THE DECLENSIONS OF NEUTER NOUNS

ISOSYLLABIC DECLENSIONS

• Βουνό (mountain), πεύκο (pine), σίδερο (flat iron), πρόσωπο (face, person) and σίδερο (iron) all decline the same way.
• Βουνό, which is stressed on the last syllable, retains the stress on the last syllable in all cases.
• Πεύκο, which is stressed on the second to last syllable, retains the stress on the same syllable in all cases.
• Πρόσωπο, which is stressed on the third to last syllable, shifts the stress to the second to last syllable in the genitive singular and plural.
• Σίδερο, which also is stress on the third to last syllable, retains the stress on the same syllable.

 

 

• Παιδί (child) and τραγούδι (song) both take the above endings.
• Neuter nouns stressed on the last syllable, such as παιδί, retain the stress on the last syllable, including in the plural number: παιδιού, παιδιά, παιδιών.
• Neuter nouns stress on the second to last syllable, such as τραγούδι, retain the stress on that syllable; except in the genitive singular and plural, which is shifted to the last syllable.
• Except for a few foreign nouns, there are no nouns in -ι stressed on the third to last syllable.
• Neuter nouns ending in "ι" are accented on the last syllable in the singular and plural of the genitive.
• Neuter diminutive nouns, mainly those ending in -άκι, for example, παιδάκι and γατάκι, do not usually occur in the genitive case.
• Neuter nouns in -άι and -όι like τσάι, φαΐ and ρολόι are spelt with -αγι- between the two vowels in the singular genitive and all plural cases: ρολόγια, ρολογιών.  Some of these nouns may also show the letter -γ- in their nominative case: φαγί and ρολόγι.
• Most nouns in -ι are inanimate; but there are some exceptions, such as the following: αγόρι, κορίτσι, παιδί, ελάγι, σκθλί, αδέλφι, εγγόνι and αηδόνι.  This also includes their diminutive ending in -άκι.
• The unstressed stem vowel in -ι- and the neuter ending -ου, -α, and -ων constitute one syllable: παιδί (two syllables), παιδιά (two syllables).
• Most neuter nouns ending in "ι" sound end in "ιώτα."
• The exception to this rule is the following nouns which end in "υψιλο."
• They are βράδυ (evening), δόρυ (spear), δάκρυ (tear), δίκτυ (network), όξυ (acid) and στάχτυ (ashes).
• The endings of these words are υ, ιου, υ, ια, ιων and ια, for the nominative, genitive and accusative in the  singular and plural numbers.

 

 

• Μέρος (place) and έδαφος (ground, earth, soil) both decline this way.
• Neuter nouns in -ος, stressed on the second to last syllable, like μέρος, retain the stress on the same syllable through the declension with  the declension of the genitive plural, which is stressed on the last syllable.
• Nouns stressed on the third to last syllable, like έδαφος, shift the stress on the second to last syllable in the genitive singular, and the nominative and accusative plural.
• The stress in the genitive plural is placed on the last syllable.
• None of the neuter nouns in -ος are stressed in the last syllable in the nominative singular.
• Some neuter nouns in -ος, occur only in the singular, for example, θάρρος (courage) and κόστος (cost).

 

ANISOSYLLABIC DECLENSIONS

• Κύμα (wave) and όνομα (name) both decline as above.
• Neuter nouns ending in -μα, stressed on the second to last syllable, shift the stress to the last syllable in the genitive plural.  The stress in the genitive singular and the rest of the plural cases is moved right by one syllable.
• Neuter nouns ending in -μα, stressed on the third to last syllable, shift the stress to the last syllable in the genitive plural.  The stress in the genitive singular and the rest of the plural cases is moved right by one syllable.
• There are no neuter nouns in -μα, which are stress on the last syllable.
• Γάλα (milk), despite having a different endings, declines this way.

 

 

• Δέσιμο (tying), βάψιμο (painting), and παίξιμο (playing) decline this way.
• Remember that ψ=πς and ξ=κς
• Neuter nouns in -σιμο, are stressed on the third to last syllable in all their cases, except in the genitive plural where the stress is occurs in the on the second to last syllable, for example, το δέσιμο, του δεσίματος, τα δεσίματα, των δεσιμάτων.
• Neuter nouns in -σιμο area abstract verbal nouns derived from the simple or perfective stem of the verbs and generally correspond to the English gerund.
• The genitive singular case of nouns in –σιμο may occasionally end in –σιμου instead of –συματος, for example, τρέξιμο, τρέξιμου, τρεξίματος.

 

 

• Κρέας declines this way.
• The accent moves two syllables to the right in the genitive plural.
• The accent moves one syllable to the right in the rest of the plural cases as well as the genitive singular.
• A very small group of nouns decline this way. The other words, which decline like this, are τέρας (monster) and πέρας (extremity).
• A rare word declined this way is άλας (salt), which is replaced by the more modern άλατι.

 

 

• Φως (light) declines this way.
• Accents go on the last syllable for the singular and plural of the genitive
• For the rest of the plural cases it falls on the second to last syllable.
• The other nouns, which decline the same way, are καθεστώς (regime) and γεγονός (event).
• Καθεστώς and γεγονός are accented third to last syllable in the plural genitive.
• Notice that γεγονός is correctly spelt with a an omicron rather than an omega.

 

GENERAL NOTES ON NEUTER NOUNS

Foreign words which have been assimilated into the Greek language are declined according to the declension pattern of the group to which they belong.  Examples are παλτό (coat), πάνιο (bath), γκαράζι (garage) and νούμερο (number).  Foreign words which have not been assimilated into the Greek language remain uninflected.  The neuter article, which is declined, indicates the number and case of the noun with which it stands in construction.  Examples are ραντεβού (appointment), ματς (match), κολιέ (necklace).  Some words may adopt Greek endings or keep the original forms, for example, γκαρσόν and γκαρσόνι (waiter).

The nominative, accusative and vocative casesof all neuter nouns show the same endings in each number, singular and plural.  The vocative case of neuter nouns, which are mostly inanimate or abstract, rarely occurs.  Except for the neuter nouns ending in -ος, which show the ending ->η in their nominative plural, all the other neuter nouns show the plural ending in -α. Neuter nouns in -μα, -σιμο, and -ας, show the ending -ατος in the genitive singular and the ending -ατα and ατων in the plural cases.  The genitive plural of all neuter nouns end in –ων.

The singular and plural genitive endings of all neuter nouns in -ι are stressed on the last syllable.  All neuter nouns in -ος are stressed on the last syllable in the genitive plural.  All anisosyllabic neuter nouns (i.e. -μα, ->σιμο, -ας, -ως, -ος, -ον, -αν, and -εν).are stressed on second to last syllable in the genitive plural.  Neuter nouns in -ο follow the same stress patterns as the masculine nouns in -ος,

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