Greek Morphology Codes
Greek morphology codes appear as a sequence of abbreviated tags, for example V AOR ACT IND 3P SG means "verb, aorist tense, active voice, indicative mood, 3rd person, singular." Each tag corresponds to one of the categories below.
Also see: Hebrew Morphology Codes
Part of Speech
| Code | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
N | Noun | A person, place, thing, or idea (e.g. logos "word," theos "God") |
V | Verb | An action or state of being (e.g. pisteuo "I believe") |
ART | Article | The definite article "the" — Greek has no indefinite article |
ADJ.A | Attributive Adjective | Describes a noun directly (e.g. "the good shepherd") |
ADJ.P | Predicate Adjective | Linked to the subject by a verb (e.g. "God is faithful") |
ADJ.R | Restrictive Adjective | Limits or specifies the noun (e.g. "the other disciples") |
ADJ.S | Substantive Adjective | An adjective functioning as a noun (e.g. "the righteous") |
ADV | Adverb | Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb (e.g. "truly," "quickly") |
PREP | Preposition | Shows relationship between words (e.g. en "in," eis "into") |
CONJ | Coordinating Conjunction | Joins equal elements (e.g. kai "and," alla "but") |
CONJ.S | Subordinating Conjunction | Introduces dependent clauses (e.g. hoti "because/that," hina "in order that") |
CONJ.C | Correlative Conjunction | Paired conjunctions (e.g. "both…and," "either…or") |
PRO.P | Personal Pronoun | Refers to persons (e.g. ego "I," su "you," autos "he") |
PRO.D | Demonstrative Pronoun | Points to something specific (e.g. houtos "this," ekeinos "that") |
PRO.R | Relative Pronoun | Introduces relative clauses (e.g. hos "who/which") |
PRO.Q | Interrogative Pronoun | Asks a question (e.g. tis "who?" ti "what?") |
PRO.I | Indefinite Pronoun | Refers to something unspecified (e.g. tis "someone," ti "something") |
PRO.X | Reflexive Pronoun | Refers back to the subject (e.g. heautou "himself") |
PRO | Pronoun (other) | Pronoun not further classified |
DET | Determiner | Specifies a noun (broader than articles) |
DET.P | Possessive Determiner | Shows possession (e.g. emos "my," sos "your") |
PART | Particle | Small function word (e.g. an, ge, men) |
QUAN | Quantifier | Indicates amount (e.g. pas "all," polus "many") |
INTJ | Interjection | An exclamatory word (e.g. ouai "woe!") |
EXCL | Exclamation | Emphatic expression |
RESP | Response Particle | Affirmative or negative response (e.g. nai "yes," ou "no") |
Tense
Greek tense describes when an action happens and its aspect (how the action is viewed — as a process, a completed event, or a state).
| Code | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
PRS | Present | Ongoing or repeated action, usually now ("he is writing") |
AOR | Aorist | Simple occurrence, often past ("he wrote") — the most common Greek tense |
IMPF | Imperfect | Continuous or repeated action in the past ("he was writing") |
FUT | Future | Action expected to happen ("he will write") |
PRF | Perfect | Completed action with ongoing results ("he has written" — and the writing still stands) |
PLPF | Pluperfect | Completed action with results in the past ("he had written") |
Voice
Voice shows the subject's relationship to the action.
| Code | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
ACT | Active | The subject performs the action ("God created") |
MID | Middle | The subject acts on itself or in its own interest ("he washed himself") |
PASS | Passive | The subject receives the action ("he was baptized") |
Mood
Mood expresses the speaker's attitude toward the action — whether it is real, possible, or commanded.
| Code | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
IND | Indicative | States a fact or reality ("he went") |
SUBJ | Subjunctive | Expresses possibility or purpose ("that he might go") |
IMP | Imperative | A command or request ("go!") |
INF | Infinitive | The verbal idea without person/number ("to go") |
PTCP | Participle | A verbal adjective ("going," "having gone") |
OPT | Optative | Expresses a wish ("may it be!") — rare in the NT |
Person
| Code | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
1P | First Person | The speaker ("I" / "we") |
2P | Second Person | The one spoken to ("you") |
3P | Third Person | The one spoken about ("he" / "she" / "it" / "they") |
Case
Greek nouns, pronouns, and adjectives change form (declension) to show their role in the sentence.
| Code | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
NOM | Nominative | The subject of the sentence ("God is love") |
GEN | Genitive | Possession, source, or separation ("the word of God") |
DAT | Dative | Indirect object, means, or location ("he said to them") |
ACC | Accusative | Direct object, extent ("he loved the world") |
VOC | Vocative | Direct address ("Lord, have mercy!") |
Gender & Number
| Code | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
M | Masculine | Grammatical masculine gender |
F | Feminine | Grammatical feminine gender |
N | Neuter | Grammatical neuter gender |
SG | Singular | One ("the disciple") |
PL | Plural | More than one ("the disciples") |
Degree
| Code | Meaning | Description |
|---|---|---|
COMP | Comparative | "Greater," "more" — compares two things |
SUPL | Superlative | "Greatest," "most" — the highest degree |