HOW TO TRANSLATE AN ARTICLE, ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB
(the lesson follows this section)
(the lesson follows this section)
article
Article in Greek? Start with: the
Check: It must agree (in gender, number, and case) with what it points out.
No article in Greek? Start with: a
Check: It must agree (in gender, number, and case) with what it points out.
No article in Greek? Start with: a
Write a, the – or nothing at all.
If
an article occurs before a preposition and does not belong to a word
following the prepositional phrase,
write the one – or
nothing at all.
If an article occurs before an infinitive,
and perhaps after a preposition,
use context to render those words.
adjective (which one? what kind? how many?)
Look up the word. Look for its context-specific meaning.
Check: It must agree (in gender, number, and case) with what it describes.
In the following:
{ } means maybe
and
– means no
{ } means maybe
and
– means no
1. {article} + adjective – noun
Write the adjective, then one or ones.
The adjective functions as a noun.
The adjective functions as a noun.
τοῖς ἁγίοις
to the holy ones
to the holy ones
2. article + adjective + {article} + noun
or {article} + noun + article + adjective
Write article and adjective, then the noun.
Write article and adjective, then the noun.
The adjective functions as an adjective.
τοῦ μακαρίου θεοῦ
of the blessed God
τοῦ μακαρίου θεοῦ
of the blessed God
3. adjective + article + noun
Write the article, noun, is, then the adjective.
The adjective functions as a predicate nominative
(it’s on the right of a be/become verb).
πιστὸς ὁ λόγος
the Word is faithful
4. adjective + noun or noun + adjective
Write the adjective, then the noun.
θεῷ ἀληθινῷ
by the true God
by the true God
Or: write the noun, is, then the adjective.
Or: write the adjective, of, then the genitive noun.
πάντων ὑμῶν
Or: write the adjective, of, then the genitive noun.
πάντων ὑμῶν
adverb (when? where? how? why?)
Write the adverb at about the same position in the sentence.
An adverb describes a nearby verb, adjective, or adverb.
Use context and similar passages to help you understand.
Use context and similar passages to help you understand.
LESSON
article: points out a noun
color coding: black
An article and its noun agree in case, number, and gender.
The article comes in 24 forms. And the forms are very consistent. So you can use them to determine gender, number, and case. For example:
Eph 1:7
...κα¦τὰ τὸ πλοῦ¦τος τῆς χά¦ρι¦τος αὐ¦τοῦ...
according to the riches of His grace
Here, two words end in -ος.
The article is a helpful guide.
- τὸ reveals that πλοῦ¦τος is nominative or accusative; singular; neuter.
- τῆς reveals that χά¦ρι¦τος is genitive, singular, feminine.
---
article present: Translate the article as "the." If that calls too much attention to what it is pointing to, and does not sound good to the ear, English might not need it.
1 Thes 1:8
...ἐξ¦ή¦χη¦ται ὁ λό¦γος τοῦ κυ¦ρί¦ου...
the Word of the Lord sounded forth
1 Thes 1:3
...τοῦ ἔρ¦γου τῆς πί¦στε¦ως
καὶ τοῦ κό¦που τῆς ἀ¦γά¦πης
καὶ τῆς ¦πο¦μο¦νῆς τῆς ἐλ¦πί¦δος...
work of faith
and labor of love
and patience of hope
------
article absent: If an article is absent, English might need a, an, or the to convey the same sense.
1 Thes 1:7
ὥ¦στε γε¦νέσ¦θαι ὑ¦μᾶς τύ¦πον...
so that you became an example
1 Thes 1:1
...ἐν θε¦ῷ πα¦τρὶ καὶ κυ¦ρί¦ῳ Ἰ¦η¦σοῦ Χρι¦στῷ...
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
---
article: special combos
Articles appear in special combinations:
- article + participle
- article + infinitive
- article + preposition.
The participle, verb, and preposition lessons include details about these special combinations.
article: 24 forms
Here is a list of the 24 forms of the article:
Nominative
- singular m-f-n: ὁ ἡ τό
- plural m-f-n: οἱ αἱ τά
Genitive
- singular m-f-n: τοῦ τῆς τοῦ
- plural m-f-n: τῶν τῶν τῶν
Dative
- singular m-f-n: τῷ τῇ τῷ
- plural m-f-n: τοῖς ταῖς τοῖς
Accusative
- singular m-f-n: τόν τήν τό
- plural m-f-n: τούς τάς τά
---
article vs. relative pronoun: how to tell them apart
A relative pronoun and an article look somewhat similar. Yet a relative pronoun is easy to spot:
- No initial τ
- A rough breathing mark
- An accent mark
In addition, at the Great Treasures site: pronouns are blue; articles are black.
