Grammar Review

A morphology map for reading the Greek NT.

Quick reference for codes, cases, verb forms, and small words — plus real parsed verses.

V-PAI-3S verb · present · active · indicative · 3rd person · singular

A Fast Reading Loop

Use this when a sentence feels dense.

1

Find the main verb. Its person and number point toward the subject.

2

Group articles, nouns, adjectives, and participles that agree in case, number, and gender.

3

Let conjunctions and particles show how clauses connect.

4

Use the English gloss as a hint, then let the Greek structure correct it.

Reading the Code

Each tag names the word type, then the grammatical details in order.

T-ASM

Article

Accusative, singular, masculine. Usually "the," but mainly marks how the phrase fits the sentence.

N-DSF

Noun

Dative, singular, feminine. Case tells you the job; number and gender help you match modifiers.

V-AAI-3P

Verb

Aorist, active, indicative, third person, plural. Tense-form and mood carry most of the meaning.

P-2GS

Pronoun

Second person, genitive, singular. Pronouns compress person, case, and number into a small form.

Quick Reference

Cases, verb tense-forms, moods, and high-frequency particles.

Cases

NominativeUsually the subject, or the thing being named.
GenitiveOften possession, source, description, or relationship.
DativeOften indirect object, means, sphere, or advantage.
AccusativeOften direct object, extent, goal, or object of certain prepositions.
VocativeDirect address: "Lord," "brothers," "teacher."

Verb Forms & Moods

PresentAction viewed as ongoing, customary, or in progress.
AoristAction viewed as a whole. Don't force "once for all" into every aorist.
PerfectA completed action with a resulting state in view.
Active / Middle / PassiveSubject acts · subject participates · subject receives.
IndicativeStatement or question about what is presented as real.
SubjunctivePotential, purpose, exhortation, or uncertain action.
ImperativeCommand, request, or instruction.
ParticipleVerbal adjective: "doing," "having done," "being…"
InfinitiveVerbal noun-idea: "to do," "to be," "to say."

High-Frequency Particles

δέOften "and," "but," or a soft turn in the argument.
γάρGives a reason or explanation: "for," "because."
οὖνDraws an inference: "therefore," "so," "then."
ἐνOften "in," "by," "with," or "among," depending on context.
εἰςOften movement toward, purpose, or result.
ἐκ / ἐξSource or origin: "from," "out of."

Parsed Verse Examples

Real NT sentences broken down word by word.

John 1:1

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος

"In the beginning was the Word"

Ἐν PREP in Takes dative; sets the temporal frame.
ἀρχῇ N-DSF beginning Dative sg. fem — object of ἐν.
ἦν V-IAI-3S was Imperfect: ongoing existence in past.
ὁ T-NSM the Nom. sg. masc — agrees with λόγος.
λόγος N-NSM Word Nom. sg. masc — subject of ἦν.
John 3:16

οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον

"For God so loved the world"

οὕτως ADV so / thus Modifies ἠγάπησεν — extent or manner.
γάρ CONJ for Post-positive; introduces reason for 3:15.
ἠγάπησεν V-AAI-3S loved Aorist: views the act of love as a whole.
ὁ θεὸς T-NSM · N-NSM God Article + noun, nom. — the subject.
τὸν κόσμον T-ASM · N-ASM the world Article + noun, acc. — direct object.
Philippians 4:13

πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me"

πάντα A-APN all things Acc. pl. neut. — object of ἰσχύω.
ἰσχύω V-PAI-1S I am able Present indicative: ongoing capacity.
ἐν PREP in / through Takes dative; sphere or means.
τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί T-DSM · V-PAP-DSM the one strengthening Article + participle, dat. — article makes it substantival: "the one who strengthens."
με P-1AS me 1st person acc. sing. — object of the participle.

Agreement & Modifiers

Articles, adjectives, and participles travel in matching groups.

Match rule

When an article, adjective, participle, or pronoun agrees with a noun in case, number, and gender, read them as a unit before trying to translate.

ὁ λόγος ὁ ἀγαθός

"the good word" or "the word, the good one" — the repeated article signals which adjective belongs to which noun.

Substantival participle

An article before a participle turns it into a noun idea: ὁ πιστεύων = "the one who believes." You will see this constantly in John and Paul.

Deep Dives

Open the topic you need; close it when the text starts making sense again.

Nominals nouns · articles · adjectives · agreement

What to look for

Articles, adjectives, and participles usually agree with the noun they modify in case, number, and gender. Agreement is often more reliable than word order for grouping words.

