Ancient Greek for Everyone:
A New Digital Resource for
Beginning Greek
as taught at
Louisiana State University
Spring 2013
Albert Watanabe
Unit 15: Middle Voice (secondary tenses)
Elementary Greek
This class (someday, Month ##, 2013)
AGE Unit 15: The Middle Voice (Secondary
Tenses)
•
•
•
•
Unit 9 introduced the middle voice.
Unit 11 introduced the imperfect tense (a secondary tense).
Unit 13 added another secondary tense, the aorist.
This unit presents the indicative and infinitive endings of the
middle voice for secondary tenses.
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• The Master List of Endings
– Posted in Moodle is a “Master List of Greek Verb Endings”
where you can see the overall scheme of verb endings.
Here you can see the three sets each of primary endings and
secondary endings.
– On the second sheet (= back side) are the other moods, of
which you have already learned the infinitive.
Elementary Greek
• A Greek verb by itself usually communicates FIVE
pieces of information:
–
–
–
–
–
Person: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Number: singular, plural
Tense: present, future, imperfect, aorist
Mood: indicative, infinitive
Voice: active, middle
Elementary Greek
Conjugating a Greek verb
• Recall that Greek has two conjugations:
– -μι verbs
– -ω verbs
• In the active voice, these conjugations use somewhat
different endings to designate person and number (and the
infinitive mood).
• In the middle voice, both conjugations use exactly the
same endings to designate person and number (and the
infinitive mood).
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• The endings of the Middle Voice are as follows:
• -μην = I (1st sg)
-μεθα = we (1st pl)
• -σο = you (2nd sg)
-σθε = y’all (2nd pl)
• -το = (s)he, it (3rd sg)
-ντο = they (3rd pl)
–σθαι signals that a verb is in the infinitive.
Notice that the infinitive ending is the same
for both primary and secondary tenses.
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• Remember that -ω verbs have a thematic vowel, so the
endings of the Middle Voice appear as follows:
• -ομην = I (1st sg)
• *-εσο  -ου (2nd sg)
• -ετο = (s)he, it (3rd sg)
-ομεθα = we (1st pl)
-εσθε = y’all (2nd pl)
-οντο = they (3rd pl)
–εσθαι signals that a verb is in the infinitive.
Notice that the infinitive ending is the same
for both primary and secondary tenses.
*The second person singular regularly appears in contracted form.
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• Remember that -ω verbs have a thematic vowel, so the
endings of the Middle Voice appear as follows:
• -ομην = I (1st sg)
-ομεθα = we (1st pl)
• *-εσο -ου (2nd sg)
-εσθε = y’all (2nd pl)
• -ετο = (s)he, it (3rd sg)
-οντο = they (3rd pl)
–εσθαι signals that a verb is in the infinitive.
*The second person singular regularly appears in contracted form.
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• Remember that, to begin building a Greek verb,
start with the “stem.”
• The stem tells what action the verb describes:
δεικ = “show”
λυ = “loosen, destroy”
λαβ = “take”
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• Recall that some verbs add a marker (often a ν) to the stem
that says the verb is in the present tense.
• A verb always uses the same marker in the middle voice
that is uses in the active:
– δεικνυ = “show” (in the present)
– λυ = “loosen” (no marker used in the present)
– λαμβαν = “take” (in the present)
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• In secondary tenses, however, a Greek verb adds an
augment to the beginning of the stem.
• This augment used to be a separate word (ἐ), which meant
that the verb was in the past, and gradually it became a
prefix to the verb stem:
– ἐδεικνυ = “show” (in the imperfect)
– ἐλυ = “loosen” (in the imperfect)
– ἐλαμβαν = “take” (in the imperfect)
Elementary Greek
• ἐδεικνύμην
• ἐδείκνυσο
• ἐδείκνυτο
• ἐδεικνύμεθα
• ἐδείκνυσθε
• ἐδείκνυντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of δείκνυμι (GPH p. 157)
Elementary Greek
• ἔλυόμην
• (ἐ-λύεσο ) ἐλύου
• ἐλύετο
• ἐλυόμεθα
• ἐλύεσθε
• ἐλύοντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of λύω (GPH p. 70)
Elementary Greek
• ἐλαμβανόμην
• (ἐ-λαμβάνεσο ) ἐλαμβάνου
• ἐλαμβάνετο
• ἐλαμβανόμεθα
• ἐλαμβάνεσθε
• ἐλαμβάνοντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of λαμβάνω
Elementary Greek
From Unit 2: -μι Verbs
•
•
•
•
δίδωμι give
τίθημι put, make
ἵστημι stand
ἵημι throw
Elementary Greek
• ἐδιδόμην
• ἐδίδοσο
• ἐδίδοτο
• ἐδιδόμεθα
• ἐδίδοσθε
• ἐδίδοντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of δίδωμι (GPH p. 124)
Elementary Greek
• ἐτιθέμην
• ἐτίθεσο
• ἐτίθετο
• ἐτιθέμεθα
• ἐτίθεσθε
• ἐτίθεντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of τίθημι (GPH p. 146)
Elementary Greek
• ἱστάμην
• ἵστασο
• ἵστατο
• ἱστάμεθα
• ἵστασθε
• ἵσταντο
This verb has a long vowel augment,
but it does not affect the way it the
vowel is written (since long and short
ι are written the same).
