The following tips can be useful in sorting through a puzzling Greek sentence.

• Try the tips in the order given.
• Within a tip, if statements are numbered, try them in that order until the required feature is identified.
• The fundamental structure of a sentence is carried by the subject, predicate, direct object, and indirect object (tips 1 - 5).
• Other parts of a sentence (adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, genitive nouns, etc., usually simply add a "spot of colour" to a particular element in the sentence; they rarely relate to the fundamental structure of the sentence.

  Try to translate subject, predicate, direct and indirect objects first. They are crucial to the sense of the sentence.

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TIP #1 - LOCATE THE SUBJECT:

1. Look for a definite article in the Nominative case.
2. If there is no definite article, look for a noun or pronoun in the Nominative case (or an adjective in the nominative case that is being used as a noun).
   This will identify the subject of the sentence.
3. If there is no noun or pronoun (or adjective used as a noun) in the Nominative case, the subject will be contained in the ending of the verb.

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TIP #2 - LOCATE THE PREDICATE (VERB): If a noun or pronoun exists in the nominative case, much information about the verb will already be provided:

1. If the subject is singular, the verb will be singular. (Exception: plural neuter nouns take a singular verb)
2. If a noun is in the nominative case, the verb will be third person.
3. If a pronoun is in the nominative case, the verb can be any person.
4. If there is nothing in the nominative case, then find the subject in the ending of the verb. In such cases, the subject will be translated as a pronoun.

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TIP #3 -TRANSLATE THE VERB:

1. If the verb begins with e, the Tense is likely Past.
2. If the verb begins with a long vowel (eta, omega), the Tense may be Past.
3. If the verb ends in ai or o, the voice is Middle or Passive.
4. If the verb ending has theta+ETA, the voice is Middle or Passive.
5. Check the letter that comes between the verb root (stem) and the verb ending.
   s indicates Future
   sa indicates Aorist
   k indicates Perfect or Pluperfect

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TIP #4 - LOCATE THE DIRECT OBJECT:

1. Look for an article in the accusative case. The noun associated with that article will be the direct object.
2. ELSE Look for a noun or pronoun in the accusative case.
   That will be the direct object.

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TIP #5 - LOCATE THE INDIRECT OBJECT:

1. Look for an article in the dative case. The noun associated with that article will be the indirect object.
2. Look for a noun or pronoun in the dative case. That will likely be the indirect object.

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TIP #6 - LOCATE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES:

• The noun or pronoun (and article, if definite) following a preposition should be translated with the preposition.
• The noun or pronoun associated with the preposition will never be in the nominative case.

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TIP #7 - Translate Predicative Participles:

Such participles will not have an article.

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TIP #8 - TRANSLATE MODIFIERS OF NOUNS:

1. Locate all nouns and pronouns in the Genitive case.
2. Locate all adjectives in any case.
3. Locate all attributive participles.

These items will not govern the whole sentence; they will define or limit a noun. These items serve primarily to add "a spot of colour" on one of the other items of the sentence rather than on the sentence as a whole. Almost all nouns or pronouns in the genitive case must be associated with another noun or pronoun (which could be in any case).

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TIP #9 - SPECIAL NOTE ON TRANSLATING NOUNS AND PRONOUNS:

• For nouns, only case and number are important elements for translating.
• For pronouns, gender is important too. [Note that gender, which is a minor feature of English, is important, however, for English pronouns in the third person singular (he, she, it)].
• Declension is never important in translating. Declension adds nothing to the meaning of the word.