Genitive of Quantity and Partitive | Greek Grammar

English builds every quantity expression with the same word: a glass *of wine, a kilo **of sugar, one **of my friends, most **of the students. Because the genitive is often taught as "the of-case", learners reasonably assume Greek puts all of these in the genitive. It does not. Modern Greek has largely *abandoned the partitive genitive in favour of two much simpler devices — bare juxtaposition and από + accusative — and the genitive versions, where they still exist, are either formal, restricted to particular noun types, or mean something else entirely. This page gives you the living constructions first.

Containers and measures: just put the two nouns side by side

The everyday pattern is measure word + substance, with nothing in between. The second noun simply stands in apposition, in the same case as the first — usually accusative, because you are ordering, buying or handing something over.

Greek	English	Structure
ένα ποτήρι κρασί	a glass of wine	container + acc.
ένα μπουκάλι νερό	a bottle of water	container + acc.
ένα φλιτζάνι καφέ	a cup of coffee	container + acc.
ένα κιλό ζάχαρη	a kilo of sugar	measure + acc.
δύο κιλά ντομάτες	two kilos of tomatoes	measure + acc. pl.
μια φέτα ψωμί	a slice of bread	portion + acc.
ένα πακέτο τσιγάρα	a packet of cigarettes	container + acc. pl.
δύο μερίδες μουσακά	two portions of moussaka	portion + acc.

Θα πάρω ένα ποτήρι κρασί, ευχαριστώ.

tha páro éna potíri krasí, efcharistó

I'll have a glass of wine, thanks.

Πάρε ένα μπουκάλι νερό από το ψυγείο.

páre éna bukáli neró apó to psiyío

Grab a bottle of water from the fridge.

Θέλω ένα κιλό ντομάτες και μισό κιλό κρεμμύδια.

thélo éna kiló domátes ke misó kiló kremídhia

I'd like a kilo of tomatoes and half a kilo of onions.

There is no of, no genitive, and no preposition — just two nouns in a row. If that feels too easy, that is because English has made you expect a linking word where Greek needs none. This is the same head-first logic as possession, only without the case marking: the first noun names the shape of the quantity, the second names the stuff.

The genitive version — and what it really means

You can say ένα ποτήρι κρασιού, and you will meet it in older prose and in careful writing. It is (formal) to (literary), not wrong. In everyday speech, though, choosing it draws attention to itself in a way that ένα ποτήρι κρασί does not.

The important thing is what happens when you add the definite article to the genitive noun. The meaning changes completely:

Greek	English	What it denotes
ένα ποτήρι κρασί	a glass of wine	a quantity of wine
το ποτήρι του κρασιού	the wine glass	a type of glass
ένα φλιτζάνι καφέ	a cup of coffee	a quantity of coffee
το φλιτζάνι του καφέ	the coffee cup	a type of cup
ένα πιάτο σούπα	a bowl of soup	a quantity of soup
το πιάτο της σούπας	the soup bowl	a type of bowl

Βάλε τα ποτήρια του κρασιού στο πάνω ράφι.

vále ta potíria tu krasiú sto páno ráfi

Put the wine glasses on the top shelf.

Έσπασα το φλιτζάνι του καφέ που μου είχες φέρει.

éspasa to flidzáni tu kafé pu mu íches féri

I broke the coffee cup you'd brought me.

💡

This is the single most useful thing on the page. Juxtaposition measures; the definite genitive classifies. Ένα ποτήρι κρασί is something you drink; το ποτήρι του κρασιού is something you wash up. Order the first in a taverna and the second in a housewares shop.

Where the genitive is still the normal choice: group nouns

The partitive genitive has not vanished. It is fully alive with abstract collective nouns — words naming a group, a number, a series or a kind — which take a genitive complement and sound entirely ordinary doing so. That complement is usually plural, because you are naming a set; the exception is είδος ("kind, sort"), which normally takes the singular, since a kind of thing is a type rather than a collection: ένα είδος ψαριού, ένα είδος λουλουδιού — not ×ένα είδος λουλουδιών.

