Lesson 11. Ω-Verbs Middle/Passive Voice, Prepositions

Question 0

Verb tense and mood in relation to voice….

Answer 0

… does not change.

Question 1

τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα ἠγώνισμαι

Answer 1

τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα ἠγώνισμαι (I have fought the good fight) —2 Timothy 4:7

Question 2

Personal endings, tense and voice

Answer 2

The voice and tense of verbs is shown by different sets of personal endings.

• Voice is shown by active or middle/passive endings.
• Tense is shown by primary or secondary endings.

Every particular use of a verb will involve a choice from each of these alternatives.

• So there are sets of endings for primary active and secondary active.
• And there are sets of endings for primary middle/passive and secondary middle/passive.

Question 3

Primary and secondary endings in the indicative.

Answer 3

Just as there are two sets of active endings (primary and secondary) in the indicative mood, so there are two sets of middle/passive endings (primary and secondary) in the indicative mood.

Question 3

Primary Active Endings ω-conjugation

Answer 3

*Singular*		  
	1st    -ω    	
	2nd    -εις     
	3rd    -ει       
	*Plural*  
	1st    -ομεν     	
	2nd    -ετε  
	3rd    -ουσι(ν)       

= present tense for -ω conjugation
-σ- + these endings = future tense of all verbs

Question 4

Secondary Active Endings ω-conjugation

Answer 4

*Singular*		  
	1st    -ον    	
	2nd    -ες   (σο)??   
	3rd    -ε       
	*Plural*  
	1st    -ομεν     	
	2nd    -ετε  
	3rd    -ον       

= imperfect tense for -ω conjugation
= strong (2 ) aorist tense for -ω conjugation

Question 6

Primary Middle/Passive Endings ω-conjugation

Answer 6

*Singular*		  
	1st    -ομαι	    	
	2nd    -ῃ/ει  (σαι)?? 	 
	3rd    -εται    	 	  
	*Plural*  
	1st    -ομεθα     	
	2nd    -εσθε  	  
	3rd    -ονται      

= middle primary tense endings of all verbs

• The future tense adds -σ- before these endings.
• The perfect middle never uses the -(κ)α- marker.

Question 7

Paradigm for Present Middle/Passive Indicative

Answer 7

*Singular*		Example  
1st    -ομαι	παιδεύομαι    
2nd    -ῃ/ει  	παιδεύῃ/ει  
3rd    -εται    παιδεύεται
*Plural*  
1st    -ομεθα   παιδευόμεθα  
2nd    -εσθε  	παιδεύεσθε  
3rd    -ονται   παιδεύονται

Question 8

Secondary Middle/Passive Endings ω-conjugation

Answer 8

*Singular*		  
	1st    -ομην    	
	2nd    -ου     (σο)??   
	3rd    -ετο       
	*Plural*  
	1st    -ομεθα     	
	2nd    -εσθε      
	3rd    -οντο       

= middle secondary tense endings of all verbs
The pluperfect middle never uses the -(κ)α- marker.

Question 9

Paradigm for Future Middle Indicative

Answer 9

*Singular*		  Example  
1st    -σομαι   παιδεύσομαι    
2nd    -σῃ/σει  παιδεύσῃ/σει  
3rd    -σεται   παιδεύσεται 
*Plural*  
1st    -σομεθα  παιδευσόμεθα 
2nd    -σεσθε   παιδεύσεσθε  
3rd    -σονται  παιδεύσονται

Question 10

Paradigm for Imperfect Middle/Passive Indicative

Answer 10

*Singular*		Example  
1st    -ομην    ἐπαιδευόμην
2nd    -ου      ἐπαιδεύου  
3rd    -ετο     ἐπαιδεύετο  
*Plural*  
1st    -ομεθα   ἐπαιδευόμεθα 
2nd    -εσθε    ἐπαιδεύεσθε  
3rd    -οντο    ἐπαιδεύοντο

Question 10

Present, future and imperfect indicative: endings and stems

Answer 10

The present and future indicative use primary endings attached to the present and future stems, while the imperfect indicative uses secondary endings attached to the augmented present stem.

