LESSON SEVENTEEN: MIDDLE AND PASSIVE VOICES (SHARED FORMS)

LESSON SEVENTEEN: MIDDLE AND PASSIVE VOICES (SHARED FORMS) So far, the different verb forms we have looked at have been in the active voice (the subject being the doer of the action represented by the verb). As indicated at the beginning, there are also middle and passive voices One of those things that simplify a little the learning of Greek middle and passive forms is that the forms of the two (middle and passive) are the same for four (out of six) tenses: present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect. They differ in the future and aorist tenses only. We will first focus on the four tenses which have shared forms and then examine, in the next lesson, the future and aorist forms. Memorization of Vocabulary 17 ἔρχοµαι - I come ἐπίκειµαι - I lie upon, crowd, insist γεννάω - I beget θεάοµαι - I behold κεῖµαι - I lie, recline µοιχάοµαι - I commit adultery (also µοιχάω) παράγω - I bring in; in the passive means, I pass away τελειόω - I make perfect ψεύδοµαι - I lie, cheat The forms of present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect (the four that have same forms for middle and passive) are as follows. 1. Present tense Middle/ Passive a. Present indicative forms Singular Plural 1 st person λύοµαι λυόµεθα (I am loosed/ I loose for my [middle]) 2 nd person λύῃ λύεσθε 3 rd person λύεται λύονται Νote iota subscript in second person singular If within a given context one decides this form represents a passive voice, then translation will be I am loosed/ We are loosed ; you are loosed and he/she/it/they (is) are loosed. That is, subject receiving the action. If however, one decides it is middle voice, then the translation would be I loose but with the notion that I benefit from the act. That is, just as in the active voice, the subject is the doer BUT benefits from the act. This decision concerning the two voices has to be made whenever we meet middle/passive forms in these four tenses whose middle and passive forms are shared. Some verbs, however, have 1

lost the benefit part of middle form, functioning simply as active in both translation and meaning. These are referred to as deponent verbs. One of their distinguishing features is that in the vocabulary (dictionary listing) they would be spelt with -µαι ending (see some in the vocabulary above) See note below for further comments on this. b. Present imperative forms 2 nd person λύου λύεσθε Be loosed/loose for your (middle) 3 rd person λυέσθω λυέσθωσαν Let him/her/they be loosed/ loose for c. Present subjunctive forms 1 st person λύωµαι λυώµεθα I may be loosed/may loose for 2 nd person λύῃ λύησθε you may be loosed/may loose (mid) 3 rd person λύηται λύωνται he/she/it may be loosed/may loose for d. Present optative mood forms 1 st person λυοίµην λυοίµεθα I would wish to be loosed/loose for my/we.. 2 nd person λύοιο λύοισθε you would wish to be loosed/loose for 3 rd person λύοιτο λύοιντο he/she/it would wish to be loosed/loose for e. Present infinitive form: λύεσθαι (to be loosed (passive) or to loose for (middle) f. Present middle/passive participle Singular Plural Masculine (declines like λογος) Nominative λυοµενος λυοµενοι (one being loosed/one loosing) Accusative λυοµενον λυοµενους (one being loosed/one loosing) Genitive λυοµενου λυοµενων (of one being loosed/of one loosing) Dative λυοµενῳ λυοµενοις (to/for one being loosed/of one loosing) 2

Feminine (declines like αρχη) Nominative λυοµενη λυοµεναι (same as masculine, goes with feminine) Accusative λυοµενην λυοµενας Genitive λυοµενης λυοµενων Dative λυοµενῃ λυοµεναις Neuter (declines like εργον) Nominative λυοµενον λυοµενα (goes with neuter) Accusative λυοµενον λυοµενα Genitive λυοµενου λυοµενων Dative λυοµενῳ λυοµενοις Notes: Treating the ο after the stem (λυ/ο/µενος) as connecting vowel and not as part of the ending, the endings are µενος, µενη, µενον etc. Within the four room theory for studying these forms with more ease, however, the ο can be kept in room number four (with the ending). The same applies to α of the aorist middle (see below) or any other connecting vowel (see, for example the occurrence of ε as a connecting vowel in some forms of the imperfect middle/passive below). This would mean that the occupants of the four rooms for present middle/passive are: /nothing/λυ/nothing/οµενος. For the 1 st aorist middle: /nothing since augment is found in indicative mood only/λυ/σ/αµενος. If for purpose learning the participle forms here one wants to work with five rooms so as to have the ο and α have their own room (which would be unoccupied most of the times), there is nothing fixed about it. The idea of four rooms is simply so that the rooms are kept to a minimum that is reasonable, but making a note of the times when a room may have an occasional visitor. These occasional visitors in the four room theory include connecting vowel in room four (that is, with the ending as discussed here), sign of passive voice in the future and 1 st aorist (in room three with sign of tense, see next lesson) and the occasional ε found before the reduplication in the pluperfect tense. These endings are shared by: first aorist middle. Thus λυ/σ/α/µενος ( after loosing.. ). Passive is different (see below) perfect middle/passive. Thus λε/λυ/µενος (after having loosed/been loosed ) second aorist middle. Thus γεν/ο/µενος (after loosing). Passive is different (see below) 3

