Greek Grammar: prepositions

History
Greek prepositions developed from case-forms of pronouns, articles etc., that served as adverbs, and came to govern
specific cases to express adverbial ideas (cf. Smyth 1636-8). Thus for example prepositions that developed from
locative adverbs preserve the locative case (expressed by the Greek dative) -i in p and per. The increasingly close
association of these adverbial expressions with nouns led to formal prepositions; association with verbs gave rise to
compound verbs.
Smyth 1636-1702 covers all common and many less usual usages; the following remarks are meant to provide both a
conceptual framework for the prepositions and some observations on the trickier points of translation. This list is not
exhaustive; thus for instance adverbs can be employed as prepositions almost at whim.
The logic of the prepositions can usually be understood in the same terms as the cases. If we consider a target, the
accusative represents motion toward the target, the dative location at the target, and the genitive motion away from
the target. From the perspective of historical linguistics, the genitive embraces, by extension, the ablatival source
function, and the dative embraces the instrumental.
Prepositions are accented as written here when the object follows. However, some of the proper prepositions can be
preceded by their objects, in which case the accent of some prepositions recedes, a phenomenon known as
anastrophe. Example: okou pri = per okou, around the house.
improper prepositions (dont form compounds with verbs; govern one case only)
genitive
gxi
near
neu
without
pnanti
opposite, before; against, contrary to
xri
until, as far as
ggw
near
khti
by means/virtue of, with the aid of; on account of, for the sake of
nntion
against
neka (postpositive)
for the sake of
ntw
within
nvpin
before; in presence/judgment of
jv
outside
vw
until, up to
etaj
between, during; afterwards
xri
until, as far as, as long as,within, during
pran
across
pln
except for
plhson
near, hard by
prrv
further into, advanced in; far from
xrin (postpositive)
for the sake of
xvrw
apart from, far from, without
dative
a
at the same time, together with
o
close to, together with
accusative
w
up to: personal, as distinguished in fketo w Perdkkan ka w tn
Xalkidkhn he reached Perdikkas in Chalkidike Thuc. 4.79; cf. Lysias
1.10. developed from w p tini/ew tina, and often gives sense of purpose.
proper prepositions (form compounds)
one case only
genitive
nt
p
j, k
pr

instead of; in exchange: nt onou skfou in exchange for a cup of wine E Kyk 256
from, away from
out of, from; after (temporal): j ow, after dawn Hes Th 724
before, in front of

dative
n

sn / jn
accusative
ew, w 1

in, on, at, among

temporal: n ti prosyen xrnvi previously;
n kairi at the right moment
with: instrumentality, manner sn dk justly; sn yeow with the help of the gods
to, toward, to the point of, into
for: purpose
extent:
w plyow, in great numbers
temporal:
ew panta tn xrnon for all time; ew t parn for the present

two cases only (the dative case is not governed by two-case-only prepositions)
di
+ gen
through: spatial, as in through and out
means: through the agency of
adverbial: di sfaleaw safely (literally through safety)
+ acc
through: owing to a cause or person
on account of
kat

+ gen

+ acc

et

pr

+ acc

personal accompaniment2
circumstantial: et fnaiow tw suaxaw, when the alliance was intact Thuc 1.19
after

+ gen
+ acc

over, above, on behalf of

over, beyond

+ gen

all three cases

p
+gen
+dat

+acc

par

+gen
+dat
+acc

1
2

under
into, on: nxratte kat lyvn, he carved on stones Plut Them. 9.2
against; in violation of: kat to kurou, against the Lord Ac 4.26
according to
location: down, along, throughout, opposite
route: kat gn, by land
distributive: krn ndraw kat fla, separate the men into squads Il 2.362
concerning: kat tn pada concerning his son Hdt 1.34.1
purpose: kat yan ken, he came for the purpose of observation Thuc 6.31
in accordance with: kat oran, in accordance with fate
temporal: kat plon, during the voyage Thuc 3.32

on, upon (general relations)

temporal: in time of
on (definite relations)
on condition that (cf. proviso clauses)
pertaining to
personal: under the power of
additive: p tosde, in addition to these things e.g. Eur Kyk 670
causal: p ti pstei to natow ato because of his faith in the name Ac 3:16
purpose: rgrion ddvkaw p sof& you have given money for wisdom Xen Sym 1.5
onto, over, against
temporal: extent of time
quantity, measure: p ikrn, a little
for: purpose
from
at, at the house of
in the opinion of: w par n kkritai, as I judged it Theok 6.37
to, toward
beyond, contrary to, in violation of (cf. English paranormal)

ew encroaches on n in koine, and supplants it in modern Greek.

crowds out sn; eg Thucydides uses et + gen ~10x more often than sn + dat.

per

+gen
+dat
+acc

prw

+gen

+gen
+dat
+acc

about, concerning: speaking, writing, thinking

around: clothes, weapons
around: motion
concerning: actions
specifying: Thuc 1.5.3 per te Lokrow, namely Lokrians
indefinite number, time: per ryron, about dawn

in the eyes/name of
from
by, substituting for p
+dat
near, in addition to
next to: Xen Ana 1.2.10: prw t [plei] Mus& xr&, the last [city] next to Mysia
+acc
toward, looking to, in respect to
against
purpose: prw tn lehosnhn kayenow seated for [receiving] alms Ac 3:10
adverbial:
prw totvn wherefore
prw totoiw besides, in addition
prw tata by reason of this
by: personal agent (contrast use of bare dative with perf, plupf pass, verbal adjective)
under: locative; under the power of
under: motion toward
on (location): pe o toi par p odaw Hom. Hymn to Apollo 60
toward: of time