Lesson 2 Subjects and Objects

η γυναίκα αγαπάει τον άντρα – the woman loves the man

Who is being loved? Answer = the man

In this sentence the woman is the subject and the man is the object.

You will have noticed that o άντρας changes to τον άντρα because the man is the object.

If we switch the nouns around we get

ο άντρας αγαπάει τη γυναίκα.

The man is now the subject as he is doing the loving and the woman is being loved so she is the object.

Notice that the objects in both sentences have been underlined

When a noun is the subject we say it is in the nominative case

e.g. ο άντρας, η γυναίκα.

When it is the object it is in the accusative case

e.g. τον άντρα, τη γυναίκα

Plural
οι γυναίκες γνωρίζουν τους άντρες	the women know the men
οι άντρες γνωρίζουν τις γυναίκες	the men know the women
οι άντρες γνωρίζουν τα παιδιά	the men know the children
οι φίλοι γνωρίζουν τις γυναίκες	the friends know the women
οι γυναίκες γνωρίζουν τους φίλους	the women know the friends

Note that neutral nouns stay the same whether they are subjects or objects

The noun tables show the different beginnings and endings of nouns which you will come across in these lessons.

Here are some more examples:

ο άντρας ποτίζει τον κήπο	the man waters the garden
οι γυναίκες ποτίζουν τους κήπους	the women water the gardens
η γυναίκα φιλάει τον άντρα	the woman kisses the man
το παιδί δαγκώνει τη γυναίκα!	the child bites the woman!
τα παιδιά αγαπάν τη γιαγιά	the children love the grandmother
η γιαγιά κοιτάζει τις γυναίκες	the grandmother looks at the women

Knowing whether to add the final 'v' in the accusative is confusing.

το(ν) or τη(ν)?

The inclusion of the final ‘ν’ occurs before vowels and frequently

before κ, τ , π and μπ, γκ, τσ and τζ

τον άντρα την εκκλησία τον ήλιο την ομπρέλλα

τον ύπνο την ώρα τον καφέ την τιμή τον πατέρα

It is not used before β, γ, δ, φ, θ, μ, ν, λ, ρ and σ.

You will, however, often hear conversations where the the final ‘ν’ is added despite the instructions given above!

Νote that neuter nouns are always ‘το’

The following table shows the word for 'the' (known as the definite article) in the two cases which we have looked at.

Ν.Β. In these lessons, underlined words indicate the accusative case.