Question 11

Present and imperfect tenses and the middle/passive endings

Answer 11

In the present and imperfect tenses the middle/passive endings can denote either middle voice (when the subject not only acts but also has a special interest in the action) or passive voice (when the subject is acted upon by someone or something else); thus we speak of “present middle/passive” and “imperfect middle/passive.”

But it is incorrect to speak of “future middle/ passive” since in Greek the future middle and the future passive are two distinct forms. While the future middle is based on the second principal part, the future passive is based on the sixth principal part.

Be careful not to translate the future middle as a future passive by mistake.

Question 11

Present Middle/Passive Infinitive - ending and use

Answer 11

Ending: -εσθαι. Eg. παιδεύεσθαι (“to teach for oneself”/“to be taught”) [cf. active -ειν]

The present middle/passive infinitive attaches the thematic vowel ε and the middle/passive personal ending -σθαι to the present stem.

Its accent is always on the antepenult.

Depending on the context, the infinitive may have either middle voice or passive voice.

Like the present active infinitive, it denotes only imperfective aspect, not present time. You may prefer a translation that emphasizes the on-going nature of the action: e.g., “to continue teaching for oneself” or “to keep being taught.”

Question 12

Future Middle Infinitive - ending and use

Answer 12

Ending: - εσθαι. Eg. παιδεύσεσθαι (“to be going to teach for oneself”) [cf. active -σειν]

The future middle infinitive attaches the thematic vowel ε and the middle personal ending -σθαι to the future stem.

Its accent is always on the antepenult.

Depending on the context, the future middle infinitive may have either imperfective aspect (e.g., “to be going to be teaching for oneself for a while”) or aoristic aspect (“to be going to teach for oneself on one occasion”).

Question 13

Ending and stem for present and future indicative and imperfect indicative

Answer 13

As you might expect, the present and future indicative use primary endings attached to the present and future stems, while the imperfect indicative uses secondary endings attached to the augmented present stem.

Question 15

Paradigm for Present Middle/Passive Imperative

Answer 15

*Singular*		Example  
	1st    -
	2nd    -ου      παιδεύου  
	3rd    -εσθω    παιδεύεσθω  
	*Plural*  
	1st    -
	2nd    -εσθε    παιδεύεσθε  
	3rd    -εσθων   παιδευέσθων

Question 17

Interpretation of Present Middle/Passive Imperative

Answer 17

Like the present active imperative, the present middle/passive imperative shows only imperfective aspect, not present time. You may prefer a translation that emphasizes the on-going nature of the action: e.g., “continue teaching for yourself!” or “keep being taught!” for παιδεύου; “let them continue teaching for themselves!” or “let them keep being taught!” for παιδευέσθων.

Question 18

Ending for the infinitive in the middle voice

Answer 18

All verbs in all tenses use -σθαι to designate the infinitive in the middle voice. (The Master List)

Question 19

Genitive of personal agent - definition

Answer 19

In a passive sentence the agent may or may not be identified; e.g., “I am taught by my brother” or simply “I am taught.”

To identify the agent, Greek often uses the preposition ὑπό (“by”) and a noun in the genitive case; e.g., παιδεύομαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ. This construction is the genitive of personal agent.

Question 20

Clues to help determine the voice of a verb with middle/passive ending

Answer 20

(1) The presence of a genitive of agent is a sign that the verb’s voice must be passive, not middle (since, in a sentence with middle voice, the subject itself—and not a noun in the genitive—is the agent).
(2) The presence of a direct object is a sign that the verb’s voice must be middle, not passive (since, in a passive sentence, the subject—and not a direct object—receives the action).

Question 20

In a sentence with middle voice, the subject….

Answer 20

…the subject is the agent.

Question 21

Special Senses of the Middle Voice

Answer 21

In some verbs the middle voice shows a reflexive relationship: the action is done directly to the subject, not for it. τρέπω (“I turn”), for example, is reflexive in the middle voice (τρέπομαι = “I betake myself” or “I move”).

In other verbs the middle voice may have a special meaning in addition to the one you would expect it to have.

Question 21

In a sentence with passive voice, the subject…

Answer 21

…receives the action.

