Meet the Noun

The fisherman

Λέγεται Κώστας. Είναι ψαράς. Έχει δύο παιδιά
His name is Kostas. He is a fisherman. He has two children.

Το αγόρι το λένε Παύλο, είναι ναύτης και πηγαίνει σε πολλές χώρες.
The boy is called Pavlos, he is a sailor and goes to many countries.

Το κορίτσι το λένε Άννα και είναι όμορφη σαν άγγελος.
The girl is called Anna and she is beautiful like an angel.

Ο Παύλος, λένε, μοιάζει του παππού του και η Άννα της γιαγιάς της.
Pavlos, they say, looks like his grandfather and Anna like her grandmother.

Το σπίτι του Κώστα είναι κοντά σε ένα δάσος.
Kostas's house is close to a forest.

Το δάσος έχει πολλά ζώα : αλεπούδες και ελάφια.
The forest has many animals : foxes and deer.

Κάθε μέρα, μια αλεπού βλέπει τα ψάρια του ψαρά και έρχεται κοντά.
Every day, a fox sees the fisherman's fish (plural) and comes near.

Η Άννα την ταϊζει κρέας. Ο Κώστας πίνει καφέ και τη βλέπει.
Anna feeds her (with) meat. Kostas drinks coffee and looks at her.

Σύντομα θα παντρευτεί και θα ζήσει με τον άντρα της.
Soon she will get married and she will live with her husband.

Και ο ψαράς θα μείνει μόνος του.
And the fisherman will stay on his own.

Grammar Notes

1. This lesson presents the various forms of the noun. Noun is a word that refers to a person, animal or thing, action, state or property. Proper nouns are those that are used as names (e.g., Άγγελος, Κώστας, Άννα, Ελλάδα) and their first letter is always capitalized. Nouns in Greek are encountered in three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), two numbers (singular and plural) and four cases. We will not say anything more about the genders and the number, since we encounter them in many other languages. The noun section describes how to identify the gender of a noun. In this lesson we will elaborate on the cases.
2. The Nominative Case (Ονομαστική πτώση) is used whenever the noun is the subject of the sentence, i.e., the person committing the action described by the verb, for example,
   Το δάσος έχει (The forest has)
   Ο Κώστας πίνει (Kostas drinks)
   or the subject of a reflexive verb, that is a verb whose action returns to the subject,
   Λεγεται Κώστας (He is called Kostas)
   Είναι ψαράς (He is a fisherman)
   In general, Nominative is the case that we use to answer to the question "ποιος;" or "τι;" (="who?","what?")
   Ποιος ήρθε; (Who came?)
   Ο Άγγελος. (Angelos (did).)
   Τι ήρθε κοντά; (What came near?)
   Η αλεπού. (The fox.)
3. The Genitive Case (Γενική πτώση) is used to denote the owner of something. For example,
   Το σπίτι του Κώστα (Kostas's house)
   Η γιαγιά της Άννας (Anna's grandmother)
   It is the case we use to answer the question "ποιανού" (or "ποιου") or "τίνος" (=whose).
   Ποιανού είναι το βιβλίο; (Whose is the book?)
   Του Κώστα." ((It's) Kostas's.)
   The Genitive is sometimes used to replace the preposition+article format, where the preposition is usually "σε". For example,
   μοιάζει στον παππού = μοιάζει τού παππού
   λέω στην Άννα = λέω της Άννας (I say to Anna)
   This format has replaced the ancient Dative case (Δοτική πτώση). There is also another use for Genitive. It is used to reveal/declare a property of the preceding noun, in the same way a noun is used in English as an adjective before another noun. For example,
   Οι πατάτες του φούρνου = The oven potatoes (baked potatoes).
   Τα ζώα του δάσους = The forest animals.
   This situation is not encountered in our text, but is useful to know for the subsequent lessons.
4. The Accusative Case (Αιτιατική πτώση) is used for the object of the sentence, namely the recipient of the action described by the verb. For instance,
   Έχει πολλά ζώα. (It has many animals)
   Βλεπεί την Άννα. (He sees Anna)
   It is used when answering the question "Ποιον;" or "Τι;" (="whom", "what") as in
   Ποιόν βλέπεις;. (Who(m) do you see?)
   Τον Άγγελο. ((I see) Angelos.)
5. Finally, the Vocative Case (Κλητική πτωση) is used whenever we call or address someone. E.g.,
   Έλα εδώ, Άγγελε! (Come here, Angelos!)
   Πρόσεχε, Άννα! (Look out, Anna!)

Remarks

• "Λέγεται" is a reflexive verb meaning "he/she/it is said/called". The expression "λέγεται Κώστας" is another way to say "τον λένε Κώστα" (="they call him Kostas). Note however that the case used in the first example is Nominative because "λέγεται" is a reflexive verb, whereas in the second example Kostas is the object of the verb "λένε" (="they call"), and as such it appears in the Accusative case. Keep in mind the following :
  Με λένε Άγγελο = Λέγομαι Άγγελος = I am called called Angelos
  Σε λένε Άννα = Λέγεσαι Άννα = You are called Anna
  Τον λένε Κώστα = Λέγεται Κώστας = He is called Kostas
  Την λένε Βάνα = Λέγεται Βάνα = She is called Vana
  Το λένε Βέλγιο = Λέγεται Βέλγιο = It is called Belgium
  Μας λένε Έλληνες = Λεγόμαστε Έλληνες = We are called Greeks
  Σας λένε Αμερικάνους = Λέγεστε Αμερικάνοι = You are called Americans
  Τους λένε άντρες = Λέγονται άντρες = They are called men
  Τις λένε γυναίκες = Λέγονται γυναίκες = They are called women
  Τα λένε παιδιά = Λέγονται παιδιά = They are called children
  You will understand this syntax better when we review the pronouns and verbs.
• There are some small words ("το", "της", "του", etc.) that look like the article but are actually short forms of the personal and the possessive pronouns. Thus
  "Το" in "το λένε" stands for "it" ("They call it").
  The second "της" in "της γιαγιάς της" stands for "her" ("her grandmother's").
  The second "του" in "του παππού του" stands for "his" ("his grandfather's").
  "Την" in "την ταϊζει" stands for "her" ("She feeds her").
  "Της" in "τον άντρα της" stands for "her" ("Her husband").
  "Του" in "μόνος του" stands for "his" ("On his own").
  "Τη" in "τη βλέπει" stands for "her" ("He looks at her").
  Note that in the last example the final "ν" of the word "την" is omitted because the next word starts with a consonant. More will be said about the short pronoun forms in the pronoun lessons.
• Finally, note that the words "ελάφια" and "ψάρια" are in plural although their English translation ("deer", "fish") does not reveal it.

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