The second declension

The second Greek declension includes masculines (about 7.000) and neuters (over 9.000), as well as a smaller group of feminines (about 400). Also the second Latin declension shows a similar proportion. The 2nd declension case-endings are more homogeneous than those of the 1st declension: the table below clearly shows that both masculine and feminines share the same case-endings. Consequently, noun genders can be determined only by observing articles and adjectives, if any. Neuters differ from masculines and feminines in three case-endings (nominative, accusative and vocative): -ον in the singular, -ᾰ in the plural. The similarities with the 2nd Latin declension are unmistakable. The following table shows 2nd declension case-endings:

Like in the 1st declension, also in the 2nd declension the accent of the nominative singular can change both in position and type, according to accentuation rules. In order to fully understand why these changes take place, it is important to know the ending syllable length. From a practical point of view, determining the length of the stem last syllable is not of major importance, on condition that you remember that all nominative singular properispomena always have a long syllable penult in the lexical entry; the penult syllable of the lexical entry being also the last syllable of the stem. This is the reason why such nouns always turn to paroxytone in all cases displaying a long syllable ending.

Determining the quantity of 2nd declension case-endings is relatively easy: ending syllables are short when their vowels are either -ο or -ε, whereas endings with the vowel -ω are long. See the page on vowel classification also. Syllables with a diphthong are long, except for the nominative plural ending -οῐ of masculines and feminines; such ending is considered short for accentuation purposes, similarly to nominative plural ending -αῐ in the first declension.

As well as in the 1st declension, all nominative singular oxytones display perispomenon genitive and dative cases in the singular, plural and dual.
The interactive table below shows the various 2nd declension noun types, grouped according to gender and nominative singular accent.

Toggle option Highlight accent to see modifications with regard to nominative singular, according to accentuation rules.

If you feel like it, try the second declension self-assessment test.