Question 22

ἀλλάττοµαι

Answer 22

Usual sense: “I change for myself”

Special sense: “I take [something] in exchange for [something]”. The special sense may be combined with an accusative direct object.

Question 23

γράφοµαι

Answer 23

Usual sense: “I write for myself”

Special sense: “I indict [someone]”. The special sense may be combined with an accusative direct object.

Question 24

παιδεύοµαι

Answer 24

Usual sense: “I teach for myself”

Special sense: “I have [someone] taught”. The special sense may be combined with an accusative direct object.

Question 25

φυλάττοµαι

Answer 25

Usual sense: “I guard for myself”

Special sense: “I am on guard against [something/someone]”. The special sense may be combined with an accusative direct object.

Question 26

Example prepositions whose object is always in the genitive, dative or accusative case

Answer 26

Genitive case - ἀπό, ἐκ

Dative case - ἐν

Accusative case - εἰς

Question 27

ὑπό

Answer 27

The preposition ὑπό often means “by,” but its basic meaning is “under.”

When used with the genitive, ὑπό implies motion out of or away from a source or origin (point A in the diagram below).

When used with the accusative, it implies motion toward a goal or destination (point C).

When used with the dative, it implies that someone or something is at a particular location (point B) and is neither leaving it nor approaching it.

A –> B –> C

The genitive of personal agent with ὑπό identifies the human source from which the action springs; e.g., φυλάττομαι ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν = “I am guarded by [under the agency of] the gods.”

Question 28

πείθω

Answer 28

πείθω, πείσω (with acc. + infin.) persuade (to); (mid. + dat.) obey

πείθω, like the comparable verb κελεύω (Lesson 5), often governs an infinitive; the person persuaded is put into the accusative case.

πείθομαι (middle voice) has the special sense of “I obey” (from the notion of persuading oneself); the person or thing obeyed is put into the dative case.

Question 29

τρέπω

Answer 29

τρέπω, τρέψω turn; (mid.) betake oneself, move [cf. protreptic]

τρέπω does not mean “I turn” in the sense of “I turn myself around” or “I become”; rather, it means “I make something or someone turn” (cf. ἀλλάττω in Lesson 6).

Thus in the active voice the verb always has a direct object with it; i.e., it is always transitive. In the middle voice the verb is reflexive (the subject puts itself into motion); therefore no direct object is needed with τρέπομαι.

Question 30

ἅµαξα

Answer 30

ἅµαξα, -ης, ἡ cart, wagon

Question 31

λίµνη

Answer 31

λίµνη, -ης, ἡ marsh, lake, pond [cf. limnology]

Question 32

τόπος

Answer 32

τόπος, -ου, ὁ place, passage (in a book) [cf. topic, topography, utopia]

Question 33

τρόπος

Answer 33

τρόπος, -ου, ὁ turn, way, manner, habit; (pl.) character [cf. trope, entropy, heliotropic, trophy]

Question 34

µακρός

Answer 34

µακρός, -ά (long), -όν long, long-lasting [cf. macrocosm, macron]

Question 35

µῑκρός

Answer 35

µῑκρός, -ά (long), -όν small, little [cf. microphone, microscope]

Question 36

πόρρω

Answer 36

πόρρω (adv.) far, far off; (prep. + gen.) far away from

Question 37

ὑπό (definition)

Answer 37

ὑπό (ὑπ’, ὑφ’)

• (prep. + gen.) from under, by (under the agency of );
• (prep. + dat.) under;
• (prep. + acc.) under, to a place under [cf. hypocrisy, hypodermic, hypotenuse, hypothesis]

The omicron of ὑπό is elided before a word beginning with a vowel, and the elision is usually marked with an apostrophe (ὑπ’). If the following word has rough breathing, the pi before the apostrophe is “roughened” into phi (ὑφ’).

Question 40

Loss of intervocalic sigma and influence on endings

Answer 40

Sigma between vowels (intervocalic sigma) was lost in the devel-opment of many Greek forms, and in Attic this loss usually resulted in the contraction of the vowels. This has happened in -εσαι becoming -ῃ and (in the second person singular imperative) -εσο becoming – ου.

Mastronarde

Question 41

βάτραχος

Answer 41

βάτραχος, -ου, ὁ: frog