Apposition is the construction where one noun phrase sits next to another and names the same thing again: my brother, the teacher; Athens, the capital. English does nothing to mark it, because English nouns cannot be marked. Greek does, and the rule is exactly one line long: an appositive takes the case of the noun it renames. The reason that line is worth a whole page is the thing it is constantly confused with — the possessive genitive, which looks identical in English (the teacher's brother, my brother the teacher) and is completely different in Greek. Getting this right is one of the clearest markers of a writer who actually controls the case system.
The rule across the cases
Take ο Γιάννης and rename him ο δάσκαλος. Whatever case the first phrase is in, the second copies it — article, adjective and noun together, exactly as in ordinary case agreement.
| Case of the first phrase | Greek |
|---|---|
| Nominative (subject) | ο Γιάννης, ο δάσκαλος |
| Accusative (object) | τον Γιάννη, τον δάσκαλο |
| Genitive (possessor) | του Γιάννη, του δασκάλου |
| Accusative (after a preposition) | με τον Γιάννη, τον δάσκαλο |
Ο Γιάννης, ο δάσκαλος των παιδιών μου, ήρθε κι αυτός στη γιορτή.
o Yánis, o dháskalos ton pedhión mu, írthe ki aftós sti yortí
Yannis, my children's teacher, came to the party too.
Είδα τον Γιάννη, τον δάσκαλο, έξω από το σχολείο το πρωί.
ídha ton Yáni, ton dháskalo, ékso apó to scholío to proí
I saw Yannis, the teacher, outside the school this morning.
Είναι η γνώμη του Γιάννη, του δασκάλου, όχι δική μου.
íne i ghnómi tu Yáni, tu dhaskálu, óchi dhikí mu
That's the opinion of Yannis, the teacher — not mine.
Μίλησα με τη Μαρία, τη γειτόνισσα από πάνω, για τη διαρροή.
mílisa me ti María, ti yitónisa apó páno, ya ti dhiaroí
I spoke to Maria, the neighbour upstairs, about the leak.
The third example is the one to stare at. Του Γιάννη is a genitive because Yannis possesses the opinion; του δασκάλου is a genitive only because it is copying Γιάννη's case, not because the teacher possesses anything. Appositives inherit; they do not choose.
Apposition versus the possessive genitive
This is where learners actually go wrong, and it is worth stating as a contrast rather than as a rule, because the two constructions differ by a single word.
| Greek | English | How many people? |
|---|---|---|
| ο αδερφός μου ο Νίκος | my brother Nikos | one — apposition, same case |
| ο αδερφός του Νίκου | Nikos's brother | two — genitive, different case |
Ο αδερφός μου ο Νίκος δουλεύει σε ναυτιλιακή εταιρεία.
o adherfós mu o Níkos dhulévi se naftiliakí etería
My brother Nikos works for a shipping company.
Ο αδερφός του Νίκου μένει μόνιμα στο Λονδίνο.
o adherfós tu Níku méni mónima sto Londhíno
Nikos's brother lives permanently in London.
The test is simple and never fails: ask whether the two nouns refer to the same person. Same person → same case. Different people → the second one is a modifier, and it goes genitive. English my brother Nikos and Nikos's brother are just as different, but English marks the difference with word order and an apostrophe rather than with case.
Close apposition and loose apposition
Greek distinguishes two shapes, and the commas are not decoration.
- Close apposition — no commas, the two phrases pronounced as one unit, each with its own article: ο αδερφός μου ο Νίκος, ο φίλος μου ο Στέλιος, η θεία μου η Ελένη. This is the everyday spoken pattern, and it identifies which one you mean.
- Loose apposition — commas, a parenthetical pause, adding information the listener did not need in order to identify the person: Ο Γιάννης, ο δάσκαλος, ήρθε. This is the standard written pattern, and it corresponds exactly to the English comma.
Both take the same case. The difference is punctuation and information structure, not grammar. The word-order variants with a repeated article are treated on Article + adjective + noun order.
Titles: both words decline
A title in front of a name is an appositive, so the title and the name share the case and both change shape. This is where formal writing most often exposes a weak grip on the system.
| Case | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ο κύριος Παπαδόπουλος | η κυρία Παπαδοπούλου |
| Genitive | του κυρίου Παπαδόπουλου | της κυρίας Παπαδοπούλου |
| Accusative | τον κύριο Παπαδόπουλο | την κυρία Παπαδοπούλου |
| Vocative | κύριε Παπαδόπουλε | κυρία Παπαδοπούλου |
Ο κύριος Παπαδόπουλος θα σας δει στις έντεκα, αν δεν αργήσει.
o kírios Papadhópulos tha sas dhi stis éndeka, an dhen aryísi
Mr Papadopoulos will see you at eleven, if he isn't late.
