Present Active and Middle/Passive Participles

A verb that can describe a noun

A participle combines features of a verb and an adjective. In English, 'the person teaching the children' uses 'teaching' to describe a person, while still taking the object 'the children'. Greek does this very frequently.

Like a verb, a participle has a tense-form and voice, and may take an object or an adverb. Like an adjective, it has gender, case, and number and agrees with the person or thing it describes. It has no grammatical person of its own: it is not a first-, second-, or third-person finite verb.

Present participles usually portray the action as ongoing in relation to the main verb. They do not automatically mean present clock time. With 'he came', a present participle may mean 'while coming' or describe something occurring at that past time. Participles have no augment.

• ὁ μαθητὴς γράφων τὸν λόγον — the disciple writing the message (γράφων describes μαθητής and takes an object)

Present active forms

The present active nominative singular is λύων (masculine), λύουσα (feminine), λῦον (neuter), 'releasing'. Masculine and neuter forms use third-declension endings with a λυοντ- stem; feminine forms use first-declension endings with λυουσ-.

The genitives make the stems clearer: λύοντος, λυούσης, λύοντος. The feminine singular alternates α and η, like the mixed first-declension pattern. Neuter nominative and accusative remain identical: λῦον in the singular, λύοντα in the plural.

Pay special attention to the masculine/neuter dative plural λύουσι(ν). The -ντ- disappears before σ and the vowel changes. This can look exactly like the finite verb λύουσι(ν), 'they release'. An article, agreement with a dative noun, and the structure of the clause help you decide which it is.

• οἱ λύοντες — the ones releasing; masculine nominative plural
• τῇ λυούσῃ — to the woman who is releasing; feminine dative singular
• τοῖς λύουσιν — to those who are releasing; dative plural participle after the article

Present middle/passive forms

The present middle/passive participle is easier to decline: λυόμενος, λυομένη, λυόμενον. These forms follow the first- and second-declension adjective pattern you already know. Recognize the -μεν- element inside the word.

As elsewhere in the present system, middle and passive share forms. λυόμενος may describe someone releasing for himself or someone being released. A participle from a middle-form verb can have an active English meaning: ἐρχόμενος means 'coming'.

Agreement still matters even when the English translation is a phrase. In οἱ διδασκόμενοι μαθηταί, the participle is masculine nominative plural because it describes μαθηταί. It means 'the disciples being taught', not 'the disciples are teaching'.

• ὁ ἐρχόμενος μαθητής — the disciple who is coming
• οἱ διδασκόμενοι μαθηταί — the disciples who are being taught

The participle of 'be'

εἰμί has a present participle too: ὤν (masculine), οὖσα (feminine), ὄν (neuter), meaning 'being'. It can describe who someone is or the situation they are in. ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ means 'the one who is in the house'.

The genitives are ὄντος, οὔσης, ὄντος. Masculine and neuter forms follow a third-declension ὀντ- stem, while the feminine follows first-declension endings. Compare masculine accusative ὄντα and feminine accusative οὖσαν with the present participles you already know.

The participle agrees with the person or thing it describes. ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μαθητής is 'the disciple who is in the house'. With no noun expressed, οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ means 'those who are in the house'.

• ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μαθητής — the disciple who is in the house
• οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ — those who are in the house

Three ways a participle works in a sentence

Attributive: a participle with an article describes a noun. ὁ γράφων μαθητής means 'the disciple who is writing'. Translate with a relative clause ('who is...') if a literal '-ing' phrase sounds awkward.

Substantival: an article and participle can stand without a noun. ὁ πιστεύων means 'the one who believes'; οἱ πιστεύοντες means 'those who believe'. Supply a person or thing from the gender, number, and context, rather than inventing a separate noun in the Greek.

Adverbial: a participle without an article may describe the circumstances of the main action. γράφων τὸν λόγον, ὁ μαθητὴς ἐδίδασκεν can mean 'While writing the message, the disciple was teaching'. Time, cause, manner, or concession comes from context; the participle does not contain an invisible word 'while' or 'because'.

A useful reading order is: find the main finite verb, locate the participle, identify the noun it agrees with, and keep any object with the participle. Then choose natural English that preserves the relationship between the two actions.

μή often makes a participle phrase negative when it describes a group or a condition: οἱ μὴ πιστεύοντες, 'those who do not believe'. οὐ also occurs with participles, especially when a writer denies a particular fact. Use the phrase and the surrounding sentence to choose; the participle ending alone does not decide the negative.

• ὁ ἀκούων τὸν λόγον — the one who hears the message (substantival)
• γράφων τὸν λόγον, ὁ μαθητὴς ἐδίδασκεν. — While writing the message, the disciple was teaching (adverbial).

Vocabulary (8)

λίθος, ὁ

stone

γλῶσσα, ἡ

tongue, language

ὅλος, -η, -ον

whole, entire

ὑπέρ

(+gen) on behalf of; (+acc) above

μέν, … δέ

on the one hand … on the other; contrasts clauses

ἅμα

at the same time; (+dat) together with

ἔτι

still, yet

οὐκέτι

no longer