Third Declension Nouns
Table of contents
Relative Clauses
A relative clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun, much like an adjective. A dependent clause is usually introduced by a subordinating conjunction or a pronoun that can begin a clause that contains its own conjugated verb; in this case, a relative clause begins with a relative pronoun: ὅς, ἥ, ὅ - “who(m)”, “which”, or “that”. Note the following example in English:
- The book which is on the table is large.
The relative clause in this sentence begins with the relative pronoun “which” and continues with the remainder of the clause: the conjugated verb “is” and the prepositional phrase “on the table.” The relative clause serves to tell us more about a noun, in this case “the book,” and the relative clause helps us understand which book in particular we’re talking about: the book which is on the table, as opposed to the book which is on the shelf or the book that is blue. This noun gets replaced in the relative clause with the relative pronoun. This noun is termed an antecedent, which, as you will recall from the unit on pronouns, will give the pronoun its gender and number; the case of the pronoun, however, comes from its use within its own clause. More on this below.
Relative Pronoun and Antecedents
The relative pronoun, like any other pronoun, can exist in any combination of gender, case, and number, since it needs to be able to replace any kind of noun. Its declension mostly looks similar to the endings of 2-1-2 adjectives with rough breathings.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | ὅς | ἥ | ὅ |
| Gen. Sg. | οὗ | ἧς | οὗ |
| Dat. Sg. | ᾧ | ᾗ | ᾧ |
| Acc. Sg. | ὅν | ἥν | ὅ |
| Nom. Pl. | οἵ | αἵ | ἅ |
| Gen. Pl. | ὧν | ὧν | ὧν |
| Dat. Pl. | οἷς | αἷς | οἷς |
| Acc. Pl. | οὕς | ἅς | ἅ |
Be aware that for four of these forms, you need to be careful about accents. The presence or absence of an accent makes the difference between a relative pronoun and a definite article:
- ὁ (no accent) = definite article, masculine nominative singular
- ὅ (acute accent) = relative pronoun, neuter nominative or accusative singular
- ἡ (no accent) = definite article, feminine nominative singular
- ἥ (acute accent) = relative pronoun, feminine nominative singular
- οἱ (no accent) = definite article, masculine nominative plural
- οἵ (acute accent) = relative pronoun, masculine nominative plural
- αἱ (no accent) = definite article, feminine nominative plural
- αἵ (acute accent) = relative pronoun, feminine nominative plural
Again, the relative pronoun functions like any other pronoun in taking its gender and number from its antecedent. Its case, however, is determined by its function within the relative clause. For example, if the “who” is performing the action of the verb within the relative clause as the subject, then it should be in the nominative case. If it receives the action of an active/middle verb within the relative clause, then it should be in the accusative case. And so on and so forth. Here’s another way to phrase it:
The relative pronoun takes its case from its place within its own space.
This means that, e.g., while an antecedent can be a nominative subject in the main clause, if the relative pronoun functions as a direct object within the relative clause, it has to be in the accusative case.
Finding the Antecedent
Let’s see how a relative clause works within the context of a Greek sentence by using the following example:
- οἱ μαθηταὶ οὓς ὁ διδάσκαλος διδάσκει τὰ βιβλία ἤνεγκον.
- The students whom the teacher teaches brought the books.
When we come across a relative pronoun, that serves as a signal that there is a relative clause present in the sentence. The first step in deciphering the sentence should always be to isolate the relative clause from the main clause. We have to understand what belongs to the relative clause and what belongs to the main clause so that we don’t, e.g., pull the main verb into the relative clause or attribute an adjective of the relative clause to a noun of the main clause.
To reframe the steps mentioned above for isolating a dependent clause from a main clause, a relative clause:
- begins at the relative pronoun
- and ends at 1) the conjugated verb, 2) a punctuation mark like a comma, or 3) the end of the sense unit (e.g., a prepositional phrase or an adverb, sometimes a direct object or subject).
A good practice is to use marks like parentheses or square brackets to sequester the relative clause; that way, you can see at a glance what elements belong to each clause and figure out the logic of each clause before putting them together.
- οἱ μαθηταὶ [οὓς ὁ διδάσκαλος διδάσκει] τὰ βιβλία ἤνεγκον.
Once you’ve determined the boundaries of the relative clause, the best pratice is then to figure out the main clause first. Dependent clauses always add information to the main clause, and in order to determine the dependent clause’s relationship to the main clause, we have to understand the main clause first. In the sentence above, the main clause is: οἱ μαθηταὶ τὰ βιβλία ἤνεγκον, “The students brought the books.”
The relative clause, then, adds more information to the main clause by modifying a noun. To figure out which noun is being modified by the relative clause, we have to look at the gender and number of the relative pronoun and find a noun in the main clause that matches in both aspects. Because οὓς is masculine accusative plural, we need to find a masculine plural noun to serve as the antecedent of οὓς; μαθηταὶ is the only noun in the main clause that fits the bill. Note that the relative clause cannot possibly modify “the books” (τὰ βιβλία), since that noun is neuter accusative plural. The mismatch in genders between οὓς (masculine) and βιβλία (neuter) means that it is not the books that the teacher teaches; it’s the students.
This act of matching the gender and number of the relative pronoun and its antecedent is important because the relative clause does not necessarily need to follow its antecedent immediately, the way that it does in English. Note the following example:
- ἡ ἵππος ὑπὸ τοῦ πολίτου ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἤχθη ὃς τὰ ποιήματα ἔγραψεν.
Our relative clause comes at the end of the sentence: ὃς τὰ ποιήματα ἔγραψεν. However, immediately preceding it is the verb of the main clause: ἤχθη. So, we need to use the gender and number of the relative pronoun ὅς (masculine singular) to figure out which noun the relative clause modifies.
There are three nouns in the main clause: ἵππος, πολίτου, and ὅδου. Of these three, we can immediately rule out ὁδοῦ, which is feminine singular. This leaves us with ἵππος, which can be either masculine or feminine, and πολίτου, which is only ever masculine. Here, we need the help of the nouns’ articles to disambiguate: note how ἵππος is preceded by the feminine nominative singular article ἡ, which makes it feminine. Thus, the relative clause has to modify πολίτου.
To make this clear in translation, we need to rearrange the parts of the Greek sentence to conform to English word order, which places the relative clause after its antecedent. So:
- The horse was led away from the road by the citizen who wrote the poems.
Note that any other arrangement of the translation would indicate something different and not render the Greek faithfully. For example, “The horse was led away by the citizen from the road who wrote the poems” implies that it’s the road that wrote the poems (which is wrong).