Future Active and Middle; Principal Parts

The future active revisited

Lesson 2 introduced the regular future active. Here it becomes part of a larger verb system: future stem + primary endings. λύω becomes λύσω, 'I will release'; λύσομεν means 'we will release'. There is no augment because this is not a past tense.

The future marker σ may combine with a consonant at the end of the stem. π, β, or φ with σ gives ψ; κ, γ, or χ with σ gives ξ; τ, δ, or θ disappears before σ. Thus γράφω becomes γράψω and ἄγω becomes ἄξω. The new letter belongs to the stem; it does not change the person ending.

Not every future is made by simply adding σ to the present form. The present stem may contain extra letters or use an entirely different root. Learn a verb's actual future instead of guessing from its dictionary form.

• γράψομεν τὸν λόγον. — We will write the message.
• ἄξει τὸν μαθητήν. — He will lead the disciple.

The future middle

The future middle uses the same future stem but the primary middle endings: λύσομαι, λύσῃ, λύσεται, λυσόμεθα, λύσεσθε, λύσονται. Compare λύσομεν, 'we will release', with λυσόμεθα, 'we will release for ourselves'. The stem gives the tense system; the ending gives voice, person, and number.

Unlike the present and imperfect, the future has separate middle and passive forms. Do not translate λύσομαι as 'I will be released': that future passive form will be λυθήσομαι in Lesson 16.

Some verbs have a middle-form future with an ordinary active meaning in English. λαμβάνω has λήμψομαι, 'I will receive'; γινώσκω has γνώσομαι, 'I will know'. εἰμί also has middle-looking future endings: ἔσομαι, ἔσῃ, ἔσται, ἐσόμεθα, ἔσεσθε, ἔσονται, meaning 'I will be', 'you will be', and so on.

• λήμψομαι τὸν ἄρτον. — I will receive the bread.
• ἐσόμεθα ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ. — We will be in the house.

Principal parts: a map of the verb

A principal part is a representative form that supplies the stem for a group of related forms. Greek verbs conventionally have six: present, future, aorist active/middle, perfect active, perfect middle/passive, and aorist passive. You do not have to master all six systems today; learn what the list is for.

For λύω the list is λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα, λέλυκα, λέλυμαι, ἐλύθην. The third and sixth forms contain an augment because they are past indicatives. When building forms without past-time meaning, that augment will not belong to the stem.

Think of principal parts as six doors into the same verb, not six unrelated vocabulary words. When a stem changes, the list helps you recognize the verb. A dash in a dictionary's list usually means a form is absent or not attested, not that you should invent it.

Vocabulary (10)

γινώσκω

I come to know, recognize, know

λαμβάνω

I take, receive

εὐαγγέλιον, τό

good news, gospel

ἐξουσία, ἡ

power, authority

παρά, παρ᾽

(+gen) from; (+dat) beside; (+acc) alongside

ἐλπίζω

I hope

ἀνοίγω

I open

κλείω

I shut, close

ἀπαγγέλλω

I report, announce

Παῦλος, -ου, ὁ

Paul