The Greek grammarians called the future ὁ μέλλων, "the (tense) about to be". It is easy to spot: most verbs put a σ between the stem and the endings of the present. λύω "I free", λύσω "I shall free"; λύει "he frees", λύσει "he will free". Compare the first and third columns of the table from lesson 8:
λύω (loosen, free): active indicative
λύω is the classic model verb. Its endings are what matter: they appear on thousands of verbs.
| present | imperfect | future | aorist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | λύω8 | ἔλυον1 | λύσω16 | ἔλυσα8 |
| you (one) | λύεις4 | ἔλυες1 | λύσεις18 | ἔλυσας6 |
| he, she, it | λύει263 | ἔλυε(ν)13 | λύσει31 | ἔλυσε(ν)180 |
| we | λύομεν9 | ἐλύομεν1 | λύσομεν13 | ἐλύσαμεν2 |
| you (all) | λύετε14 | ἐλύετε· | λύσετε6 | ἐλύσατε2 |
| they | λύουσι(ν)59 | ἔλυον12 | λύσουσι(ν)4 | ἔλυσαν70 |
- λύωλύσωAfter a vowel the σ simply joins.
- γράφωγράψωπ, β, φ + σ = ψ
- ἄγωἄξωκ, γ, χ + σ = ξ
- πείθωπείσωτ, δ, θ drop out before σ.
- ποιέωποιήσωContract verbs lengthen their vowel: ε and α become η (but α after ε, ι, ρ stays α, now long), ο becomes ω.
Liquid verbs. Verbs whose stem ends in λ, μ, ν or ρ take no σ. Instead they add ε and contract like ποιέω, and the circumflex shows it: μένω "stay", μενῶ "I shall stay", μενεῖ "he will stay". Xenophon's ἀποκτενῶν in lesson 15, "meaning to kill", is the future participle of ἀποκτείνω "kill": the present's ει is a short ε in the future.
Middle endings, active meaning. Several very common verbs form their future with middle endings and still mean the active: ἀκούω "hear", ἀκούσομαι "I shall hear"; ὁράω "see", ὄψομαι "I shall see"; γιγνώσκω "know", γνώσομαι "I shall know"; λαμβάνω "take", λήψομαι "I shall take". So does εἰμί:
εἰμί (be): future
Middle endings with an active meaning, "I shall be". The 3rd person singular is ἔσται, without the ε you might expect.
| future | |
|---|---|
| I | ἔσομαι214 |
| you (one) | ἔσει, ἔσῃ401 |
| he, she, it | ἔσται10k |
| we | ἐσόμεθα156 |
| you (all) | ἔσεσθε130 |
| they | ἔσονται1k |
The future passive is built on the aorist passive's θη, with σ and middle endings: ἐλύθην "I was freed", λυθήσομαι "I shall be freed", λυθήσεται "he will be freed".
Infinitive and participle. The same σ: λύσειν "to be going to free", ἔσεσθαι "to be going to be" (lesson 16), λύσων "meaning to free" (lesson 15). μέλλω "I am about to" usually takes a future infinitive: μέλλω λύσειν "I am about to free".
αὔριον γράψω τὴν ἐπιστολήν. Tomorrow I shall write the letter. γραφ- + σ = γραψ-.
οἱ στρατιῶται μενοῦσιν ἐν τῇ πόλει. The soldiers will stay in the city. A liquid verb: no σ, and a circumflex.
ὁ δοῦλος λυθήσεται. The slave will be freed. Future passive: θη + σ.
ἐσόμεθα φίλοι. We shall be friends. The future of «εἰμί», middle in form.
Unrolling the passage…
"Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth." κληρονομήσουσι is the future of κληρονομέω "inherit": the contract verb's ε lengthens to η before the σ.
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
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"For they will see God." ὄψονται, the future of ὁράω, with middle endings.
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
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"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." παρακληθήσονται is a future passive, θη + σ, from παρακαλέω "call to one's side, comfort". The next verses have χορτασθήσονται "they will be filled" and ἐλεηθήσονται "they will be shown mercy".
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
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"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." γνώσεσθε, the future of γιγνώσκω, middle in form. ἐλευθερώσει is from ἐλευθερόω "set free": its ο lengthens to ω before the σ.
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
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Socrates to his jury: "I shall obey the god rather than you." πείσομαι is the future of πείθομαι "obey" (lesson 14), which takes the dative. The same form is also the future of πάσχω "suffer"; here the dative τῷ θεῷ settles which.
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
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Agamemnon (lesson 14): "Her I shall not free." The plainest future there is: λυ + σ + ω.
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
- γράφω …
- ἄγω …
- πείθω …
- μένω …
- ὁράω …
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