Second-declension nouns and neuters

Second-declension nouns and neuters

λόγος models a common masculine pattern and δῶρον a neuter one. Neuter nominative and accusative forms match, and a neuter plural subject often takes a singular verb in Attic Greek.

Masculine -ος and neuter -ον follow related endings

Second-declension λόγος is masculine: nominative singular λόγος, accusative λόγον, nominative plural λόγοι, accusative plural λόγους. δῶρον is neuter: nominative and accusative singular δῶρον, and nominative and accusative plural δῶρα. Articles make the same contrasts visible—ὁ λόγος, τὸν λόγον, τό δῶρον, τά δῶρα.

The neuter rule is broader than this declension: nominative and accusative match, and the plural ends in -α. Case must then be inferred from syntax. In τὰ δῶρα βλέπει, the gifts are objects; in τὰ δῶρα καλά ἐστιν, the gifts are the subject described as beautiful.

A neuter plural may take a singular verb

Attic Greek regularly treats a neuter plural subject as a collective and uses a singular verb. τὰ δῶρα καλά ἐστιν therefore means ‘the gifts are beautiful,’ even though ἐστιν is grammatically singular. This is a normal historical agreement pattern, not an editorial mistake or evidence that δῶρα is singular.

Compare οἱ λόγοι καλοί εἰσιν, ‘the accounts are beautiful,’ where a masculine plural subject takes plural εἰσιν. Adjectives still agree with a neuter plural in plural form: καλά, not καλόν. The special pattern concerns finite-verb agreement; it does not erase the noun phrase’s number.

The neuter pattern matters

λόγος models masculine forms; δῶρον models neuter forms. Neuter nominative and accusative match, and neuter plurals end in -α. In Attic Greek, a neuter plural subject often takes a singular verb—a real Greek pattern, not an error.