Grammar & Syntax: Active, Accusative, Aorist -- Oh My! Desiderative, Dative, Emphatic -- Oh Help!

Can someone recommend a good web site and/or textbook primer for help with Greek (and possibly English) grammar and syntax?

I have no training in Greek, and my last English grammar class was so long ago, it might qualify as ancient history. This proves problematic as I often encounter commentary that attempts to explain or prove textual points via terms such as the following.

Active, Accusative, Aorist, Article, Desiderative, Dative, Emphatic, Genative, Imperfect, Indicative, Infinitive, Interrogative, Middle, Mood, Morphology, Morpheme, Nominative, Particle, Passive, Phoneme, Participle, Past Participle, Person, Relative, Substantival Content, Substantival Infinitive, Tense, Voice, etc., etc..

Unfortunately, as implied by the "etc., etc." at the end of the terms list, the list provides just a small sampling of the terms encountered.

I realize some terms may apply only to Greek, while many apply to both Greek and English, hence my desire for good web sites and text books for both English and Greek grammar and syntax.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

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Comments

David Paul

No question, at least in my mind, that you should first get a high school level grammar textbook and review the rules of your own language first. This foundation will be immensely helpful for the task of taking on a foreign language. Wariner's, Harcourt, and Glencoe are three good ones, but most current ones will suffice. If finances are an issue, consider asking at a local high school if they have any older junior or senior level texts that are no longer in use. Most teachers have a textbook graveyard on shelves and in cabinets in their classrooms. It might not hurt to get two or three different ones, so you can find one that addresses the issues in a way that suits your learning style.

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

Some Logos resources to consider:

=> http://www.logos.com/product/4701/learning-new-testament-greek-now-and-then includes sentence diagramming along with grammatical discussion

=> http://www.logos.com/product/198/greek-new-testament-insert (included in many base packages)

=> http://www.logos.com/product/2498/chapmans-new-testament-greek-notebook expands on insert

=> http://www.logos.com/product/30240/pocket-dictionary-for-the-study-of-new-testament-greek

is included in => http://www.logos.com/product/8588/the-essential-ivp-reference-collection-version-3 (recommended)

The United Bible Societies Handbooks have what’s important in each passage for translation along with many cross cultural insights (and textual criticism). Wiki has resource review pages:

=> UBS New Testament Handbook Series

=> UBS Old Testament Handbook Series

Keep Smiling [:)]

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/468038#Comment_468038

The SIL glossary of linguistic terms http://www-01.sil.org/linguistics/glossaryOflinguisticTerms/ is a useful tool. It's navigation allows you to move up to broader concepts or down to more specific concepts which eliminates much of the prior knowledge assumed in grammars.

Adam Rao

William Mounce's Greek for the Rest of Us would probably be helpful.

Rick Ausdahl

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/468068#Comment_468068

I want to thank everyone who has responded. One thing I always benefit from on the forums is the variety of perspectives people have to share, often with each person supplying a piece to the puzzle that ultimately helps solve the problem.

Prior to submitting this topic, I looked through a few grammar related books we have in our home and I did a little checking for books on Amazon. The books in our home provide some value, but they are each geared more toward an audience of writers. While better than nothing, their organizational structure is not the most conducive to locating simple grammar rules and definitions of terms. And while Amazon may have some gems waiting to be discovered, the dozen or so books for which I checked out the Table of Contents didn't look all that promising either.

I realize of course, that my lack of knowledge in this area is what sometimes has me checking English grammar textbooks for terms that may only apply to the Greek--so when I don't find what I'm looking for in an English grammar text, I can't be sure if it's because I'm not looking in the right places in the Table of Contents and Index, or if it's because it's a term that only applies to Greek grammar. [:S]

I will definitely be looking into all the suggestions provided thus far, as well as any others that may be yet to come.

David Paul

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/468107#Comment_468107

Check out this on Amazon. I called it Wariner's, but the cover says Warriner's. Clearly, the cover is wrong. [:O]

Anyway, this is the complete course for a senior in high school. It does a thorough job of covering English grammar. Plus you can get it used for just a penny! (plus shipping, of course)

David Thomas

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/468107#Comment_468107

I will definitely be looking into all the suggestions provided thus far, as well as any others that may be yet to come

depending upon what base package you may have. You may already have what you need.

I opened the "information" pane which can be found in "tools"

I opened my ESV (which has a reverse interlinear) to John 16:14 and clicked on the word "glorify" the information panel was populated with information about that word. If you hover over any of the words that are in the blue box ["singlular" in the illustration] in the attached picture a definition will pop up that comes from the Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database. if you click on the definition, the resource will open up as shown in the screen capture.

Rick Ausdahl

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/468122#Comment_468122

To all who have responded, I'd like to say "Thanks!" again. I know it will be a fairly long journey, but thanks to you, it has begun.

David Paul: My one cent copy of "Warriner's English Grammar and Composition: Complete Course Grade 12", from Amazon will soon be on its way.

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus: In my library, I did find two of the four references you mentioned at the top of your post, and I'll be checking out the other two. I also have the two UBS collections mentioned at the bottom of your post. I had taken a quick peek at them once before but thought of them more as commentaries than Greek grammar, but I'll have another look.

MJ. Smith: I checked out the SIL web site from the link you provided. I think it's going to be a very helpful resource.

Adam Rao: I found (and ordered) a copy of Mounce's "Greek for the Rest of Us". The seller says it's the hard cover version, new (never used), and comes with the lecture CD (never opened).

David Thomas: I checked and do indeed have access to the information you mentioned from the Morpho-Syntactic Database. That will be a very useful and convenient help.

Again, I realize this will be a long journey, but thanks to each of you, I think I'll be getting off to a strong and solid start.

Your help is very much appreciated! [:D]

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/468343#Comment_468343

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus: In my library, I did find two of the four references you mentioned at the top of your post, and I'll be checking out the other two. I also have the two UBS collections mentioned at the bottom of your post. I had taken a quick peek at them once before but thought of them more as commentaries than Greek grammar, but I'll have another look.

The UBS Handbooks provide translation insights about expressing what is important in a passage.

Some older base packages included => http://www.logos.com/product/23958/baker-exegetical-commentary-on-the-new-testament

Another resource to consider => http://www.logos.com/product/3911/lenskis-commentary-on-the-new-testament (included in Logos 5 Platinum and higher)

Noticed John is not in => http://www.logos.com/product/8808/the-new-international-greek-testament-commentary

Keep Smiling [:)]