2. Imperfect Middle/Passive (indicative mood only) a. Imperfect indicative mood 1 st person ἐλυόµην ἐλυόµεθα I was loosed/was loosing for 2 nd person ἐλύου ἐλύεσθε you were loosed/you loosed for 3 rd person ἐλύετο ἐλύοντο he/she/it/they was (were) loosed/ loosed for b. no imperfect imperative mood forms imperative primarily in present and aorist tenses c. no imperfect subjunctive mood forms subjunctive found in present and aorist tenses. d. no imperfect optative mood forms optative found in present, future, and aorist tenses. e. no imperfect infinitive forms infinitive found in present, future, aorist, perfect. f. no imperfect participle forms. 3. Perfect tense (Middle and Passive) a. Perfect indicative mood (relate to the endings of the present middle/passive) 1 st person λέλυµαι λελύµεθα I/we have been loosed/loosed for 2 nd person λέλυσαι λέλυσθε you have been loosed/loosed for 3 rd person λέλυται λέλυνται he/she/it/they has (have) been loosed /loosed for. b. Perfect imperative mood forms (note, but no need to memorize) 2 nd person λελύσο λελύσθε 3 rd person λελύσθω λελύσθωσαν c. Perfect subjunctive (a periphrastic construction, to be examined later) 1 st person λελυµένος ὦ λελυµένοι ὦµεν 2 nd person λελυµένος ἦς λελυµένοι ἦτε 3 rd person λελυµένος ἦ λελυµένοι ὦσι(ν) 4

d. Perfect optative mood (periphrastic construction, to be examined later) 1 st person λελυµένος εἴην λελυµένοι εἴηµεν 2 nd person λελυµένος εἴης λελυµένοι εἴητε 3 rd person λελυµένος εἴη λελυµένοι εἴησαν e. Perfect infinitive form: λελύσθαι (to have been loosed (passive), to have loosed or for (middle) f. Perfect participle forms See under present tense (λελυµενος, λελυµενη, λελυµενον) 4. Pluperfect Middle/ Passive Only the indicative mood forms need to be learned. They are: l 1 st person (ἐ)λελύµην (ἐ)λελύµεθα I/we had been loosed/had loosed for 2 nd person (ἐ)λέλυσο (ἐ)λέλυσθε you had been loosed/had loosed for 3 rd person (ἐ)λέλυτο (ἐ)λέλυντο he/she/it had been loosed/ loosed for Special Note As mentioned earlier, there are verbs, within this category of forms, that are referred to as deponent, a term borrowed from the Latin depono which has the idea of laying aside. Within this context, the term is used for verbs that have middle/passive forms but actually have active meaning. Usually, a verb whose vocabulary form takes the -µαι ending is deponent (for example, ἐρχοµαι, κειµαι, θεαοµαι). Also, see note under miscellaneous at the end of this work. Exercise 17 Analyse (parse) the following and make any necessary observations 1. ψευδόµεθα (1 John 1:6, from ψεύδοµαι - I lie) 2. τετελείωται (1 John 2:5 - from τελειόω - I make perfect) 3. παράγεται (1 John 2:17, from παράγω - I bring in; passive pass away) 4. ἔρχεται (1 John 2:18, from ἔρχοµαι - I come) 5

5. γεγέννηται (1 John 3:9 - from γεννάω - I beget) 6. τεθεαται (1 John 4:12 - from θεάοµαι - I behold) 7. τεθέαµεθα (1 John 4:14 - from θεάοµαι - I behold) 8. κεῖται (1 John 5:19, from κεῖµαι - I lie, recline) 9. ἐπικεῖσθαι (Luke 5:1, from ἐπίκειµαι - I lie on or upon, press hard) 10. µοιχᾶται (Matthew 5:32, from µοιχάοµαι - I commit adultery) Samuel M. Ngewa Africa International University 6