Ancient Greek for Everyone:
A New Digital Resource for
Beginning Greek
Unit 4:
Conjunctions
2013 edition
Wilfred E. Major
wmajor@lsu.edu
Ancient Greek for Everyone
This class
AGE Unit 4: Conjunctions
• Conjunctions in Greek for the most part work very much as
they do in English. Greek, however, uses them significantly
more often than English does.
• This is in part because Greek routinely links clauses and
sentences together. Where consecutive sentences in English
are separated by a pause (period), in Greek, conjunctions
connect almost all consecutive sentences.
Ancient Greek for Everyone
• AND
–
–
–
–
καί
δέ
μέν…δέ
τε
• μήτε
• οὔτε
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• POSTPOSITIVE means that the connective follows the word
that it links.
– χρήματα καὶ ὑπάρχοντα “money and property”
postpositive:
– χρήματα μέν… ὑπάρχοντα δέ “money… and property”
– χρήματα τε καὶ ὑπάρχοντα “both money and property”
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• POSTPOSITIVE means that the connective follows the word
that it links. As a result, the conjunction regularly is the second
word in a clause or sentence.
– δίδομεν τὰ σπέρματα καὶ δίδοτε τὸ ὕδωρ.
– “We give the seeds and you give the water.”
postpositive:
– τὰ σπέρματα δίδομεν, ὕδωρ δὲ δίδοτε.
– τὰ σπέρματα μὲν δίδομεν, ὕδωρ δὲ δίδοτε.
– “We give the seeds and you give water.”
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• The conjunctions οὔτε and μήτε are simply combinations
of οὐ and μή with τε.
– δίδομεν τὰ σπέρματα οὔτε δίδοτε τὸ ὕδωρ.
– “We give the seeds and you do not give the water.”
• The conjunction τε is enclitic (it is pronounced as the suffix
to the preceding word) and so rarely has an accent.
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• BUT
– ἀλλά
– δέ
– μέν…δέ
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• POSTPOSITIVE means that the connective follows the word
that it links. As a result, the conjunction regularly is the second
word in a clause or sentence.
– δίδομεν τὰ σπέρματα ἀλλὰ δίδοτε τὸ ὕδωρ.
– “We give the seeds but you give the water.”
postpositive:
– τὰ σπέρματα δίδομεν, ὕδωρ δὲ δίδοτε.
– τὰ σπέρματα μὲν δίδομεν, ὕδωρ δὲ δίδοτε.
– “We give the seeds but you give water.”
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• OR
–
–
–
–
ἤ
εἴτε… εἴτε = either…or
μήτε… μήτε = neither…nor
οὔτε… οὔτε = neither…nor
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• OR:
–
–
–
–
δίδομεν τὰ χρήματα ἢ δίδοτε τὰ ὑπάρχοντα.
“We give the money or you give the property.”
εἴτε δίδομεν τὰ χρήματα εἴτε δίδοτε τὰ ὑπάρχοντα.
“Either we give the money or you give the property.”
Ancient Greek for Everyone
• CAUSE and EFFECT: Greek constantly explains the cause
of a statement or action and the consequence of a statement
or action:
• BECAUSE: explains the cause of the previous statement or
action
• THEREFORE: explains the consequence of the previous
statement or action
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• BECAUSE: explains the cause of the previous statement
or action
– γάρ
– ὅτι
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• POSTPOSITIVE means that the connective follows the word
that it links. As a result, the conjunction regularly is the
second word in a clause or sentence.
– οὐ δίδομεν, ὅτι χρήματα οὐκ ἀποδίδοτε.
postpositive:
– οὐ δίδομεν χρήματα, οὐ γὰρ ἀποδίδοτε.
“We do not give money because you do not give it back.”
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• THEREFORE: explains the consequence of the previous
statement or action
– ἄρα
– διό
– οὖν
– τοίνυν
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• POSTPOSITIVE means that the connective follows the word
that it links. As a result, the conjunction regularly is the second
word in a clause or sentence.
– οὐκ ἀποδίδοτε, ἄρα χρήματα οὐ δίδομεν.
– οὐκ ἀποδίδοτε, διὸ χρήματα οὐ δίδομεν.
postpositive:
– οὐκ ἀποδίδοτε, χρήματα οὖν οὐ δίδομεν.
– οὐκ ἀποδίδοτε, χρήματα τοίνυν οὐ δίδομεν.
– “You do not give it back, so we do not give money.”
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• These conjunctions are also on your vocabulary lists:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
εἰ, εἴπερ if
ἐπεί after, since, when
ἕως until, while
ἵνα where
μέχρι until
ὅθεν from where
ὅπου where
ὅτε when
πότερον whether
πρίν (w/indicative verbs) until; (w/ infinitive verbs) before
ὡς as
ὥστε that (indicates a resulting action)
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Spell it Like It Sounds!
