Greek has no form separate from its word for “one”: ένας, μία, ένα serves both as numeral and as indefinite article. That history explains why it declines and has no plural, but the article does not always emphasize the number one. It can simply introduce an unknown or newly mentioned countable referent: Ένας κύριος περιμένει έξω “A gentleman is waiting outside.”
The full paradigm
ένας agrees with its noun in gender and case. There is no vocative and no plural.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ένας | μία / μια | ένα |
| Genitive | ενός | μίας / μιας | ενός |
| Accusative | έναν | μία / μια | ένα |
Three observations save you most of the work. Masculine and neuter share ενός in the genitive, exactly as the definite article shares του. The feminine never changes between nominative and accusative — μία is μία wherever it stands. And the neuter never changes at all: ένα for both nominative and accusative, mirroring neuter το.
Ένας φίλος μου δουλεύει σε αυτό το ξενοδοχείο.
énas fílos mu dhulévi se aftó to ksenodhochío
A friend of mine works at that hotel.
Ρώτησα έναν αστυνομικό πού είναι η στάση.
rótisa énan astinomikó pu íne i stási
I asked a policeman where the stop is.
Γνώρισα μια κοπέλα από τη Θεσσαλονίκη στο πάρτι.
ghnórisa mia kopéla apó ti Thesaloníki sto párti
I met a girl from Thessaloniki at the party.
μία or μια? A spelling that tracks syllables
Both spellings are standard, and they are not random variants — they record how many syllables you say.
- μία is the two-syllable form, MÍ-a. You reach for it when you are genuinely counting, or contrasting: μία φορά, όχι δύο.
- μια is the one-syllable form, pronounced mya — the ι and α merge (this is synizesis). This is the ordinary, unstressed "a" of everyday speech and writing.
The same split runs through the genitive: μίας (two syllables, emphatic or careful) versus μιας (one syllable, everyday). In practice, if the word is doing article duty, write μια / μιας; if it is doing numeral duty, write μία / μίας. Nobody will correct you either way, but the distinction is real and native writers observe it.
Έχω μία αδερφή και δύο αδερφούς.
écho mía adherfí ke dhío adherfús
I have one sister and two brothers.
Μια μέρα θα σου τα πω όλα.
mia méra tha su ta po óla
One day I'll tell you the whole story.
έναν keeps its -ν
The masculine accusative is έναν, and neutral current Standard writing retains its final ν before every following sound. That keeps masculine έναν visibly distinct from neuter ένα. The sound-conditioned drop remains live for feminine τη(ν) and μη(ν), not for the masculine written form taught here; the final-ν page maps the split.
So write έναν άντρα, έναν καφέ, έναν πελάτη, έναν φίλο, έναν γιατρό, έναν μήνα. In writing, dropping the ν leaves the neuter-looking form ένα and hides the noun's gender.
Είδα έναν άντρα να σπρώχνει το αμάξι του στην ανηφόρα.
ídha énan ándra na spróchni to amáksi tu stin anifóra
I saw a man pushing his car up the hill.
Περίμενα έναν φίλο μου μισή ώρα έξω από το σινεμά.
perímena énan fílo mu misí óra ékso apó to sinemá
I waited half an hour for a friend outside the cinema.
Relaxed speech often reduces masculine έναν, especially in the high-frequency order ένα καφέ. Recognize that widespread informal form, but keep έναν as the neutral-standard production and writing default:
Θα ήθελα έναν καφέ και ένα κρουασάν, παρακαλώ.
tha íthela énan kafé ke éna kruasán, parakaló
I'd like a coffee and a croissant, please. (neutral / careful — the -ν the rule prescribes)
Θα ήθελα ένα καφέ και ένα κρουασάν, παρακαλώ.
tha íthela éna kafé ke éna kruasán, parakaló
I'd like a coffee and a croissant, please. (informal — extremely widespread in speech; neutral writing prefers έναν)
The genitive ενός / μιας
The genitive ενός / μιας is fully ordinary in speech and writing whenever the surrounding construction calls for a genitive. You meet it especially with possession, abstract relations and measures; it is simply less frequent than the nominative and accusative because those syntactic environments occur more often.
