Adjectives, part one: the attributive use

Adjectives modify nouns.

The red house. The long story. The incontrovertible evidence.

Adjectives are used in koine Greek much like they are used in English. But, of course, not entirely. There are three major uses of the adjective in koine: the attributive, the predicate, and the substantive use. We will cover the attributive use today.

This use of the adjective is similar to that of English:

ο καλός λόγος
the good word

However, in koine, 'the good word' can be expressed in three slightly different ways:

1. ο καλός λόγος (most common)
2. ο λόγος ο καλός (less common)
3. λόγος ο καλός (uncommon)

All of these mean approximately the same thing, although #2 is sometimes translated 'the word the good (one)' and #3, 'a word, the good (one)'

The common feature - and the key to recognizing the attributive use of the adjective is as follows: the adjective is immediately preceded by the article which refers to the noun in question.

(There are some minor exceptions, so one might better say the adjective is always at least almost immediately preceded by the article - but more on that as the case arises.)

If the adjective is not preceded by the article, e.g.,

καλός ο λόγος

then the meaning is different. More on that next time. Χαίρετε!