The St. Eutychus Guide To First Year Greek – Part Nine

Now. If only I understood all of this regurgitated garbage…

Perfect Middle, and Passive Indicative

The perfect middle and passive indicative takes the same suffix as the present middle and passive, with a reduplicated first syllable and no connecting vowel.

First person singular = λελυμαι
Second person singular = λελυσαι
Third person singular = λελυται
First person plural = λελυμεθα
Second person plural = λελυσθε
Third person plural = λελυνται

The perfect middle and passive deals with a present state resulting from a completed action (O <à>). As a middle λελυμαι is “I have released myself” or “I have released for myself,” or “I myself have released”… these translations are approximate and sometimes for the sake of English clarity the simple past is chosen – “so Christ died (aorist) and was raised (perfect passive)” – but the “raised” – like Archimede’s Eureka – places the impact on the current risen state.

The Future Middle Indicative

The future middle indicative takes the same suffix, with the future time morpheme (σ), and a connecting vowel, added to the stem.

It also, like the present middle, has an irregularity in the second person singular. This can be explained. With the suffix and future morpheme in place this would be λυσεσαι, it would seem that in order to be less complicated the second σ drops out, and the ε and α combine into an η and the ι drops into the subscript position.

So, the future middle looks a little something like this:

First person singular = λυσομαι
Second person singular = λυσῃ
Third person singular = λυσεται
First person plural = λυσομεθα
Second person plural = λυσεσθε
Third person plural = λυσονται

The middle voice can be translated as: I will loose myself, I will loose for myself, I myself will loose…

The Future Indicative of ειμι

ειμι in future form takes the same endings as λυσομαι (except for a rogue ε). It uses ε as its stem.

First person singular = εσομαι
Second person singular = εσῃ
Third person singular = εσται
First person plural = εσομεθα
Second person plural = εσεσθε
Third person plural = εσονται

Adverbs

Adverbs qualify verbs (and adjectives, and other adverbs).

In Greek, adverbs are formed by substituting ς for an ν at the end of the genitive plural (eg καλων (good) becomes καλως (well)).

Most adverbs just need to be learned as vocab…

μεν and δε

The conjunctions μεν and δε are used to contrast two ideas – μεν means “on the one hand” while δε means “on the other hand.” In translation this often works best as “…, but…” – dropping the μεν and expressing the contrast with a conjunction.

In the plural the μεν…δε construct translates as “some… others…

Imperfect Middle and Passive

The past middle suffixes used for the imperfect middle and passive, the aorist middle, and the plu-perfect middle and passive.

The Imperfect Middle and Passive is formed by attaching the augment (past time morpheme ε), a connecting vowel, and the secondary middle suffixes (past, middle suffix)…

For λυω the Imperfect Middle Passive looks like this:

First person singular = ελυομην
Second person singular = ελυσο
Third person singular = ελυετο
First person plural = ελυομεθα
Second person plural = ελυεσθε
Third person plural = ελυοντο

ελυομεν translates in the imperfect middle to: “I was releasing myself,” “I was releasing for myself,” “I myself was releasing.” In the imperfect passive it’s “I was being released.”

In the second person singular the form ελυου comes from ελυεσο – the σ drops out and the vowels contract.

Again, which voice you use is determined by context.

First Aorist Middle

The First Aorist Middle is conjugated as:

First person singular = ελυσαμην
Second person singular = ελυσω
Third person singular = ελυσατο
First person plural = ελυσαμεθα
Second person plural = ελυσασθε
Third person plural = ελυσαντο

Instead of a connecting vowel it features the aoristic aspect morpheme.

The second person singular is irregular for the same reason as the Imperfect middle/passive – the σ of the suffix drops out, and the vowels contract.

Because the aorist tense deals with a completed action the middle aorist translates as “I released myself” or “I released for myself” or “I myself released”

Second Aorist Middle Indicative

The second aorist in middle indicative does pretty much the same as the second aorist active indicative. It drops a vowel form the stem.

The Pluperfect Middle and Passive Indicative

The pluperfect middle and passive feature reduplication of the consonant, the past time morpheme, the secondary middle suffixes (with no connecting vowel).

So:

First person singular = ελελυμην
Second person singular = ελελυσο
Third person singular = ελελυτο
First person plural = ελελυμεθα
Second person plural = ελελυσθε
Third person plural = ελελυντο

It can be translated as: “I had released myself,” “I had released for myself,” “I myself had released,” as a passive it should be translated “I had been released.”

Aorist Passive Indicative

The first aorist passive indicative is obtained by adding the augment, the passive morpheme (θε or θη), and the secondary active endings.

First person singular = ελυθην
Second person singular = ελυθης
Third person singular = ελυθη
First person plural = ελυθημεν
Second person plural = ελυθτε
Third person plural = ελυθησαν

The first person singular aorist passive is translated “I was released.”

Second Aorist Passive Passive Indicative

Loses the θ from the morpheme. Keeps the same suffixes as the first aorist passive indicative.

Future Passive Indicative

Obtained by adding the passive morpheme, then the future time morpheme, and removing the final ν, and adding the primary middle endings

So:

First person singular = λυθησομαι
Second person singular = λυθηςῃ
Third person singular = λυθησεται
First person plural = λυθησομεθα
Second person plural = λυθσεσθε
Third person plural = ελυθησονται

The first person singular translates “I will be released.”

Second Future Passive Indicative forms, like the second aorist, lose the θ from the morpheme.

Irregular Passive Forms

Chucking a θε (or θη) into a word causes trouble if the stem ends in a consonant. Mainly if the consonant is one of those ones that doesn’t really play nice with others.

This time the changes can be summarised as: