Week 17: Prepositions

 

Day 1: Prepositions

This week you will examine prepositions. These are the little words that show direction and location. I remember from my school days that my teacher said these are the words that show what you can do to a box (That explanation usually works): on, above, under, beside, through, with, against, out of, into, etc.

In addition, prepositions in Greek always work with cases, such as nominative, genitive, etc. Some prepositions will only work with one case, but other prepositions will work with different cases and will mean something different when they work with different cases. You will see that in the word for day 4 below.

Reminder about cases: (Note: don't worry about memorizing these but only be familiar with them. You will need to memorize the meaning of the different cases of the prepositions, though.)

Case
Nominative	This is the subject of the sentence.
Genitive	This modifies or relates to another word. For example, in the phrase "the shoes of Jesus," the phrase "of Jesus" is in the genitive case because it relates to "the shoes."
Ablative	This shows separation. For example, in the sentence, "I tell the child to go away from the fire," the phrase "away from the fire" is in the ablative case.
Dative	This shows receiving. For example, in the sentence, "I am speaking to the child," the phrase "to the child" is in the dative case.
Locative	This shows location. For example, in the sentence, "I tell the child to go in the house," the phrase "in the house" is in the locative.
Instrumental	This shows how something is done. For example, in the sentence, "I write with a pencil," the phrase "with a pencil" is in the instrumental.
Accusative	This is the direct object of the sentence (where the action of the verb is directed).
Vocative	This is a command.

Day 2: New word: from, away from

• ἀπο
• Pronounced like this: a (short "a" sound) - po (short "o" sound)
• This preposition takes (or the following word will have) the ablative case (from Genitive/Ablative)
• Example:
  • ἀπο τοῦ ἱεροῦ from/away from the temple
  • Pronounced like this: a (short "a" sound) - po (short "o" sound) tou (like in group) hi (short "i" sound) - ay (as in hay) - rou (like in group)

Day 3: New word: into, in, to

• εἰς
• Pronounced like this: ice
• This preposition takes the accusative case.
• Example:
  • εἰς τόν ἱερόν into/in/to the temple
  • Pronounced like this: ice ton (short "o" as in proton) hi (short "i" sound) - ay (as in hay) - ron (short "o" as in proton)

Day 4: New word: "through, by" or "because of"

• διά
• Pronounced like this: di (short "i" like in "pit") - a (short "a" as in "father")
• This preposition takes two different cases:
  • when the following word is in the genitive case it means "through" or "by"
  • when the following word is in the accusative case it means "because of"
• Examples:
  • διά τοῦ ἱεροῦ through/by the temple (ablative case)
  • διά τόν ἱερόν because of the temple (accusative case)

Day 5: New word: I send

• πέμπω
• Pronounced like this: pem (short "e" like in pet) - po (long "o")

Day 6: Weekly Exercises

1. Οὐ κρίνω τόν ἂνθρωπον διά Θεόν.

2a. Πέμπω δοῦλον διά ἱεροῦ.

2b. Πέμπω τόν δοῦλον διά ἱεροῦ.

2c. Πέμπω τόν δοῦλον διά τοῦ ἱεροῦ.

2d. Πέμπω τούς δοῦλους διά τοῦ ἱεροῦ.

2e. Πέμπω τούς δοῦλους διά τῶν ἱερῶν.

2f. Πέμπεις τούς δοῦλους διά τῶν ἱερῶν.

2g. Πέμπομεν τούς δοῦλους διά τῶν ἱερῶν.

3a. Διδάσκουσι τοίς ἂνθρωποις.

3b. Διδάσκουσιν ἂνθρωποις.

• Διδάσκουσιν ends with a moveable nu since the next word begins with a vowel

3c. Διδάσκει ἂνθρωποις εἰς βασιλείαν.

4a. Διά Θεόν λἐγω λὀγον.

4b. Διά Θεόν λέγετε λόγον.

4c. Διά Θεόν λέγετε λόγους.

4d. Διά Θεόν λέγετε λόγοις εἰς τέκνον.

4e. Διά Θεόν λέγετε λόγοις είς τά τέκνα.

5. Πέμπει υἱον ἀπο τῆς προφήτας.

6. Λαμβάνομεν δῶρον ἀπο τοῦ δοῦλου.

7. Βλέπω Ἱησοῦν εἰς ἱερόν.

8. Ού γινώσκω τήν ἡμέραν Θεοῦ.

9. Ἒχομεν ἰχθύν καί καρπόν.

10. Ὁ σωτήρ ἐστι Χριστόν.

Answers

1. I do not judge the man/person because of God.

2a. I send a servant/slave through/by a temple.

• Note, you will have to choose whether to use servant or slave and through or by.
• You usually will be able to tell because of what is happening in the rest of the sentence.
• But, sometimes you will have to use the word you feel is best when it is not clear which one to use.
• That is one reason there are so many different Bible translations, because people choose different meanings depending on what that translator thinks works best. Since people have different opinions on what works best, you have different translations. Welcome to Bible translation!

2b. I send the servant/slave through/by a temple.

2c. I send the servant/slave though/by the temple.