Χρειάζομαι τη βοήθεια ενός δικηγόρου, δεν βγάζω άκρη μόνος μου.
chriázome ti voíthia enós dhikighóru, dhen vgházo ákri mónos mu
I need a lawyer's help — I can't sort this out on my own.
Είναι θέμα μιας εβδομάδας, μην ανησυχείς.
íne théma mias evdhomádhas, min anisichís
It's a matter of a week, don't worry.
There is no plural indefinite article
English "a" has no plural either — but English fills the gap with some, and learners look for a Greek equivalent. There isn't one word; there are three strategies, and they are not interchangeable.
| Strategy | Form | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Bare plural noun | Έφερα λουλούδια. | The default. Unmarked, says nothing about quantity. |
| μερικοί / μερικές / μερικά | μερικά βιβλία | "a few, several" — actively signals a small number. |
| κάποιοι… / κάτι + plural | κάποιοι φίλοι / κάτι φίλοι | “certain, some (unspecified).” Κάτι is indeclinable and more conversational. |
The bare plural is the one to reach for first. Greek is perfectly comfortable with a determiner-less plural where English feels obliged to say "some".
Έφερα λουλούδια για τη μητέρα σου, τα έβαλα στο τραπέζι.
éfera lulúdhia ya ti mitéra su, ta évala sto trapézi
I brought some flowers for your mother — I put them on the table.
Έχω μερικές ερωτήσεις, αν προλαβαίνεις.
écho merikés erotísis, an prolavénis
I have a few questions, if you have time.
Μας πήραν τηλέφωνο κάποιοι από την τράπεζα.
mas píran tiléfono kápii apó tin trápeza
Some people from the bank called us.
Where English says "a" and Greek says nothing
This is the half of the topic that costs learners the most. The indefinite article naturally introduces one unknown or newly mentioned countable referent, but Greek often uses a zero article when a noun merely classifies someone, names a role, or expresses an institutional possession such as car ownership.
The biggest case is a neutral classifying predicate noun: professions, nationalities, roles and religion. With είμαι, γίνομαι, ως, σαν, that classifying noun normally goes bare.
Η γυναίκα μου είναι δικηγόρος και δουλεύει σε μεγάλο γραφείο.
i yinéka mu íne dhikighóros ke dhulévi se meghálo ghrafío
My wife is a lawyer and works at a big firm.
Δουλεύω ως μεταφράστρια εδώ και δέκα χρόνια.
dhulévo os metafrástria edhó ke dhéka chrónia
I've been working as a translator for ten years.
Θέλει να γίνει δασκάλα, το λέει από μικρή.
théli na yíni dhaskála, to léi apó mikrí
She wants to be a teacher — she's been saying so since she was little.
Put ένας back in and you change the information structure. Είναι δικηγόρος neutrally classifies someone by profession; Είναι ένας πολύ καλός δικηγόρος presents and describes him as one member of that class. Bare profession nouns are therefore the default, while an indefinite article becomes natural with descriptive modification, contrast or presentational force.
Two other places where English "a" often evaporates:
- Exclamations with τι: Τι ωραία μέρα! — never ×τι μια ωραία μέρα.
- Mass objects and conventional possession: Πίνεις καφέ; ("Do you drink coffee?"), Έχεις αυτοκίνητο; ("Do you have a car?" — the question is about car ownership, not a newly introduced particular car).
Τι ωραία μέρα, κρίμα να μείνουμε μέσα.
ti oréa méra, kríma na mínume mésa
What a beautiful day — it'd be a shame to stay indoors.
Έχεις αυτοκίνητο ή να σε πάρω εγώ;
échis aftokínito i na se páro eghó;
Do you have a car, or shall I pick you up?
The full inventory of article-less contexts — after prepositions in set phrases, in lists, in headlines, with predicates — is on when to omit the article, and the shades of meaning ένας itself can carry are on using the indefinite article.