1 Thes 1:8
the word
Here, ὁ is the article, meaning the.
the word of God, which also works
Here, ὅς is blue, a relative pronoun, meaning which.
---
adjective: describes a noun (which one? what kind? how many?)
- blue underline
An adjective and its noun agree in case, number, and gender.
ἕ¦τε¦ραι πολ¦λαί
---
See the "adjectives: how to translate" section, at the top of this lesson.
numbers
Numbers are adjectives, describing how many. You'll encounter and learn numbers in context.
The most frequent number is
εἷς
μί¦α
ἓν
εἷς κύ¦ρι¦ος, μί¦α πί¦στις, ἓν βάπ¦τισ¦μα·
---
adjectives within 1 Thes 1
1 Thes 1:2
πάν¦των
- Translation: all
- What it is: adjective
- Form: genitive plural m-f-n
- Agrees with: ὑ¦μῶν
- Functions as: adjective
- Describes: ὑ¦μῶν
- Describing: which one, what kind, how many | when, where, how, why
ὑ¦μῶν
- Translation: you
- What it is: noun
- Form: genitive plural --
- Agrees with: --
- Functions as: object of the preposition πε¦ρὶ
- Describes: --
- Describing: --
- Translation: for you all
- What it is: prepositional phrase
---
1 Thes 1:5
ἁ¦γί¦ῳ
- Translation: holy one; holy
- Form: dative singular m-n
- Agrees with:
- Describes: πνεύματι
- Describing: which one, what kind, how many | when, where, how, why
πολ¦λῇ
- What it is: adjective
- Form: dative singular feminine
- Agrees with:
- Describing: which one, what kind, how many | when, where, how, why
...ἐν
- What it is: prepositional phrase
...δου¦λεύ¦ειν θε¦ῷ...
δου¦λεύ¦ειν θε¦ῷ
- Translation: to serve God
- What it is: an infinitive and its direct object
- (this direct object is in dative rather than accusative, which happens with some verbs)
ἀ¦λη¦θι¦νῷ
- What it is: adjective
- Form: dative singular masculine
- Describes:
- Describing: which one, what kind, how many | when, where, how, why
to serve the true God
νε¦κρῶν
- What it is: adjective
- Form: genitive plural masculine
- Agrees with: --
- Functions as: object of the preposition
- Describing: which one, what kind, how many | when, where, how, why
- Translation: from the dead ones
- What it is: prepositional phrase
---
color coding - red underline
An adverb does not agree with anything else, since it doesn't have anything with which to agree.
Most of the time, this is not a problem, as the adverb is physically close to what it describes. What if you find an adverb located about the same distance from two words (verbs, adjectives, other adverbs) which it could describe? Read and consider the context, including context provided by similar passages.
1 Thes 1:2
Εὐ¦χα¦ρι¦στοῦ¦μεν
- Translation: always
- What it is: adverb
- Form: --
- Agrees with: --
- Functions as: adverb
- Describing: which one, what kind, how many | when, where, how, why
---
1 Thes 1:5
- What it is: adverb
- Functions as: adverb
- Describing: which one, what kind, how many | when, where, how, why
οὐκ
πῶς
- What it is: adverb
- Functions as: adverb
- Describing: which one, what kind, how many | when, where, how, why
καὶ
and how you turned to God
Little Notes
Articular: a word with a corresponding article.
Anarthrous (ahn-ahr-thruhs): a word without a corresponding article.
---
Article vs articles. English has two articles. The definite article is the. The indefinite article is a. However, in Greek, there is just one article--and it corresponds to the word the. That is why it is referred to as the article, for there is just one in Greek.
Modifier: the category of words that describe other words; this category includes articles, adjectives, and adverbs.Substantive: an adjective which functions as a noun.
Position. Three terms describe the position of an adjective, relative to its corresponding noun. Using these abbreviations:
| r = article | a = adjective | n = noun |
...here are the names and corresponding a patterns:
- Attributive position: r-a-n, or r-n-r-a
- Substantive position: r-a
- Predicative position: r-n-a or a-r-n
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2 comments:
Immediately after the instruction of how to translate in adjective (using 4 rules), there are some example-verses provided. The second example-verse is listed as '1 Thes 2:14.' However the portion of Greek text provided from this verse doesn't have an accurate English translation, since the English translation that is provided is for another/preceding portion of this verse. The inaccurate English translation for the Greek words ("hupo twn idiwn sumfuletwn") is given as "by the same sufferings" when it should be given as "by the own co-tribesmen/countrymen".
Good catch. Thank you. Pete
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