• It is common for the final vowel of a conjunction to be
elided before a word that begins with a vowel.
ἀποδίδομεν χρήματα τε καὶ ὑπάρχοντα.
χρήματα ὑπάρχοντα τ’ ἀποδίδομεν.
“We return the money and property”
τὰ σπέρματα μὲν δίδομεν, ὕδωρ δὲ δίδοτε.
τὰ σπέρματα μὲν δίδομεν, δίδοτε δ’ ὕδωρ.
“We give the seeds and you give water.”
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Spell it Like It Sounds!
• It is common for the final vowel of a conjunction to be
elided before a word that begins with a vowel.
δίδομεν τὰ σπέρματα οὔτε δίδοτε τὸ ὕδωρ.
“We give the seeds and you do not give the water.”
δίδομεν τὰ σπέρματα οὔτ’ ὕδωρ δίδοτε.
“We give the seeds and you do not give water.”
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Spell it Like It Sounds!
• It is common for the final vowel of a conjunction to be
elided before a word that begins with a vowel.
δίδομεν τὰ σπέρματα ἀλλὰ τὸ ὕδωρ οὐ δίδοτε.
δίδομεν τὰ σπέρματα ἀλλ’ οὐ δίδοτε τὸ ὕδωρ.
“We give the seeds but you do not give the water.”
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Spell it Like It Sounds!
• It is common for the final vowel of a conjunction to be elided
before a word that begins with a vowel.
εἴτε τὰ χρήματα οὐ δίδομεν, εἴτε τὰ ὑπάρχοντα οὐ δίδοτε.
εἴτ’ οὐ δίδομεν τὰ χρήματα, εἴτ’ οὐ δίδοτε τὰ ὑπάρχοντα.
“Either we don’t give the money or you don’t give the property.”
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Spell it Like It Sounds!
• It is common for the final vowel of a conjunction to be elided
before a word that begins with a vowel.
– οὐκ ἀποδίδοτε, ἄρα χρήματα οὐ δίδομεν.
– οὐκ ἀποδίδοτε, ἄρ’ οὐ δίδομεν χρήματα.
– “You do not give it back, so we do not give money.”
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Spell it Like It Sounds!
• It is common for the final vowel of a conjunction to be elided
before a word that begins with a vowel.
ὅτε χρήματα ἀποδίδοτε, ὑπάρχοντα δίδομεν.
ὅτ’ ἀποδίδοτε χρήματα, ὑπάρχοντα δίδομεν.
“When you give money back, we give property.”
• Note: ὅτι never elides, so ὅτ’ always = ὅτε.
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 4 Vocabulary: DCC Classical
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ἀλλά but
ἄρα therefore
γάρ because
δέ and, but
εἰ, εἴπερ if
εἴτε either…or
ἐπεί after, since, when
ἕως until, while
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 4 Vocabulary: DCC Classical
•
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ἤ or, than
ἵνα where
καί and, also, even
μέν…δέ (contrasts a pair)
μέχρι until
ὅθεν from where
ὅπου where
ὅτε when
ὅτι because; (indirect statement) that
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Unit 4 Vocabulary: DCC Classical
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οὖν therefore
οὔτε and not
πότερον whether
πρίν until, before
τε and; τε . . . τε both . . . and
τοίνυν therefore
ὡς as; (indirect statement) that, to
ὥστε that (result)
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 4 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament)
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ἀλλά but
δέ and, but
εἴτε either…or
ἤ or, than
καί and, also, even
μέν…δέ (contrasts a pair)
μήτε and not, either…or
οὔτε and not, either…or
τε and; τε . . . τε both . . . and
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 4 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament)
•
•
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ἄρα so then, therefore
γάρ for, because
διό therefore
ὅτι because, that
οὖν therefore, so
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 4 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament)
•
•
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ἕως until, while
ἵνα where
ὅτε when
ὡς as
ὥστε that (result)
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 4 Vocabulary: Core
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ἀλλά but
ἄρα so then, therefore
γάρ for, because
δέ and, but
εἴτε either…or
ἕως until, while
ἤ or, than
ἵνα where
καί and, also, even
Ancient Greek for Everyone
Unit 4 Vocabulary: Core
•
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μέν…δέ (contrasts a pair)
μήτε and not, either…or
ὅπου where
ὅτε when
ὅτι because, that
οὖν therefore, so
οὔτε and not, either…or
τε and; τε . . . τε both . . . and
ὡς as
ὥστε that (result)