Fast checks

  • Same case, number, and gender usually means the words belong together.
  • An article can turn an adjective or participle into a substantive: "the believing one."
  • Genitives often describe a relationship; don't force every genitive into possession.
N-NSM

noun, nominative singular masculine

A-APN

adjective, accusative plural neuter

T-GSF

article, genitive singular feminine

Verb Forms tense-form · voice · mood · person

Tense-form first

Greek tense-forms show how the action is viewed, not necessarily when it happened. Present often presents action as ongoing; aorist presents it as a whole; perfect highlights a resulting state.

Voice matters

  • Active: the subject acts.
  • Middle: the subject participates in or is affected by the action.
  • Passive: the subject receives the action.
V-PAI-3S

present active indicative, third singular

V-APS-1P

aorist passive subjunctive, first plural

V-RPP-NSM

perfect passive participle, nominative singular masculine

Participles & Infinitives verbal ideas used as modifiers or nouns

Participles

A participle is a verbal adjective. It can describe a noun, carry a circumstance, or stand substantively with an article. Ask: "What noun does this agree with?"

Infinitives

An infinitive is a verbal noun-like idea expressing purpose, result, content, or indirect command. Ask: "What is this action doing in the sentence?"

Reader move

Identify the controlling noun or verb before unpacking what the participle or infinitive contributes.

Pronouns person · reference · implied subjects

Personal pronouns

Greek verb endings often include the subject, so explicit pronouns can add emphasis, contrast, or clarity. An unexpected pronoun often signals emphasis.

Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce clauses. Their gender and number usually match the antecedent; their case comes from their role inside the relative clause.

P-1GP

first person genitive plural: "of us / our"

R-NSM

relative pronoun, nominative singular masculine: "who / which"

Particles & Prepositions logic · movement · sentence flow

Particles

Particles often tell you how the current thought relates to the previous one. They are small, but they are not throwaway words. γάρ, δέ, οὖν, and ἀλλά together handle a large portion of NT discourse structure.

Prepositions and case

The same preposition can shift meaning depending on whether it governs genitive, dative, or accusative. διά + genitive = "through"; διά + accusative = "on account of."

γάρ

reason or explanation: "for / because"

δέ

continuation or contrast: "and / but / now"

ἐκ

source or origin: "from / out of"

διά

through (gen.) · on account of (acc.)

Clause Reading how to regain the thread in long sentences

When a sentence gets long

Mark the finite verbs first. Then group agreeing words, attach prepositional phrases, and let conjunctions show how the clauses stack. Paul in particular builds long periodic sentences where the main verb is delayed.

Don't over-translate early

Use glosses to keep moving, but wait to polish the English until you know the structure. Greek often reveals emphasis through arrangement and repetition — forcing English word order too early hides that.

Reset loop

Main verb → subject → objects → modifiers → connectors. That loop handles most NT prose.

A reading reference for Greek New Testament grammar

This page is built for the moment you hit a clause that will not resolve. Rather than a full course, it gives you the morphological handholds you need to keep reading: what a parsing code means, how the cases assign roles, and how the verb tells you to view an action. The grammar of Koine Greek is largely carried by word endings rather than word order, so the same set of distinctions shows up again and again. Once you can name them on sight, dense sentences in John, Paul, and Luke start to open up.

Greek has four working cases plus the vocative. The nominative marks the subject and predicate nominatives. The genitive typically signals possession, source, or description, and is the case most prepositions of separation govern. The dative covers the indirect object along with means, instrument, and sphere. The accusative marks the direct object and the extent of an action, and is the default case for many prepositions of motion. The vocative is direct address. Because an article, adjective, or participle agrees with its noun in case, number, and gender, agreement — not position — is your most reliable guide to which words belong together.

Aspect first, then time

The Koine verb is organized around grammatical aspect, the author's chosen viewpoint on an action, rather than around tense in the English sense. The present and imperfect share the imperfective aspect, portraying an action as ongoing or in progress. The aorist carries the perfective aspect, presenting an action as a complete whole without comment on its internal unfolding; it does not by itself mean "once for all." The perfect presents a state of affairs resulting from a prior action. Time is signaled reliably only in the indicative mood, where the imperfect and aorist refer to past time; in the subjunctive, imperative, participle, and infinitive, the tense-form contributes aspect, not time. Voice then tells you how the subject relates to the action: active (the subject acts), middle (the subject is involved in or affected by the action), and passive (the subject receives it).

Participles are verbal adjectives. They keep aspect and voice while agreeing with a noun in case, number, and gender, and an article can make a participle substantival — ὁ πιστεύων, "the one who believes." Infinitives are verbal nouns that express purpose, result, content, or indirect discourse. Both are everywhere in NT prose, so identifying the noun or verb that controls them is the key reading move. Throughout the reference, every topic links to real parsed verses in the reader, where you can see each form tagged in context — its code, its case or tense-form, and a short note on its job in the sentence — so the categories on this page connect directly to the Greek you are actually reading.

Keep exploring

Greek grammar guide Word structure Open the reader