τις

See also: τίς and -τις

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• κῐς (kĭs) — Thessalian
• σῐς (sĭs) — Arcadocypriot
• τῐρ (tĭr) — Elean

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *kʷis (“who, what”). Cognates include Latin quis and Hittite 𒆪𒅖 (kuiš). Compare its interrogative form τίς (tís, “who?”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tis/ → /tis/ → /tis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /tis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /tis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /tis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /tis/

Pronoun

τῐς • (tĭs) (with ἔγκλισις, moving back its accent)

1. (indefinite, masculine/feminine) someone, anyone, a certain one

   ναὸς m (naòs, “temple”) & τὶς … → ναός τις … (the grave accent of τὶς moves back and replaces grave with acute)

   κῆπος m (kêpos, “garden”) & τὶς → κῆπός τις (the grave accent of τὶς moves back as acute)

2. (indefinite, in neuter) something, anything, a certain thing

Inflection

Third declension of τις, τι

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter		Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	τις	τι		τινέ	τινέ		τινές	τινά
Genitive	τινός, του	τινός, του		τινοῖν	τινοῖν		τινῶν	τινῶν
Dative	τινί, τῳ	τινί, τῳ		τινοῖν	τινοῖν		τισί(ν)	τισί(ν)
Accusative	τινά	τι		τινέ	τινέ		τινάς	τινά

Derived terms

• μήτις (mḗtis)
• ὅστις (hóstis)
• οὔτις (oútis)
• τοιοῦτος τις (toioûtos tis)

See also

Ancient Greek correlatives ^(edit)

type	interrogative	indefinite	demonstrative			relative	indefinite relative	identity	other
			(medial)	proximal	distal
basic	τίς	τις, ἔνιοι	†ὁ, οὗτος	ὅδε	ἐκεῖνος	ὅς	ὅστις	ὁ αὐτός (αὑτός), ὁμός	ἕτερος, ἄλλος
dual	πότερος	πότερος, ποτερός				ὁπότερος
quality	ποῖος	ποιός	†τοῖος, τοιοῦτος	τοιόσδε		οἷος	ὁποῖος	ὅμοιος	ἑτεροῖος, ἀλλοῖος
quantity	πόσος	ποσός	†τόσος, τοσοῦτος	τοσόσδε		ὅσος	ὁπόσος
manner	πῶς	πως	†τώς, †ὥς, οὕτως	ὧδε		ὡς	ὅπως	ὁμῶς	ἑτέρως, ἄλλως
method, path, place	πῇ	πῃ	τῇ, ταύτῃ	τῇδε	ἐκείνῃ	ᾗ	ὅπῃ		ἄλλῃ
place	ποῦ, †πόθι	που, †ποθι	ἐνταῦθα	ἐνθάδε	ἐκεῖ, ἔνθα, †ἐκεῖθι	οὗ, ἔνθα, †ὅθι	ὅπου, †ὁπόθι	αὐτόθι, ὁμοῦ	ἄλλοθι
source	πόθεν	ποθεν, ἁμόθεν	†τόθεν, ἔνθεν, ἐντεῦθεν	ἐνθένδε	ἐκεῖθεν	ὅθεν	ὁπόθεν	†ὁμόθεν	ἄλλοθεν
destination	ποῖ, †πόσε	ποι	ἔνθα, ἐνταῦθα	ἐνθάδε, δεῦρο	ἐκεῖσε	οἷ	ὅποι, †ὁπόσε	αὐτόσε, ὁμόσε	ἄλλοσε
time	πότε, πῆμος	ποτέ, ποτε, τοτέ, ἐνίοτε	τότε, τῆμος	τημόσδε		ὅτε, ἦμος	ὁπότε, †ὁππῆμος	ἅμα	ἄλλοτε
exact time	πηνίκα		†τηνίκα, τηνικαῦτα	τηνικάδε		ἡνίκα	ὁπηνίκα	αὐτίκα
duration of time			τέως			ἕως
size, age	πηλίκος	πηλίκος	†τηλίκος, τηλικοῦτος	τηλικόσδε		ἡλίκος	ὁπηλίκος	ὁμῆλιξ
repetition	ποσάκις, ποσίνδα	ποσάκις	τουτάκις, τοσάκις			†ὁσάκις ὁποσάκις	ὁποσάκις
multiplication	ποσαπλάσιος					ὁσαπλάσιος, ὁσαπλασίων
order	πόστος	ποστός					ὁπόστος
† Forms rarely or never used in Classical Attic prose Relative also used in exclamations; either relative or indefinite relative used in indirect questions.

Further reading

• τις, τὶς [enclitic with grave accent], in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011
• “τις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “τις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• τις in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• τις in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “τις”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G5100 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • any idem, page 33.
  • any one idem, page 33.
  • certain idem, page 122.
  • cost idem, page 176.
  • indefinable idem, page 432.
  • man idem, page 510.
  • one idem, page 573.
  • person idem, page 608.
  • some idem, page 793.
  • someone idem, page 793.

Greek

Etymology 1

Inherited from Byzantine Greek τὲς (tès) of the 11th century, through morphological levelling of the accusative and nominative plurals.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tis/ - unaccented, pronounced together with following word
• Homophone: της (tis)

Article

τις • (tis) f pl

1. (definite) accusative feminine plural of ο (o) (the)

   — Τις συνάντησα χθες. — Ποιες; — Τις δύο αδερφές σου.

   — Tis synántisa chthes. — Poies? — Tis dýo aderfés sou.

   — I met them yesterday. — Whom? — Your [the] two sisters.