Greek	English
μια ομάδα τουριστών	a group of tourists
ένα πλήθος διαδηλωτών	a crowd of demonstrators
ένας αριθμός εργαζομένων	a number of employees
μια σειρά μέτρων	a series of measures
ένα είδος ψαριού	a kind of fish

Μια ομάδα τουριστών περίμενε έξω από το μουσείο.

mia omádha turistón perímene ékso apó to musío

A group of tourists was waiting outside the museum.

Η κυβέρνηση ανακοίνωσε μια σειρά μέτρων για την ακρίβεια.

i kivérnisi anakínose mia sirá métron ya tin akrívia

The government announced a series of measures on the cost of living. (journalistic)

So the split is quite clean, and it is worth stating as a rule of thumb: physical containers and measures take juxtaposition; abstract collectives take the genitive. Ένα κουτί σοκολατάκια (a box of chocolates) but ένα πλήθος ανθρώπων (a crowd of people).

"One of…": the living partitive is από + accusative

For picking one member out of a defined set, Greek uses από + accusative — not the genitive. This construction is completely regular and you can build it with any quantifier.

Greek	English
ένας από τους φίλους μου	one of my friends
μία από τις καλύτερες	one of the best (f.)
κανείς από εμάς	none of us
μερικοί από αυτούς	some of them
πολλοί από τους συναδέλφους	many of the colleagues
οι περισσότεροι από τους μαθητές	most of the students

Note that the quantifier at the front agrees in gender with what it is picking out (ένας φίλος → ένας από, μία ταινία → μία από), while everything after από is accusative.

Ένας από τους φίλους μου δουλεύει σε αυτή την εταιρεία.

énas apó tus fílus mu dhulévi se aftí tin etería

One of my friends works at that company.

Είναι μία από τις καλύτερες ταινίες που έχω δει φέτος.

íne mía apó tis kalíteres teníes pu écho dhi fétos

It's one of the best films I've seen this year.

Κανείς από εμάς δεν ήξερε τι να πει.

kanís apó emás dhen íksere ti na pi

None of us knew what to say.

Οι περισσότεροι από τους μαθητές πέρασαν τις εξετάσεις.

i perisóteri apó tus mathités pérasan tis eksetásis

Most of the students passed the exams.

There is a genitive counterpart, ένας εκ των…, built on the learned preposition εκ/εξ. It is alive only in (journalistic) and (formal) writing — the news bulletin, the press release — and would sound absurd in conversation.

Ένας εκ των τραυματιών μεταφέρθηκε στο νοσοκομείο.

énas ek ton travmatión metaférthike sto nosokomío

One of the injured was taken to hospital. (journalistic)

The partitive clitic: όλοι τους, κανένας τους

One genuine partitive genitive survives in fully colloquial speech, and it uses a weak genitive pronoun attached to a quantifier: όλοι *τους ("all of them"), κανένας τους ("not one of them"), οι δυο τους ("the two of them"), ο καθένας μας* ("each of us").

Ήρθαν όλοι τους, ακόμα και ο Νίκος που δεν βγαίνει ποτέ.

írthan óli tus, akóma ke o Níkos pu dhen vyéni poté

All of them came, even Nikos, who never goes out.

Κανένας τους δεν σήκωσε το τηλέφωνο.

kanénas tus dhen síkose to tiléfono

Not one of them picked up the phone.

This is not a fossil — it is productive and everyday. It also has no English equivalent in shape: English needs of them, Greek needs only the clitic.

When you need no partitive at all

English says some *of the water, a lot **of people. Greek very often needs nothing, because its quantifiers are *adjectives that agree with the noun directly — no linking word, no genitive.

Greek	Literally	English
λίγο νερό	little water	some / a little water
πολύς κόσμος	much people	a lot of people
αρκετά λεφτά	enough money	enough money
μερικά βιβλία	some books	some books

Θέλεις λίγο ακόμα κρασί ή σου φτάνει;

thélis lígho akóma krasí i su ftáni;

Do you want a little more wine, or is that enough?

