Γένη Ουσιαστικών

A1 — Ουσιαστικά

Three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, neuter

Can identify the gender of common Greek nouns by their article and ending

Three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, neuter

Examples

Ο φίλος μου είναι Έλληνας. — My friend is Greek.
Η ζωή είναι ωραία. — Life is beautiful.
Το παιδί παίζει. — The child plays.

ΟυσιαστικάA1

Noun Genders

Three genders — masculine (ο), feminine (η), neuter (το)

Learning Goal

Can identify noun gender by article and ending

Exam Skills:Ελληνομάθεια A1 GrammarΕλληνομάθεια A1 Reading

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

Ο φίλος μου είναι Έλληνας.

My friend is Greek.

Η ζωή είναι ωραία.

Life is beautiful.

Το παιδί παίζει.

The child plays.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

Noun Genders

Every Greek noun has one of three genders, shown by the definite article: ο (masc.), η (fem.), το (neut.).

Gender	Article	Typical endings	Examples
Masculine	ο	-ος, -ης, -ας	ο φίλος, ο μαθητής, ο άντρας
Feminine	η	-α, -η, -ος	η γυναίκα, η ζωή, η οδός
Neuter	το	-ο, -ι, -μα	το βιβλίο, το παιδί, το όνομα

Always learn nouns with their article!

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

English has no grammatical gender — you must memorize ο/η/το for every noun. Endings help but aren't 100% reliable (η οδός is feminine despite -ος).

Ο φίλος μου είναι Έλληνας.

My friend is Greek.

ο φίλος — masculine (-ος ending, ο article)

Η ζωή είναι ωραία.

Life is beautiful.

η ζωή — feminine (-η ending, η article)

Το παιδί παίζει.

The child plays.

το παιδί — neuter (-ί ending, το article)

Practice in course

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

A1 Course

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Put it into practice

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Frequently asked questions

When is Γένη Ουσιαστικών used?: Every Greek noun has one of three genders, shown by the definite article :
How is Γένη Ουσιαστικών formed?: Tip: Always learn nouns WITH their article. The article is the most reliable gender indicator.
What are common mistakes with Γένη Ουσιαστικών?: 🇬🇧 English: English has no grammatical gender. You must memorize ο/η/το for every noun. Endings help but aren't 100% reliable (η οδός is feminine despite -ος ending). 🇷🇺 Russian: Russian also has 3 genders — great advantage! But gender doesn't always match: 'book' is neuter in Greek (το βιβλίο) but feminine in Russian (книга). 🇨🇿 Czech: Czech also has 3 genders — helpful! But the endings differ. Greek -ος can be masculine OR feminine. Always check the article.

Gender

Article

Typical endings

Examples

Masculine

-ος, -ης, -ας

ο φίλος, ο μαθητής, ο άντρας

Feminine

-α, -η, -ος

η γυναίκα, η ζωή, η οδός

Neuter

το

-ο, -ι, -μα

το βιβλίο, το παιδί, το όνομα

Frequently asked questions

When is Γένη Ουσιαστικών used?

Every Greek noun has one of three genders, shown by the definite article :

How is Γένη Ουσιαστικών formed?

Tip: Always learn nouns WITH their article. The article is the most reliable gender indicator.

What are common mistakes with Γένη Ουσιαστικών?

🇬🇧 English: English has no grammatical gender. You must memorize ο/η/το for every noun. Endings help but aren't 100% reliable (η οδός is feminine despite -ος ending). 🇷🇺 Russian: Russian also has 3 genders — great advantage! But gender doesn't always match: 'book' is neuter in Greek (το βιβλίο) but feminine in Russian (книга). 🇨🇿 Czech: Czech also has 3 genders — helpful! But the endings differ. Greek -ος can be masculine OR feminine. Always check the article.