Declension

The definite article

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ο (o)	η (i)	το (to)		οι (oi)	οι (oi)	τα (ta)
genitive	του (tou)	της (tis)	του (tou)		των (ton)	των (ton)	των (ton)
accusative	το(ν) (to(n)) 1	τη(ν) (ti(n)) 1	το (to)		τους (tous)	τις (tis)	τα (ta)

1. The final ν is preserved before vowels, and the plosive/affricate consonants:
      κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ
Archaic forms used in certain fixed phrases: τοις (tois), τας (tas)

Alternative forms

• τες (tes) (dialectal, literary)

Related terms

• (contraction): σε (se) + τις (tis) giving στις (stis)

Pronoun

τις • (tis) f pl (weak personal pronoun)

1. them (3rd person feminine plural, accusative; used before the verb)

   — Τις συνάντησα χθες. — Ποιες; — Τις δύο αδερφές σου.

   — Tis synántisa chthes. — Poies? — Tis dýo aderfés sou.

   — I met them yesterday. — Whom? — Your two sisters.

Alternative forms

• τες (tes) (used after the verb)

Related terms

Third person pronouns

singular (familiar) strong weak masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter nominative αυτός (aftós) αυτή (aftí) αυτό (aftó) τος (tos) τη (ti) το (to) genitive αυτού (aftoú) αυτής (aftís) αυτού (aftoú) του (tou) † της (tis) † του (tou) † accusative αυτόν (aftón) αυτήν (aftín) αυτό (aftó) τον (ton) την (tin) το (to) plural (formal) strong weak masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter nominative αυτοί (aftoí) αυτές (aftés) αυτά (aftá) τοι (toi) τες (tes) τα (ta) genitive αυτών (aftón) αυτών (aftón) αυτών (aftón) τους (tous) † τους (tous) † τους (tous) † accusative αυτούς (aftoús) αυτές (aftés) αυτά (aftá) τους (tous) τις, τες (tis, tes) ‡ τα (ta)

There is no 3rd person vocative case.
† These terms double as possessive pronouns.
‡ τις (tis) is used before a verb, τες (tes) after a verb..
All personal pronoun forms are displayed at εγώ (egó, “I”).

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek τίς (tís), interrogative pronoun (masculine, feminine) and τί (tí) (neuter).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtis/

Pronoun

τις • (tis) m (feminine τις, neuter τι)  interrogative

1. (archaic, formal, always in set phrases) who? (what? / which person or people?)

   Synonyms: ποιος; m (poios;), ποια; f (poia;), ποιο; n (poio;)

   τις πταίει; ― tis ptaíei? ― who is at fault?

   τις ει; (military, recognition) ― tis ei? ― who are you?

   τίνι τρόπω; ― tíni trópo? ― in what way?

2. see the genitive singular τίνος (tínos)

   Τίνος είσαι συ; (stereotypical phrase associated with elderly Greeks in small villages and communities to those they don't recognise)

   Tínos eísai sy?

   Whose [child] are you?

   Synonym: ποιανού (poianoú) of ποιος (poios)

3. see the genitive plural τίνων (tínon)

   Synonym: ποιανών (poianón) of ποιος (poios)

Usage notes

• Of the ancient interrogative pronoun τίς (tís) the forms τίνος (tínos), plural τίνων (tínon) and the neuter τι (ti) are used in Standard Modern Greek as well. All other forms are archaic, used in quotations and set phrases.

Declension

As in the ancient inflection of τίς, here in monotonic spelling

Declension of τις

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	τις (tis)	τις (tis)	τι (ti)		τίνες (tínes)	τίνες (tínes)	τίνα (tína)
genitive	τίνος (tínos)	τίνος (tínos)	τίνος (tínos)		τίνων (tínon)	τίνων (tínon)	τίνων (tínon)
accusative	τίνα (tína)	τίνα (tína)	τι (ti)		τίνας (tínas)	τίνας (tínas)	τίνα (tína)
vocative	—	—	—		—	—	—

All forms except genitives τίνος (tínos), τίνων (tínon) and τι (ti), are only used in set phrases in Modern Greek.
Also the dative singular τίνι (tíni) (masculine, feminine, neuter singular).

Alternative forms

• τίς (tís) — polytonic (older script)

Related terms

• τίνι τρόπω; (tíni trópo?, “in what way?”) - older script: τίνι τρόπῳ;
  Compare the indefinite Ancient Greek pronoun τις (tis) at εν τινι τρόπω (en tini trópo, “at a certain way”) - older script: ἔν τινι τρόπῳ
• τις βούλεται αγορεύειν; (tis voúletai agorévein?, “who wishes to speak?”) - older script: τίς βούλεται ἀγορεύειν;
• τις ει; (tis ei?, “who are you?”) (military) - older script: τίς εἶ;
• τις οίδε; (tis oíde?, “who knows?”) - older script: τίς οἶδε;
• τις πταίει; (tis ptaíei?, “who is in fault? whose fault is it?”) - older script: τίς πταίει;

Further reading

• τις, τίνος - Charalambakis, Chistoforos et al. (2014) Χρηστικό λεξικό της νεοελληνικής γλώσσας (Christikó lexikó tis neoellenikís glóssas) [A Practical Dictionary of Modern Greek] (in Greek) Athens: Academy of Athens. (online since 2023 - abbreviations - symbols)
• τις - Babiniotis, Georgios (2002) Λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας: […] [Dictionary of Modern Greek (language)] (in Greek), 2nd edition, Athens: Kentro Lexikologias [Lexicology Centre], 1st edition 1998, →ISBN.
• τίνος, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language