Here’s a bit of discussion taken from various composition books:
The article gives a good deal of trouble to the learner before its use is fully mastered, and it is best therefore to explain the main points about it at the very first. There is no word in Greek for a, an: it is simply omitted: or the Indefinite Pronoun [size=200]τις[/size] “a certain one,” is used. The Greek article means the, and it is used broadly speaking where we use the, but also on some places where we do not. It is these latter which constitute the difficulty to the beginner.
In English we say ‘the bad man;’ and if we wish to translate this into Greek, the point to observe is that the adjective must have the article.
The order of the Adjectives and Substantives may be inverted if we please. Thus we may say either [size=200]ὁ κακός ἀνήρ[/size] or [size=200]ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ κακός[/size]; but in either case the Adjective must have the Article.
If this rule is broken and it is often by beginners, and if we write [size=200]ὁ ἁνὴρ κακός[/size] or [size=200]κακὸς ὁ ἀνήρ[/size], the phrase is still good Greek, but the meaning is quite altered; it is no longer ‘the bad man’, but ‘the man is bad.’ The adjective, by being deprived of the article, had ceased to be an attribute, and has become a predicate.
Attributive Position:
[size=200]ὁ σοφός ἀνήρ[/size] - ‘The wise man.’
[size=200]ὁ ἀνήρ ὁ σοφὸς[/size] - ‘The wise man.’
[size=200]ἀνὴρ ὁ σοφός[/size] – ‘The wise man’
Predicate Position:
[size=200]ὁ ἀνὴρ σοφός[/size] – ‘The man is wise.’
[size=200]σοφὸς ὁ ἀνήρ[/size] – ‘The man is wise.’
The order of the three attributive positions reveals their frequency. Often the second attributive position shown above is more natural with an explanatory phrase.
[size=200]οἱ ὀπλῖται οἱ ἔνδοθεν[/size] - ‘The ones who are within.’
Unlike
[size=200]οἱ ἔνδοθεν ὁπλῖται[/size] – ‘The hoplites within.’
The article is sometimes used in English with only an Adjective, the Substantive being understood. This is also a Greek idiom, but is a great deal more frequent than in English, especially in the neuter:
[size=200]τὸ ἀστάθμητον[/size] – uncertainty
[size=200]ὁ δύσκολος[/size] – the bad-tempered person.
[size=200]τὰ ἀνιαρά[/size] – Troublesome things.
[size=200]ἡ ἀλλοτπρία[/size] - Other people’s country
And here are the answers:
1.1 The man is bad. [size=200]ὁ ἁνὴρ κακός[/size] or [size=200]κακὸς ὁ ἀνήρ[/size]
1.2 Beautiful things. [size=200]τὰ καλά[/size]
1.3 The beautiful. [size=200]τὸ καλόν[/size]
1.4 The wise (men). [size=200]οἱ σώφρονες[/size] or [size=200]οἱ σοφοί[/size]
1.5 The good men. [size=200]οἱ ἀγαθοὶ ἄνδρες[/size]