Είχε πολύ κόσμο στην παραλία το Σάββατο.

íche polí kózmo stin paralía to Sávato

There were a lot of people on the beach on Saturday.

The distinction that matters: από + accusative when you are taking part of a defined set (πολλοί από τους φίλους μου — many of my friends, a specific group); bare agreeing quantifier when the noun is indefinite (πολλοί φίλοι — many friends, no set in mind). The full behaviour of πολύς is on πολύς and quantity.

The superlative partitive

One more place the genitive holds on: after a superlative, naming the field it is best in.

Είναι ο καλύτερος όλων, χωρίς καμία αμφιβολία.

íne o kalíteros ólon, chorís kamía amfivolía

He's the best of them all, without a doubt.

Alongside it, από + accusative is equally good and rather more common in speech: ο καλύτερος από όλους. Both are neutral; the genitive is slightly tighter and more emphatic.

Common Mistakes

1. Inserting a genitive where juxtaposition belongs. The commonest English-transfer error in a taverna.

❌ Θα ήθελα ένα μπουκάλι του νερού.

Incorrect — with the article this would mean 'the water bottle'; say ένα μπουκάλι νερό.

✅ Θα ήθελα ένα μπουκάλι νερό.

tha íthela éna bukáli neró

I'd like a bottle of water.

2. Using από for the container construction. Από means "from"; it does not translate the of of quantity.

❌ Ήπια ένα ποτήρι από κρασί.

Incorrect — this reads 'a glass out of wine'. Say ένα ποτήρι κρασί.

✅ Ήπια ένα ποτήρι κρασί με το φαγητό.

ípia éna potíri krasí me to fayitó

I had a glass of wine with the meal.

3. Building "one of my friends" with a bare genitive. The living partitive uses από.

❌ Ένας των φίλων μου δουλεύει εκεί.

Not modern Greek — the living partitive is από: ένας από τους φίλους μου. (The learned genitive survives only with εκ: ένας εκ των φίλων μου.)

✅ Ένας από τους φίλους μου δουλεύει εκεί.

énas apó tus fílus mu dhulévi ekí

One of my friends works there.

4. Leaving the noun after από in the genitive. από governs the accusative, always.

❌ Μερικοί από των μαθητών έφυγαν νωρίς.

Incorrect — από takes the accusative: από τους μαθητές.

✅ Μερικοί από τους μαθητές έφυγαν νωρίς.

merikí apó tus mathités éfighan norís

Some of the students left early.

5. Adding a partitive to an indefinite quantifier. Πολύς and λίγος are adjectives; they agree, they do not link.

❌ Ήρθαν πολλοί από ανθρώπους στη γιορτή.

Incorrect — with no defined set, use a plain agreeing quantifier: πολλοί άνθρωποι.

✅ Ήρθαν πολλοί άνθρωποι στη γιορτή.

írthan polí ánthropi sti yortí

A lot of people came to the party.

Key Takeaways

Containers and measures use juxtaposition, not the genitive: ένα ποτήρι κρασί, ένα κιλό ζάχαρη, δύο μερίδες μουσακά. No of, no preposition.
The genitive alternative (ένα ποτήρι κρασιού) is (formal / literary); with the definite article it changes meaning altogether — το ποτήρι του κρασιού is the wine glass, an object, not a serving.
The genitive is still normal after abstract collectives: ομάδα, πλήθος, αριθμός, σειρά, είδος + a genitive complement — usually plural, but είδος takes the singular (ένα είδος ψαριού).
"One of / most of / none of" uses από + accusative — ένας από τους φίλους μου. The genitive ένας εκ των is (journalistic / formal) only.
A real partitive genitive survives colloquially as a clitic on a quantifier: όλοι τους, κανένας τους, οι δυο τους.
With indefinite nouns, Greek uses a plain agreeing quantifier and no partitive at all: πολύς κόσμος, λίγο νερό.

Now practice Greek

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Greek →