Genitive (Part 1)
Learn how to describe objects that belong to another object, or are part of another object.
Introducing the -ου ending.
We have already looked at how words can end in -ος, and -ον. Today we will begin to learn about the -ου ending.
-
βίβλος
book, scroll, volume. -
ποτήριον
cup, mug, drinking cup. -
κύων
dog. -
οἶκος
house, home, household. -
θύρα
door, gate, entrance. -
οἶνος
wine. -
σταφυλή
grape, bunch of grapes, grapes. -
ὀφθαλμός
eye. -
ὀφθαλμοί
eyes.
-
ποῦ
where?
-
ἐστιν
he is, she is, it is.
Read each of these sentences out loud several times. Check that you can understand the meaning of each sentence.
When you see the -ου ending, generally it indicates “of”. For example:
- The dog of the man…
- The house of Peter…
Remember word order is flexible in Biblical Greek. Some of the sentences above have been adjusted to use a different word order. Practice reading each of these sentences out loud as well.
Self Evaluation
The key point of this lesson is to notice that two words (nouns) can be joined together, by adjusting the ending of the second word to the -ου. When two words are joined together in this way, the second word is adding more information about the first word.