Το γραφείο του κυρίου Παπαδόπουλου είναι κλειστό σήμερα.
to ghrafío tu kiríu Papadhópulu íne klistó símera
Mr Papadopoulos's office is closed today.
Geography: two patterns, and the split is lexical
Place names split into two camps, and the honest answer is that you cannot derive which camp a word belongs to — you have to learn it with the generic noun.
| Generic noun | Construction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| πόλη, νησί, χωριό, περιοχή, λιμάνι | genitive of the name | η πόλη της Αθήνας, το νησί της Κρήτης |
| οδός, πλατεία, λεωφόρος | genitive of the name | η οδός Ερμού, η πλατεία Συντάγματος |
| ποταμός, όρος, ακρωτήριο | apposition, same case | ο ποταμός Νείλος, το όρος Όλυμπος |
Η πόλη της Αθήνας άλλαξε πολύ τα τελευταία δέκα χρόνια.
i póli tis Athínas álakse polí ta teleftéa dhéka chrónia
The city of Athens has changed a lot in the last ten years.
Μένει στην οδό Ερμού, πάνω από ένα κατάστημα με παπούτσια.
méni stin odhó Ermú, páno apó éna katástima me papútsia
She lives on Ermou Street, above a shoe shop.
Το όρος Όλυμπος έχει χιόνια μέχρι τον Μάιο.
to óros Ólimbos échi chiónia méchri ton Máio
Mount Olympus has snow until May. (formal / geographic register)
Ταξίδεψαν κατά μήκος του ποταμού Νείλου με πλοίο.
taksídhepsan katá míkos tu potamú Nílu me plío
They travelled the length of the river Nile by boat.
That last example is the appositive pattern in the genitive, and both words move: του ποταμού Νείλου. Compare it with της πόλης της Αθήνας, where the second genitive is a modifier rather than an appositive, and you have the whole distinction in two phrases. There is a broader account of articles with place names and institutions on Articles in titles and geography.
Apposition to a pronoun
Personal pronouns take appositives too, and because Greek pronouns are visibly case-marked, this is a place where a mismatch is glaring. Εμείς οι Έλληνες ("we Greeks") is nominative throughout; put the same phrase after a preposition and both parts go accusative.
Εμείς οι Έλληνες τρώμε πολύ αργά το βράδυ.
emís i Élines tróme polí arghá to vrádhi
We Greeks eat very late in the evening.
Σ' εμάς τους μικρούς δεν έλεγαν ποτέ τίποτα.
s' emás tus mikrús dhen éleghan poté típota
Nobody ever told us little ones anything.
ως and σαν: the case tells you who is being described
Here is the payoff for B2 learners, and it is a genuine precision point. Ως ("as, in the capacity of") and σαν ("like, as") introduce a phrase that behaves like an appositive: it takes the case of whichever noun it describes. Change the case and you change the meaning of the sentence.
| Greek | Case | Who is "the doctor"? |
|---|---|---|
| Ως γιατρός, δεν σου το συστήνω. | nominative | I am — it describes the subject |
| Τον προσέλαβαν ως διευθυντή. | accusative | he is — it describes the object |
Ως γιατρός, δεν μπορώ να σου το συστήσω αυτό το φάρμακο.
os yatrós, dhen boró na su to sistíso aftó to fármako
As a doctor, I can't recommend that medicine to you.
Τον προσέλαβαν ως διευθυντή στο νέο κατάστημα.
ton prosélavan os dhiefthindí sto néo katástima
They hired him as manager at the new shop.
Σου μιλάω σαν φίλος, όχι σαν δικηγόρος.
su miláo san fílos, óchi san dhikighóros
I'm talking to you as a friend, not as a lawyer.
In that last sentence φίλος is nominative because the friend is I, the speaker — σαν agrees with the subject (εγώ). To watch the case actually flip the meaning, you need a verb with a real accusative object:
Σε βλέπω σαν φίλο, όχι σαν συνάδελφο.
se vlépo san fílo, óchi san sinádhelfo
I see you as a friend, not as a colleague.
Now φίλο is accusative, because it describes σε — the person being seen — and σαν copies that accusative. So σαν φίλος (nominative: the friend is the speaker) and σαν φίλο (accusative: the friend is the one you are looking at) differ by a single letter, and that letter decides which of the two people the comparison is about. Note the limit the ending imposes: you cannot recast Σου μιλάω σαν φίλος as ×Σου μιλάω σαν φίλο, because σου is a genitive clitic and gives φίλο no accusative to agree with — the Greek for "I speak to you the way one speaks to a friend" is Σου μιλάω σαν σε φίλο.
