Third Declension Adjectives
Table of contents
Consonant Declension
Consonant declension adjectives exhibit a wide variety of patterns and idiosyncrasies. While I will do my best to summarize the features of the consonant declension under each subgroup below, please be aware that there will be a lot of exceptions to these rules and morphological features that we have yet to practice that will result in strange forms later on down the line. For ease of introduction, though, I will use only “regular” examples and delineate the general rules that govern consonant declension adjectives.
Three-Termination (3-1-3)
Like the vowel declension, the consonant declension of adjectives has two subgroups: three-termination and two-termination. These distinctions mean the same thing as in the vowel declension: three-termination adjectives have three distinct forms for the nominative singular (masculine, feminine, and neuter), while two-termination adjectives have only two distinct forms for the nominative singular (masculine/feminine and neuter).
Three-termination consonant declension adjectives, however, use a strange combination of third declension endings for masculine and neuter forms and first declension endings for feminine forms; hence, the alternative name for this subgroup: 3-1-3 (compare this with 2-1-2).
Moreover, the rules of declension are different for masculine and neuter versus feminine. Feminine forms of the adjective like vowel declension adjectives: remove the -α ending and add the appropriate endings for case and number. Masculine and neuter adjectives, however, have an adjective stem that you can get in one of two ways: either take it from the masculine genitive singular form or look to the dictionary entry, which will be marked with a notation like “(m./n. stem __).”
| Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | – | -α | – |
| Gen. Sg. | -ος | -ης | -ος |
| Dat. Sg. | -ι | -ῃ | -ι |
| Acc. Sg. | -α | -αν | same as nom. |
| Nom. Pl. | -ες | -αι | -α |
| Gen. Pl. | -ων | -ων | -ων |
| Dat. Pl. | -σι(ν) | -αις | -σι(ν) |
| Acc. Pl. | -ας | -ας | -α |
Like third declension nouns, there are a variety of possible endings for the masculine and neuter nominative singular forms of a 3-1-3, hence the “–” in those boxes in the chart above.
Here is the paradigm for our sole 3-1-3 adjective in this unit: πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν - (sg.) each, every; (pl.) all
| Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | πᾶς | πᾶσα | πᾶν |
| Gen. Sg. | πάντος | πάσης | πάντος |
| Dat. Sg. | πάντι | πάσῃ | πάντι |
| Acc. Sg. | πάντα | πᾶσαν | πᾶν |
| Nom. Pl. | πάντες | πᾶσαι | πάντα |
| Gen. Pl. | πάντων | πασῶν | πάντων |
| Dat. Pl. | πᾶσι(ν) | πάσαις | πᾶσι(ν) |
| Acc. Pl. | πάντας | πάσας | πάντα |
And the same disclaimers about matching this adjective to a noun apply: the adjective must match the noun in gender, case, and number, but not necessarily ending:
- τὰς πάσας συμφοράς, “all the outcomes” (feminine accusative plural)
But:
- τὸν πάντα δικαστήν, “every juror” (masculine accusative singular)
Note how not only do the adjective (πάντα) and the noun (δικαστήν) not share the same ending, but even the article (τὸν) differs as well. However, this is a correct formation: the article, the adjective, and the noun are all masculine accusative singular.
Two-Termination
Like its vowel declension counterpart, a two-termination consonant declension adjective yeets the feminine column in favor of one consolidated form for both masculine and feminine; the neuter has its own form.
| Masc./Fem. | Neut. | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | – | – |
| Gen. Sg. | -ος | -ος |
| Dat. Sg. | -ι | -ι |
| Acc. Sg. | -α | same as nom. |
| Nom. Pl. | -ες | -α |
| Gen. Pl. | -ων | -ων |
| Dat. Pl. | -σι(ν) | -σι(ν) |
| Acc. Pl. | -ας | -α |
Two-termination consonant declension adjectives fall into one of two groups, based on their definition entries: -ων, -ον or -ης, -ες. The latter involves complicated contractions, so we will deal with it at a later point and focus for now on the -ων, -ον variant.
Like the masculine and neuter forms of 3-1-3s, all oblique forms of a two-termination consonant declension adjective will be built on a stem that is either apparent in the masculine/feminine genitive singular or in the dictionary entry. For example:
- σώφρων, σῶφρον (stem σώφρον-) - wise
Hence:
| Masc./Fem. | Neut. | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | σώφρων | σῶφρον |
| Gen. Sg. | σώφρονος | σώφρονος |
| Dat. Sg. | σώφρονι | σώφρονι |
| Acc. Sg. | σώφρονα | σῶφρον |
| Nom. Pl. | σώφρονες | σώφρονα |
| Gen. Pl. | σωφρόνων | σωφρόνων |
| Dat. Pl. | σώφροσι(ν) | σώφροσι(ν) |
| Acc. Pl. | σώφρονας | σώφρονα |
And again, the now usual disclaimers apply regarding adjective-noun agreement.
- τὰ σώφρονα πράγματα, “the wise deeds” (neuter nom./acc. plural)
But:
- τοῖς σώφροσι πολίταις, “to the wise citizens” (masculine dative plural)
Variable-Stem Adjectives
The adjectives μέγας and πολύς should, according to their dictionary entries, look like consonant-declension adjectives:
- μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγα - big, great
- πολύς, πολλή, πολύ - much (singular); many (plural)
Recall that vowel-declension adjectives generally have endings in -ος, -η/-α, -ον or -ος, -ον, and adjectives that do not fall into that pattern are generally consonant-declension adjectives. However, μέγας and πολύς exhibit mostly vowel-declension patterns, with the sole exceptions being their masculine and neuter nominative and accusative singular forms:
- μέγας > stem in μεγάλ- or μεγα-
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | μέγας | μεγάλη | μέγα |
| Gen. Sg. | μεγάλου | μεγάλης | μεγάλου |
| Dat. Sg. | μεγάλῳ | μεγάλῃ | μεγάλῳ |
| Acc. Sg. | μέγαν | μεγάλην | μέγα |
| Nom. Pl. | μεγάλοι | μεγάλαι | μεγάλα |
| Gen. Pl. | μεγάλων | μεγάλων | μεγάλων |
| Dat. Pl. | μεγάλοις | μεγάλαις | μεγάλοις |
| Acc. Pl. | μεγάλους | μεγάλας | μεγάλα |
- πολύς > stem in πολλ- or πολυ-
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | πολύς | πολλή | πολύ |
| Gen. Sg. | πολλοῦ | πολλῆς | πολλοῦ |
| Dat. Sg. | πολλῷ | πολλῇ | πολλῷ |
| Acc. Sg. | πολύν | πολλήν | πολύ |
| Nom. Pl. | πολλοί | πολλαί | πολλά |
| Gen. Pl. | πολλῶν | πολλῶν | πολλῶν |
| Dat. Pl. | πολλοῖς | πολλαῖς | πολλοῖς |
| Acc. Pl. | πολλούς | πολλάς | πολλά |