τις

See also: τίς and -τις

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• κῐς (kis) – Thessalian
• σῐς (sis) – Arcadocypriot
• τῐρ (tir) – Laconian

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *kʷis. 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 • (tis) (with ἔγκλισις, moving back its accent)

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

See also

Ancient Greek correlatives ^(edit)

type	interrogative	indefinite	(medial) demonstrative	proximal demonstrative	distal demonstrative	relative	indefinite relative	identity	other
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		ἐκεῖ, ἔνθα, †ἐκεῖθι	οὗ, ἔνθα, †ὅθι	ὅπου, †ὁπόθι	αὐτόθι, ὁμοῦ	ἄλλοθι
source	πόθεν	ποθεν	†τόθεν, ἔνθεν, ἐντεῦθεν	ἐνθένδε	ἐκεῖθεν	ὅθεν	ὁπόθεν	†ὁμόθεν	ἄλλοθεν
destination	ποῖ, †πόσε	ποι	ἔνθα, ἐνταῦθα	ἐνθάδε	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”, 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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtis/
• Homophone: της (tis)

Etymology 1

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

Article

τις • (tis) f pl

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

Declension

The definite article

number	singular			plural
gender	m	f	n	m	f	n
nominative	ο	η	το	οι	οι	τα
genitive	του	της	του	των	των	των
accusative	το(ν)*	τη(ν)*	το	τους	τις	τα
* The final "ν" is preserved before vowels, and the plosive/affricate consonants:       κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ 1. Archaic forms used in certain fixed phrases:       τοις (tois), τας (tas)

Related terms

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

Pronoun

τις • (tis) (weak personal pronoun)

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

Alternative forms

• τες (tes) (used after the verb)

Related terms

Third person forms

Number (style)	singular (familiar)						plural (formal)
	strong			weak			strong			weak
	m	f	n	m	f	n	m	f	n	m	f	n
nominative	αυτός •	αυτή •	αυτό •	τος •	τη •	το •	αυτοί •	αυτές •	αυτά •	τοι •	τες •	τα •
genitive	αυτού •	αυτής •	αυτού •	του • †	της • †	του • †	αυτών •	αυτών •	αυτών •	τους • †	τους • †	τους • †
accusative	αυτόν •	αυτήν •	αυτό •	τον •	την •	το •	αυτούς •	αυτές •	αυτά •	τους •	τις •, τες •‡	τα •
There is no 3rd person vocative case. † These terms double as possessive pronouns. ‡ "τις" is used before a verb, "τες" after a verb..   All personal pronoun forms are displayed at εγώ (egó, “I”).

Etymology 2

Monotonic spelling of Ancient Greek τίς (tís), interrogative pronoun (masculine, feminine) and τί (tí) (neuter), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis. Compare to the indefinite pronoun τίς (tís, “someone”).

Pronoun

τις • (tis) m (feminine τις, neuter τι)  interrogative (Polytonic spelling: τίς)

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

   τις πταίει; (τίς πταίει; polytonic spelling)

   tis ptaíei?

   who is at fault?

   τις ει; (τίς εἶ; − military, recognition)

   tis ei?

   who are you?

   τίνι τρόπω; (τίνι τρόπῳ;)

   tíni trópo?

   in what way?

   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?

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'

number  case   \   gender	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	τις •	τις •	τι •	τίνες •	τίνες •	τίνα •
genitive	τίνος •	τίνος •	τίνος •	τίνων •	τίνων •	τίνων •
accusative	τίνα •	τίνα •	τι •	τίνας •	τίνας •	τίνα •
vocative	—	—	—	—	—	—
	All forms except genitives τίνος, τίνων and τι, are only used in set phrases in Modern Greek. Especially the datives τίνι (masculine, feminine, neuter singular), τίσι (masculine, feminine, neuter plural).

Synonyms

Standard Modern Greek:

• ποιος; m (poios?)
• ποια; f (poia?)
• ποιο; n (poio?)