Apposition to a whole clause
Greek can also hang an appositive on an entire preceding clause, using κάτι που or, more formally, γεγονός που. Since a clause has no case, the appositive stands in the nominative.
Άργησε δύο ώρες, κάτι που δεν του συμβαίνει ποτέ.
áryise dhío óres, káti pu dhen tu simvéni poté
He was two hours late, something that never happens with him.
Quantity expressions such as ένα ποτήρι νερό and δύο κιλά ντομάτες are appositional too — two nouns set side by side in the same case — and they are worked through on Genitive of quantity and partitive.
Common Mistakes
1. Leaving the appositive in the nominative after an accusative. The dictionary form is nominative, and it takes real discipline not to reach for it.
❌ Είδα τον Γιάννη, ο δάσκαλος των παιδιών μου.
Incorrect — the appositive copies the accusative: τον δάσκαλο των παιδιών μου.
✅ Είδα τον Γιάννη, τον δάσκαλο των παιδιών μου, στο σούπερ μάρκετ.
ídha ton Yáni, ton dháskalo ton pedhión mu, sto súper márket
I saw Yannis, my children's teacher, at the supermarket.
2. Declining the title but not the surname. Masculine surnames are ordinary nouns and move with the phrase.
❌ Μίλησα με τον κύριο Παπαδόπουλος για το θέμα.
Incorrect — the surname is accusative too: τον κύριο Παπαδόπουλο.
✅ Μίλησα με τον κύριο Παπαδόπουλο για το θέμα των κοινοχρήστων.
mílisa me ton kírio Papadhópulo ya to théma ton kinochríston
I spoke to Mr Papadopoulos about the service-charge issue.
3. Leaving a place name in the nominative after its generic noun. The genitive article demands a genitive name.
❌ Ζω στην πόλη της Αθήνα εδώ και δέκα χρόνια.
Incorrect — the name must be genitive as well: της Αθήνας.
✅ Ζω στην πόλη της Αθήνας εδώ και δέκα χρόνια.
zo stin póli tis Athínas edhó ke dhéka chrónia
I've been living in the city of Athens for ten years.
4. Mismatching a pronoun and its appositive. The pronoun's case is the one that counts.
❌ Σε εμάς οι δάσκαλοι δεν μας ρώτησε κανείς.
Incorrect — after σε both parts go accusative: σ' εμάς τους δασκάλους.
✅ Σ' εμάς τους δασκάλους δεν μας ρώτησε κανείς.
s' emás tus dhaskálus dhen mas rótise kanís
Nobody asked us teachers.
5. Using the nominative after ως when it describes an object. The case has to point at the right noun.
❌ Τον προσέλαβαν ως διευθυντής πωλήσεων.
Incorrect — ως describes the accusative τον: ως διευθυντή πωλήσεων.
✅ Τον προσέλαβαν ως διευθυντή πωλήσεων πέρσι τον Σεπτέμβριο.
ton prosélavan os dhiefthindí políseon pérsi ton Septémvrio
They hired him as sales manager last September.
Key Takeaways
- An appositive copies the case of the noun it renames — nominative, accusative or genitive — because both phrases point at the same thing.
- The confusion to eliminate: same referent → same case (ο αδερφός μου ο Νίκος); different referent → genitive (ο αδερφός του Νίκου).
- Close apposition (no commas, two articles) is the spoken identifying pattern; loose apposition (commas) adds parenthetical information. Same case in both.
- Titles and names both decline: του κυρίου Παπαδόπουλου, τον κύριο Παπαδόπουλο. Feminine surnames in -ου are already genitive and never change.
- Geography splits lexically: η πόλη της Αθήνας, η οδός Ερμού take a genitive, while ο ποταμός Νείλος, το όρος Όλυμπος are true appositions (του ποταμού Νείλου).
- Pronouns take appositives too: εμείς οι Έλληνες, σ' εμάς τους δασκάλους.
- Ως and σαν agree with whatever they describe — Ως γιατρός, δεν το συστήνω (subject) versus Τον προσέλαβαν ως διευθυντή (object).
Now practice Greek
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Case Agreement Within the Noun PhraseA2 — Why Greek inflects three or four words where English inflects none — ο καλός άνθρωπος → του καλού ανθρώπου → τον καλό άνθρωπο — how to decline a whole phrase as one unit, why the endings need not look alike, and what this concord buys you in word-order freedom.
- Articles in Titles and GeographyB1 — How the definite article behaves with titles, place names and works — ο κύριος Παπαδόπουλος with both words declining, the genitive-apposition street (η οδός Ερμού, η πλατεία Συντάγματος), seas and mountains and rivers with their fixed genders, the plural-only place names (τα Ιωάννινα, τα Χανιά, οι Δελφοί), and book and film titles that keep their own article.