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greek:846

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αὐτός

Meaning

  • He, she, it
  • Himself, herself, itself
  • Same

Personal pronoun (reflexive). Occurs more than 5,000 times in the New Testament.

Core uses

Function English Equivalent Typical Translation Example (Greek) Example (English)
Personal Pronoun he / she / it / they Refers to someone or something εἶπεν αὐτός “He said”
Intensive Pronoun himself / herself / itself / themselves Emphasizes the subject ὁ Ἰησοῦς αὐτός “Jesus himself”
Identical / Same same Indicates identity ὁ αὐτὸς ἄνθρωπος “the same man”

Grammatical forms

αὐτός declines for gender, number, and case, just like adjectives.

Masculine

Case Singular Plural
Nominative αὐτός αὐτοί
Genitive αὐτοῦ αὐτῶν
Dative αὐτῷ αὐτοῖς
Accusative αὐτόν αὐτούς

Feminine

Case Singular Plural
Nominative αὐτή αὐταί
Genitive αὐτῆς αὐτῶν
Dative αὐτῇ αὐταῖς
Accusative αὐτήν αὐτάς

Neuter

Case Singular Plural
Nominative αὐτό αὐτά
Genitive αὐτοῦ αὐτῶν
Dative αὐτῷ αὐτοῖς
Accusative αὐτό αὐτά

Three key syntactical positions

Greek word order often determines meaning when αὐτός appears with a noun:

Position Structure Meaning
Predicate Position (no article before αὐτός) αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεύς intensive → “the king himself”
Attributive Position (between article and noun) ὁ αὐτὸς βασιλεύς identical → “the same king”
Substantive Use (no noun) αὐτός personal pronoun → “he / she / it” αὐτός ἐστιν “He is”
greek/846.1761517790.txt.gz · Last modified: by graham