Greek articles — τα άρθρα
Built from your class notes of 30 July 2026. This is the one table worth knowing cold: every noun phrase you say runs through it.
| Number | Case | Type | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|
* The final ν in τον, την, and μίαν is dropped if the next word begins with certain consonants (see below). There is no plural indefinite article in Greek — "some men" is just άντρες, with no article at all.
Nominative vs. Accusative — subject vs. object
The nominative is the case of the subject — the one doing the action: Ο άντρας βλέπει. (The man sees.) The accusative is the case of the object — the one receiving the action: Βλέπω τον άντρα. (I see the man.) Notice the noun and its article both change together, from ο άντρας to τον άντρα.
This is exactly the accusative pattern from Grammar, Lesson 12 — this page is the article half of that picture; the noun-ending half lives there.
When the final ν drops
τον, την, and μίαν lose their final -ν when the very next word begins with one of these consonants:
β γ δ ζ θ λ μ ν ρ σ φ χ
e.g. τον πατέρα keeps its ν (π isn't in the list), but τη Δευτέρα already dropped it, so you'd never see "την Δευτέρα" — same rule that applies to δεν and μην.
Quick contrast: definite vs. indefinite
ο/η/το ("the") point to a specific, already-known noun. ένας/μία/ένα ("a/an") introduce a new, unspecified one — and, unlike the definite article, they simply don't exist in the plural, because "a" is inherently singular.
| Ο άντρας διαβάζει. | The man is reading. (a specific, known man) |
| Ένας άντρας διαβάζει. | A man is reading. (some man, unspecified) |