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of ἵστημι (GPH p. 135)
Elementary Greek
• ἱέμην
• ἵεσο
• ἵετο
• ἱέμεθα
• ἵεσθε
• ἵεντο
This verb has a long vowel augment,
but it does not affect the way it the
vowel is written (since long and short
ι are written the same).
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of ἵημι
Elementary Greek
From Unit 7: Contract Verbs
• The rules of vowel contraction operate in verbs
when the stem ends in one of the vowels α, ε or ο.
• In these cases, this final vowel of the stem contracts
with the thematic vowel of “-ω verbs.”
• The following slides give examples of contract
verbs in the imperfect indicative middle. These
follow the regular rules of vowel contraction.
Elementary Greek
• (ἐ-αἱρέομην ) ᾑρούμην
• (ἐ-αἱρεόμεθα ) ᾑρούμεθα
• (ἐ-αἱρέεσο ) ᾑροῦ
• (ἐ-αἱρέεσθε ) ᾑρεῖσθε
• (ἐ-αἱρέετο ) ᾑρεῖτο
• (ἐ-αἱρέοντο ) ᾕροῦντο
This verb has a long vowel augment.
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of αἱρέω
Elementary Greek
• (ἐ-ερωταόμην ) ἠρωτώμην
• (ἐ-ερωταόμεθα ) ἠρωτώμεθα
• (ἐ-ερωτάεσο ) ἠρωτῶ
• (ἐ-ερωτάεσθε ) ἠρωτᾶσθε
• (ἐ-ερωτάοντο ) ἠρωτῶντο
• (ἐ-ερωτάτο )
ἠρωτᾶτο
This verb has a long vowel augment.
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of ἐρωτάω
Elementary Greek
• (ἐδηλοόμην ) ἐδηλούμην
• (ἐδηλοόμεθα ) ἐδηλούμεθα
• (ἐδηλόεσο ) ἐδηλοῦ
• (ἐδηλόεσθε ) ἐδηλοῦσθε
• (ἐδηλόετο ) ἐδηλοῦτο
• (ἐδηλόοντο ) ἐδηλοῦντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Imperfect Indicative Middle of δηλόω GPH p. 119)
Elementary Greek
• The aorist tense of Greek verbs:
– In form, both the aorist and imperfect are secondary tenses,
so
• an augment (ἐ-) precedes the stem in the indicative mood, and
• they use secondary endings.
– The stem, however, is almost always different for the two
tenses. Therefore, it is essential to identify the stem
correctly in order to know the tense of the verb and what
action the verb conveys.
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
– The verb stems of the aorist and imperfect tenses are
almost always different.
– Verbs in the imperfect tense always have exactly the same
stem as they do in the present tense.
– The stem of a verb in the aorist tense will be different in
one of two ways:
• The verb adds the aorist marker -σα- to the stem (known as the
“1st aorist” or “weak aorist”)
or
• The verb uses just the stem of the verb itself with no specific
marker (known as the “2nd aorist” or “strong aorist”).
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• The “1st aorist” or “weak aorist” adds the aorist marker
-σα- to the stem of the verb:
• Recall the secondary endings in the middle voice:
-μην = I (1st sg)
-σο = you (2nd sg)
-το = (s)he, it (3rd sg)
-μεθα = we (1st pl)
-σθε = y’all (2nd pl)
-ντο = they (3rd pl)
• The aorist marker -σα- precedes the above endings.
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• Remember that, to begin building a Greek verb,
start with the “stem.”
• The stem tells what action the verb describes:
δεικ = “show”
λυ = “loosen, destroy”
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• In secondary tenses, a Greek verb adds an augment to the
beginning of the stem.
• This augment used to be a separate word (ἐ), which meant
that the verb was in the past, and gradually it became a
prefix to the verb stem:
– ἐλυ = “loosen” (secondary indicative)
– ἐδεικ = “show” (secondary indicative)
Elementary Greek
• ἔλυσάμην
• (ἐλύσασο ) ἐλύσω
• ἔλυσατο
• ἐλυσάμεθα
• ἐλύσασθε
• ἐλύσαντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Aorist Indicative Middle of λύω (GPH p. 78)
Elementary Greek
• ἔδειξάμην
• (ἐδείκ-σασο ) ἔδείξω
• ἐδείξατο
• ἐδειξάμεθα
• ἐδείξασθε
• ἐδείξαντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Aorist Indicative Middle of δείκνυμι (κ + σ = ξ)
Elementary Greek
Conjugating a Greek verb
• In Unit 7, you learned that Greek has two conjugations:
– -μι verbs
– -ω verbs
• Both types of verbs form the 1st (weak) aorist in the same
way (augment + stem + -σα-, etc.). Notice that -ω verbs
drop their thematic vowel in this process.