ένας as a genuine numeral
Because form and function coincide, the same word does numeral duty, and there it can even be stressed and stand alone. Note that ένας, μία, τρεις and τέσσερις are the only simple cardinals below a hundred that decline (the hundreds — διακόσιοι/-ες/-α — and χίλιοι decline for gender too) — see declining 1, 3, 4.
Μείναμε μόνο μία νύχτα, δεν προλάβαμε τίποτα.
míname móno mía níchta, dhen prolávame típota
We only stayed one night — we didn't get to see anything.
Ο ένας ήθελε θάλασσα, ο άλλος βουνό, και τελικά μείναμε σπίτι.
o énas íthele thálasa, o álos vunó, ke teliká míname spíti
One of them wanted the sea, the other the mountains, and in the end we stayed home.
That last sentence shows something English cannot do: ο ένας with the definite article, meaning "the one (of two)". Greek pairs it with ο άλλος to build "one … the other".
Common Mistakes
1. Getting the gender wrong. ένας/μία/ένα must match the noun, and the noun's gender is a fact you have to know.
❌ Πήρα ένα σαλάτα και ένα μπίρα.
Incorrect — σαλάτα and μπίρα are feminine: μια σαλάτα, μια μπίρα.
✅ Πήρα μια σαλάτα και μια μπίρα.
píra mia saláta ke mia bíra
I got a salad and a beer.
2. Dropping the -ν of masculine έναν before a vowel. Even relaxed speech retains it here; without it the phrase looks neuter.
❌ Ψάχνω ένα υπάλληλο για το κατάστημα.
Incorrect — before a vowel the masculine accusative keeps its ν: έναν υπάλληλο.
✅ Ψάχνω έναν υπάλληλο για το κατάστημα.
psáchno énan ipálilo ya to katástima
I'm looking for a shop assistant.
3. Translating "what a…" literally. Greek exclamative τι takes no article.
❌ Τι μια ωραία ιδέα!
Incorrect — the exclamative τι is followed by a bare phrase: Τι ωραία ιδέα!
✅ Τι ωραία ιδέα, γιατί δεν το σκέφτηκα εγώ;
ti oréa idhéa, yatí dhen to skéftika eghó;
What a great idea — why didn't I think of it?
Key Takeaways
- The indefinite article shares its forms with the numeral “one”: ένας / μία / ένα, genitive ενός / μιας / ενός, accusative έναν / μία / ένα.
- Masculine and neuter share ενός; the feminine and the neuter do not distinguish nominative from accusative.
- μια/μιας (one syllable) normally serves as the everyday article; μία/μίας (two syllables) typically carries numeral or contrastive force.
- Masculine accusative έναν keeps its ν in neutral current Standard writing. Colloquial ένα καφέ is widespread in speech; write έναν.
- There is no plural. Use a bare plural noun, or μερικοί / κάποιοι when you actually mean "a few / certain".
- Greek omits the indefinite article far more than English does — above all with neutral classifying predicates (είναι δικηγόρος), roles after ως / σαν, conventional possession, and exclamative τι.
- Use ένας/μία/ένα to introduce an unknown or newly mentioned singular countable referent; numeral-like emphasis is possible but not required.
Related Topics
- Using the Indefinite ArticleA2 — When Greek actually says ένας/μία/ένα and when it says nothing at all — why Είμαι γιατρός takes no article, why Τι ωραία μέρα! takes none either, how ένας still means 'one', and why the commonest learner error on this page is putting an article in.
- Declining 1, 3, 4A1 — Master the gender and case forms of ένας, τρεις, and τέσσερις, the three low Greek cardinals that must agree with the noun they count.
- When to Omit the ArticleB1 — The other half of the article story — role predicates (Είναι δικηγόρος), verb+bare-noun activities (βλέπω τηλεόραση), manner phrases (με προσοχή), the article-less institutional πάω σχολείο, and compressed registers where Greek can omit predictable articles.