Most Greek cardinal numbers never change, but 1, 3, and 4 do. Their form reflects the gender and case of the noun they count: τρεις μέρες but τρία παιδιά, έναν φίλο but ένα εισιτήριο. English has one fixed form for each number, so this agreement is a new habit rather than a difficult idea.
One: ένας, μία, ένα
The numeral “one” has singular forms in all three genders. It is also the Greek indefinite article, so the same forms can mean either “one” or “a/an”; context and emphasis supply the difference.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ένας | μία / μια | ένα |
| Genitive | ενός | μίας / μιας | ενός |
| Accusative | έναν | μία(ν) / μια(ν) | ένα |
Μία is pronounced in two syllables, while μια is its one-syllable variant. Both are standard; μια is especially frequent when the word functions as an unstressed indefinite article, while μία readily carries numerical emphasis. In the feminine accusative, μίαν / μιαν are the corresponding forms with final -ν retained.
Ένας πελάτης περιμένει στο ταμείο.
énas pelátis periméni sto tamío
A customer is waiting at the checkout.
Περιμένω έναν τεχνικό να δει τη βλάβη.
periméno énan technikó na dhi ti vlávi
I'm waiting for a technician to look at the fault.
Μία θέση έμεινε ελεύθερη δίπλα στο παράθυρο.
mía thési émine eléftheri dhípla sto paráthiro
One seat remained free beside the window.
The endings are doing ordinary case work. Ένας πελάτης is the subject, hence nominative; έναν τεχνικό is the direct object, hence accusative. In a genitive phrase, both numeral and noun move together:
Χωρίς τη βοήθεια ενός φίλου, δεν θα τελείωνα σήμερα.
chorís ti voíthia enós fílu, dhen tha telíona símera
Without a friend's help, I wouldn't finish today.
Three: τρεις and τρία
For nominative and accusative, masculine and feminine share τρεις, while neuter uses τρία. The genitive is τριών for every gender.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative / accusative | τρεις | τρεις | τρία |
| Genitive | τριών | τριών | τριών |
Θα λείψω τρεις μέρες για δουλειά.
tha lípso tris méres ya dhuliá
I'll be away for three days for work.
Κράτησα ένα δωμάτιο για τρία βράδια.
krátisa éna dhomátio ya tría vrádhia
I booked a room for three nights.
The contrast is grammatical gender, not biological sex: μέρα is feminine, while βράδυ is neuter. Arabic digits conceal this choice on the page, but 3 μέρες and 3 βράδια must still be read aloud as τρεις μέρες and τρία βράδια.
Το ενοίκιο των τριών μηνών πληρώνεται προκαταβολικά.
to eníkio ton trión minón plirónete prokatavoliká
The three months' rent is paid in advance.
Here των τριών μηνών is one genitive plural phrase. Greek does not leave the numeral in its memorized counting form while declining only the noun.
Four: τέσσερις and τέσσερα
Four follows the same gender split as three: masculine and feminine τέσσερις, neuter τέσσερα. Its single genitive form is τεσσάρων.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative / accusative | τέσσερις | τέσσερις | τέσσερα |
| Genitive | τεσσάρων | τεσσάρων | τεσσάρων |
Οι τέσσερις φίλοι θα έρθουν με το ίδιο αυτοκίνητο.
i téseris fíli tha érthun me to ídhio aftokínito
The four friends will come in the same car.
Τα τέσσερα εισιτήρια είναι στο όνομά μου.
ta tésera isitíria íne sto ónomá mu
The four tickets are in my name.
Η κόρη μου είναι τεσσάρων χρονών και πάει ήδη σχολείο.
i kóri mu íne tesáron chronón ke pái ídhi scholío
My daughter is four years old and already goes to school.
Age is a high-frequency genitive construction: τριών μηνών, τεσσάρων χρονών. Both the numeral and the time noun appear in the genitive. This is not an optional elevated pattern; it is ordinary everyday Greek.
The pattern continues inside compounds
When 3 or 4 is the final element of a compound, it keeps the same agreement: δεκατρείς άντρες / δεκατρία παιδιά, είκοσι τέσσερις ώρες / είκοσι τέσσερα λεπτά. The rest of the compound stays fixed. The wider system—including hundreds and thousands—is mapped on which cardinals decline.
Στην ομάδα είναι δεκατρείς γυναίκες και δεκατρία παιδιά.
stin omádha íne dhekatrís yinékes ke dhekatría pedhiá
There are thirteen women and thirteen children in the group.
When the noun is left unspoken
Agreement remains even when the situation makes the noun obvious and a speaker omits it. At a bakery, τρεις may stand for three feminine τυρόπιτες, while τρία may stand for three neuter κουλούρια. Greek does not automatically fall back to the neuter counting form just because the noun is silent.
Οι τυρόπιτες φαίνονται ωραίες· θα πάρω τρεις.
i tirópites fénonde orées; tha páro tris
The cheese pies look good; I'll take three.
Τα κουλούρια είναι ακόμα ζεστά· θα πάρω τέσσερα.
ta kulúria íne akóma zestá; tha páro tésera
The bread rings are still warm; I'll take four.
This differs sharply from English, where “I'll take three” reveals nothing about the missing noun. In Greek, the form itself helps the listener recover what has been omitted. The same mechanism operates in clock time: στις τρεις preserves feminine agreement with an understood ώρες.
Common Mistakes
❌ Έχω τρεις παιδιά.
Incorrect—the masculine/feminine form τρεις cannot agree with neuter παιδιά.
✅ Έχω τρία παιδιά.
écho tría pedhiá
I have three children.
❌ Περιμένω ένας φίλος στην είσοδο.
Incorrect—the direct object must be accusative: έναν φίλο.
✅ Περιμένω έναν φίλο στην είσοδο.
periméno énan fílo stin ísodho
I'm waiting for a friend at the entrance.
❌ Το παιδί είναι τέσσερις χρονών.
Incorrect—age requires genitive τεσσάρων before χρονών.
✅ Το παιδί είναι τεσσάρων χρονών.
to pedhí íne tesáron chronón
The child is four years old.
Key Takeaways
- Ένας / μία / ένα distinguishes three genders and has separate genitive and masculine accusative forms.
- Τρεις / τρία and τέσσερις / τέσσερα distinguish non-neuter from neuter in nominative and accusative.
- Their genitives are τριών and τεσσάρων for all three genders.
- The noun's gender chooses the form, while the whole phrase's syntactic role chooses the case.
Related Topics
- Which Cardinals DeclineA2 — See exactly which Greek cardinal components agree for gender and case, from 1, 3, and 4 through the hundreds, χίλιοι, and the noun χιλιάδα.
- Case With NumbersA2 — What a numeral does to the case of the phrase around it — why τρεις μέρες but τρία παιδιά, why πέντε never changes yet στα πέντε βιβλία still shows case, and why χιλιάδες counts like a feminine noun (τρεις χιλιάδες, never τρία).
- Indefinite Article: ένας, μία, έναA1 — Greek's word for 'a' is literally the numeral 'one' — ένας/μία/ένα declines for gender and case, has no plural at all, and is left out far more often than English 'a', especially before professions and in predicates.