• When verbs form the 2nd (strong) aorist,
-ω verbs retain their thematic vowel
-μι verbs add endings directly to their stem.
Elementary Greek
Building a Greek verb
• The “2nd aorist” or “strong aorist” uses just the stem
of the verb itself with no specific marker.
• Remember that, to begin building a Greek verb,
start with the “stem.”
• The stem tells what action the verb describes:
λαβ = “take”
• In secondary tenses, however, a Greek verb adds an
augment to the beginning of the stem.
ἐλαβ = “take” (secondary indicative)
Elementary Greek
• ἐλαβόμην
• (ἐλάβεσο ) ἐλάβου
• ἐλάβετο
• ἐλαβόμεθα
• ἐλάβεσθε
• ἐλάβοντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Aorist Indicative Middle of λαμβάνω
Elementary Greek
Unit 2 -μι verbs:
• δω-  δίδωμι, δώσω, ἔδωκα give
• ἥ-  ἵημι, ἥσω, ἧκα throw
• θη-  τίθημι, θήσω, ἔθηκα put, make
Elementary Greek
• ἐδόμην
• (ἔδοσο ) ἔδου
• ἔδοτο
• ἔδόμεθα
• ἔδοσθε
• ἔδοντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Aorist Indicative Middle of δίδωμι (GPH p. 129)
Elementary Greek
• ἐθέμην
• (ἔθεσο ) ἔθου
• ἔθετο
• ἐθέμεθα
• ἔθεσθε
• ἔθεντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Aorist Indicative Middle of τίθημι (GPH p. 151)
Elementary Greek
• εἵμην
• εἷσο
• εἷτο
• εἵμεθα
• εἷσθε
• εἷντο
Building a Greek Verb
The Aorist Indicative Middle of ἵημι
Elementary Greek
The aorist tense of Greek verbs:
• Recall that, like the present tense, the aorist occurs in the
infinitive mood.
• The augment to secondary tenses always means that the action
actually took place in the past. Consequently, only the
indicative mood uses the augment, since it is the only mood
that specifies actual historical action.
• Therefore the aorist infinitive never has the augment.
• –σθαι signals that a verb is in the infinitive.
– The infinitive ending is the same for both primary and secondary
tenses.
Elementary Greek
• A Greek verb by itself usually communicates FIVE
pieces of information:
–
–
–
–
–
Person: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Number: singular, plural
Tense: present, future, imperfect, aorist
Mood: indicative, infinitive
Voice: active, middle
Elementary Greek
The aorist tense of Greek verbs:
– λύσασθαι
– δείξασθαι (κ + σ = ξ)
– λαβέσθαι
• The accent is fixed and unchanging on this form.
– δόσθαι
– θέσθαι
– ἕσθαι
Recall that, like the infinitive mood does not exist in the
imperfect tense.
Elementary Greek
Classical Vocabulary (deponent)
•
•
•
•
•
•
αἰσθάνομαι, αἰσθήσομαι, ᾐσθόμην perceive
ἀφικνέομαι, ἀφίξομαι, ἀφικόμην come to, arrive at
γίγνομαι, γενήσομαι, ἐγενόμην happen, become, be born
δέχομαι, δέξομαι, ἐδεξάμην welcome
ἐργάζομαι, ἐργάσομαι, ἠργασάμην work
ἐρωτάω, ἐρήσομαι, ἠρόμην ask
Elementary Greek
Classical Vocabulary (deponent)
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•
•
•
•
ἡγέομαι, ἡγήσομαι, ἡγησάμην lead, consider
κτάομαι, κτήσομαι, ἐκτησάμην get, acquire
μάχομαι, μαχοῦμαι, ἡμαχεσάμην fight
πυνθάνομαι, πεύσομαι, ἐπυθόμην learn, hear, inquire
σκέπτομαι/σκοπέω, σκέψομαι ἐσκεψάμην look at,
examine
• χράομαι, χρήσομαι, ἐχρησάμην use
Elementary Greek
New Testament Vocabulary (deponent)
• ἀποκρίνομαι, -κρινοῦμαι, -εκρινάμην answer, reply
• ἀρνέομαι, ἀρνήσομαι, ἀρνησάμην deny
• γίνομαι γενήσομαι ἐγενόμην happen, become, be born
– παραγίνομαι come to, appear
• δέχομαι, δέξομαι, ἐδεξάμην welcome
• καυχάομαι, καυχήσομαι, ἐκαυχησάμην boast
• προσεύχομαι, προσεύξομαι, προσηυξάμην pray
Elementary Greek
• Next class (someday, Month ##, 2013)
– Classical reading
– Biblical reading