the singular forms of the adjective in -ονας (-ων) and in -ων, all the other adjective form are isosyllabic.

Except for adjectives in -ύς, ->ής, -ων, all the other adjectives show the same declension patterns as nouns do, the main difference being in the stress movement.

Adjectives generally retain the stress on the same syllable throughout their declension in all three genders, except for the feminine form of the participial adjectives in -ων (μέλλουσα, παρούσα) which shift the stress to the last syllable in the genitive plural (μελλουσών, παρουσών).  However, some masculine adjective in -ος stressed on the third to last syllable, primarily of learnt origin, may occasionally shift the stress to the second last syllable in the same cases as the nominalised adjectives do (i.e. in the genitive singular and plural; also some feminine adjectives forms in –α stressed on the third last syllable may occasionally shift the stress in the genitive singular and plural.

Nominalised neuter plural forms of the adjective in -ικος are generally used to indicate names of languages, for example, γερμανικά (German) instead of η γερμανική γλώσσα (the German language).

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