Ancient Greek for Everyone:
A New Digital Resource for
Beginning Greek
Unit 9 part 2:
Unorthodox Futures
2013 edition
Wilfred E. Major
wmajor@lsu.edu
Ancient Greek for Everyone
This class
AGE Unit 9 part 2: Unorthodox Futures
• This unit adds the other principal voice in Greek, the middle.
• This part covers a quirk in the future of some Greek verbs.
Ancient Greek for Everyone
VOCABULARY:
• For reasons unclear now, and obscure already in antiquity,
some verbs that are regularly active in the present tense
become deponent in the future tense. These verbs are said
to have a “deponent future.”
• These verbs retain active meaning in the future, even
though the forms are middle. The challenge of conveying
middle or passive meaning in the future of these verbs is
complex, and a topic reserved for advanced study.
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Building a Greek verb
• Following are two examples of verbs with a “deponent
future.”
• Recall that the verb εἰμί “be,” despite its irregularities in
the present tense, has the stem ἐσ-. This verb is regular in
the future tense, but it is deponent.
• The model verb λαμβάνω “take” is also deponent in the
future tense.
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• ἔσομαι
• ἔσει/ῃ
• ἔσεται
• ἐσόμεθα
• ἔσεσθε
• ἔσονται
ἔσεσθαι
Building a Greek Verb
The Future Indicative and Infinitive Middle of εἰμί
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Building a Greek verb
• Recall that adding a -σ- to the stem marks a verb as in the
future tense.
• So now the stem looks (and sounds) like this:
– λαβ + σ = “take”  ληψ = “take” (in the future)
ALL VERBS, regardless of what endings they use in the present tense,
use -ω verb endings in the future tense.
Future tense = verb stem + σ + -ω verb endings
• This is true in both the active and middle voices.
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• λήψομαι
• λήψει/ῃ
• λήψεται
• ληψόμεθα
• λήψεσθε
• λήψονται
λήψεσθαι
Building a Greek Verb
The Future Indicative and Infinitive Middle of λαμβάνω
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Vocabulary: Principal Parts
• Greek verbs can morph into a variety of forms (you now
know 28 different forms of a verb).
• You have already seen how vocabulary entries have two
principal parts:
• 1st person singular present indicative active/middle (-μι, -ω or -μαι)
• 1st person singular future indicative active/middle (-ω or -μαι)
• Following are the verbs from your vocabulary so far that
have deponent futures. As it happens, most -ω verbs that
add a ν or σκ to mark the present tense have deponent
futures.
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Future Deponent Vocabulary: Classical
• ἀκούω, ἀκούσομαι hear
• ἁμαρτ- ἁμαρτάνω, ἁμαρτήσομαι miss, make a mistake
• βη-  βαίνω, βήσομαι walk, come, go
– συμβαίνω happen, agree, result
• βλέπω, βλέψομαι see, look
• γνω-  γιγνώσκω, γνώσομαι know, learn, judge, think
• ἐσ-  εἰμί, ἔσομαι be
– πάρειμι, παρέσομαι be present
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Future Deponent Vocabulary: Classical
• θαν-  ἀποθνῄσκω, ἀποθανοῦμαι die
• λαβ-  λαμβάνω, λήψομαι take, grab; receive, get
– καταλαμβάνω seize, catch up to, arrest
– ὑπολαμβάνω take up, reply, suppose
• μαθ-  μανθάνω, μαθήσομαι learn
• πι-  πίνω, πίομαι drink
• φεύγω, φεύξομαι flee, run away
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Future Deponent Vocabulary: NT
• ἁμαρτ- ἁμαρτάνω, ἁμαρτήσομαι miss, make a mistake
• βη-  βαίνω, βήσομαι walk, come, go
– ἀναβαίνω walk up, go aboard, enter
– καταβαίνω walk down, descend
• γνω-  γινώσκω, γνώσομαι know, learn, judge, think
• Notice the change of spelling (γιγνώσκω  γινώσκω) from
Classical to Koine.
– ἀναγινώσκω read
– ἐπιγινώσκω know, understand
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Future Deponent Vocabulary: NT
• ἐσ-  εἰμί, ἔσομαι be
• θαν-  ἀποθνῄσκω, ἀποθανοῦμαι die
• λαβ-  λαμβάνω, λήψομαι take, grab; receive, get
– παραλαμβάνω take, receive, accept
• πι-  πίνω, πίομαι drink
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Future Deponent Vocabulary: Core
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ἁμαρτάνω, ἁμαρτήσομαι miss, make a mistake
ἀποθνῄσκω, ἀποθανοῦμαι die
βαίνω, βήσομαι walk, come, go
γί(γ)νώσκω, γνώσομαι know, learn, judge, think
εἰμί, ἔσομαι be
λαμβάνω, λήψομαι take, grab; receive, get
πίνω, πίομαι drink
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VOCABULARY:
• The verbs on the following slides all have futures, mostly
deponent, with variations or stem changes that are
unpredictable or more complex than the patterns presented
so far.
• These are all very common and important verbs, however,
and recognizing these unusual principal parts is essential to
reading Greek.
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Unorthodox Futures Vocabulary: Classical
• ἔρχομαι, ἐλεύσομαι come, go
• ἔχω, ἕξω and σχήσω have, hold, be
•
παρέχω provide
• ὁράω, ὄψομαι see
• πάσχω, πείσομαι suffer, experience
• πίπτω, πεσοῦμαι fall
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Unorthodox Futures Vocabulary: Classical
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πλέω, πλεύσομαι and πλευσοῦμαι sail
πυνθάνομαι, πεύσομαι learn, hear, inquire
τίκτω, τέξομαι give birth
τυγχάνω, τεύξομαι happen, meet
φέρω, οἴσω carry, bring
– διαφέρω spread, differ
– συμφέρω benefit, profit
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Unorthodox Futures Vocabulary: NT (New Testament)
• ἔρχομαι, ἐλεύσομαι come, go
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διέρχομαι come, go through
εἰσέρχομαι come, go into
ἐξέρχομαι come, go out of
προσέρχομαι come, go to
• ἐσθίω, φάγομαι eat
• ἔχω, ἕξω and σχήσω have, hold, be
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Unorthodox Futures Vocabulary: NT (New Testament)
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ὁράω, ὄψομαι see
πάσχω, πείσομαι suffer, experience
πίπτω, πεσοῦμαι fall
πλέω, πλεύσομαι and πλευσοῦμαι sail
φέρω, οἴσω carry, bring
•
προσφέρω offer, present
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Unorthodox Futures Vocabulary: Core
• ἔρχομαι, ἐλεύσομαι come, go
• ἔχω, ἕξω and σχήσω have, hold, be
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παρέχω provide
ὁράω, ὄψομαι see
πάσχω, πείσομαι suffer, experience
πίπτω, πεσοῦμαι fall
πλέω, πλεύσομαι and πλευσοῦμαι sail
φέρω, οἴσω carry, bring