Greek Case Uses
Nominative:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Subject: a Nominative after a verb
Predicate: a Nominative after a linking verb
Address: Nominative addressing someone
Absolute: Nominative with no grammatical construction in a remark (Book titles,
exclamations, expressions)
5. Appellation: When naming something, nominative is often used
Genitive:
1. Possession: describes a noun from the viewpoint of ownership
2. Relationship: indicates familial, social, or spiritual relationships
3. Partitive: (often with apo or ek and always preceded by the article) can indicate the whole
of which something is a part
4. Subjective: linked with an action noun, the genitive indicates the subject of the action.
5. Objective: connected with an action noun, it indicates the object or recipient of that
action.
6. Absolute: in a clause containing a genitive participle with a genitive noun. It has little to
do with the sentences grammatical structure.
7. Direct Object: when a genitive is used as a direct object (often when it comes to
sensations)
8. Material/Contents: specifies the material out of which something is made. Or its contents
9. Descriptive: when the genitive has an adjectival use
10. Apposition: may follow a substantive of any case and further identify the substantive.
11. Comparison: the substantive with which a comparison is made is often in the genitive.
12. Time: Genitive may indicate the time within which something occurs.
13. Measure: measure indicates how much or how far.
14. Source: may be indicated by the genitive alone or with apo or ek; tells the source.
Dative:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Indirect object: it names the person or thing to which something is done or given
Instrumental: can show the instrument or means by which something is accomplished
Locative: indicates the place or sphere in which something happens.
Time: the word in the dative indicates a particular point of time within a succession of
events.
Possession: possession is occasionally shown by the dative along with a to be verb.
Direct Object: some verbs that emphasize a close personal relationship take a direct
object in the dative case.
Reference: this use of the dative shows an interest that is more remote than the indirect
object.
Advantage or Disadvantage: in these uses of the dative the idea of personal interest is
emphasized.
9. Manner: the dative case may show the manner in which the action of the verb is carried
out.
10. Association: many times the dative will appear alone in a construction that could have
sun plus the dative.
11. Agency: similar to upo plus the Genitive.
Accusative:
1. Direct Object: receives the action of a transitive verb.
2. Double: certain verbs can take two accusatives.
3. Time: shows the extent of time.
4. Adverbial: answers the question to what does the verb relate? a special use of the
adverbial accusative is to express the subject of an infinitive.