2d. I send the servants/slaves through/by the temple.

2e. I send the servants/slaves through/by the temples.

2f. You (singular) send the servants/slaves through/by the temples.

2g. We send the servants/slaves though/by the temples.

3a. They teach the men/people.

3b. They teach men/people.

3c. He/she teaches people in a kingdom.

• εἰς can be translated either into or in or to. Here the best translation is "in."

4a. Because of God, I speak/say a word.

4b. Because of God, you (plural) say/speak a word.

4c. Because of God, you (plural) say/speak words.

4d. Because of God, you (plural) say/speak words to a child.

4e. Because of God, you (plural) say/speak words to the children.

• "Child" in Greek is neuter, and so see the chart on #4 below for Accusative Plural.

5. He/She sends a son away from the prophet.

6. We take/receive a gift from the servant.

7. I see Jesus in a temple.

8. I do not know the day of God.

9. We have a fish and fruit.

10. The savior is Christ.

• To find "is" see #2 below.

What you have learned so far

1. Present Active Indicative endings

PIA	singular	plural
first person	ἔχωI have I am having	ἔχομενwe have we are having
second person	ἔχειςyou (singular) have you are having	ἔχετεyou (plural) have you are having
third person	ἔχειhe/she/it has he/she/it is having	ἔχουσι(ν)they have they are having
infinitive => ἔχεινto have

2. Present active indicative of εἰμί.

PIA	singular	plural
first person	εἰμίI am	ἐσμένwe are
second person	εἶyou (singular) are	ἐστέyou (plural) are
third person	ἐστί(ν)he/she/it is	εἰσί(ν)they are
infinitive => εἶναιto be

3. Masculine definite article: The endings of nouns will be similar

Case	Singular	Plural	Translation
Nominative	ὁ	οἱ	the
Genitive/Ablative	τοῦ	τῶν	of/from the
Dative/Locative/Instrumental	τῷ	τοῖς	to/in/with the
Accusative	τόν	τούς	the

4. Neuter definite article: The endings of nouns will be similar

Case	Singular	Plural	Translation
Nominative N	τό	τά	the
Genitive/Ablative G/A	τοῦ(same as masculine)	τῶν(same as masculine)	of/from the
Dative/Locative/Instrumental D/L/I	τῷ(same as masculine)	τοῖς(same as masculine)	to/in/with the
Accusative A	τό(same as nominative)	τά(same as nominative)	the

5. Feminine definite article: the endings of nouns will be similar.

Case	Singular	Plural	Translation
Nominative N	ἡ	αἱ	the
Genitive/Ablative G/A	τῆς	τῶν	of/from the
Dative/Locative/Instrumental D/L/I	τῇ	ταῖς	to/in/with the
Accusative A	τήν	τάς	the

6. First Declension endings: Feminine

Case	Singular	Translation	Plural	Translation
N	ἀγάπη	love	ἀγάπαι	loves
G/A	ἀγάπης	of/from love	ἀγάπηων	of/from loves
D/L/I	ἀγάπῃ	to/in/with love	ἀγάπαις	to/in/with loves
A	ἀγάπην	love	ἀγάπας	loves

7. Second Declension Endings: Masculine

Case	Singular	Plural
N	ἂνθρωπος	ἂνθροποι(same ending as the definite article)
G/A	ἀνθρώπου	ἀνθρώπων(same ending as the definite article)
D/L/I	ἀνθρώπῳ	ἀνθρώποις(same ending as the definite article)
A	ἂνθρωπον	ἀνθρώπους(same ending as the definite article)

8. Second Declension Endings: Neuter

Case	Singular	Plural
N	ἱερόν	ἱερά
G/A	ἱεροῦ	ἱερῶν
D/L/I	ἱερῷ	ἱεροῖς
A	ἱερόν	ἱερά

Vocabulary

ἀγάπη, ἡ	love
ἀδελφός, ὁ	brother
ἂγγελος, ὁ	messenger, angel
ἀκούω	I hear
ἂνθρωπος, ὁ	man/human/person/human being
ἀπο	(ablative) from, away from
βασιλεία, ἡ	kingdom
βλέπω	I see
γινώσκω	I know
γλῶσσα, ἡ	tongue
γράφω	I write
διά	(genitive) through, by (accusative) because of
διδάσκω	I teach
δοῦλος, ὁ	servant/slave
δῶρον, τό	gift
εἰμί	I am
εἰς	(accusative) into, in, to
ἒχω	I have
ἢ	or
ἡμέρα, ἡ	day
θεός, ὁ	God
ἱερόν, τό	temple
Ἰησοῦς	Jesus
ἰχθύς, ὁ	fish
καί	and
καρπός, ὁ	fruit
κρίνω	I judge
λαμβάνω	I take, receive
λέγω	I say or I speak
λόγος, ὁ	word
οὐ, οὐκ, οὐχ	not before a consonant, before smooth breathing, before rough breathing
πατήρ, ὁ	father
πέμπω	I send
προφήτης, ὁ	prophet
σωτήρ, ὁ	savior
τέκνον, τό	child
υἱός, ὁ	son
Χριστός, ὁ	Christ