A participle is a verb that works as an adjective: "the believing man", "Cyrus, having taken a friend along". Like an adjective, it agrees with a noun in gender, number and case. Like a verb, it has a tense and a voice, and it can take an object.
The Greek grammarians called it μετοχή, "sharing", because it shares in the nature of both the verb and the noun. The Latin participium, and so our participle, translates that name.
Participle, present active: λύων, λύουσα, λῦον
The masculine and neuter decline like third-declension nouns (stem λυοντ-), the feminine like δόξα. Every present active participle of an -ω verb has these endings.
| masc. sg | fem. sg | neut. sg | masc. pl | fem. pl | neut. pl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | λύων41 | λύουσα6 | λῦον1 | λύοντες20 | λύουσαι3 | λύοντα6 |
| genitive | λύοντος7 | λυούσης4 | λύοντος· | λυόντων7 | λυουσῶν· | λυόντων· |
| dative | λύοντι6 | λυούσῃ1 | λύοντι· | λύουσι(ν)1 | λυούσαις· | λύουσι(ν)1 |
| accusative | λύοντα12 | λύουσαν1 | λῦον1 | λύοντας7 | λυούσας· | λύοντα1 |
Participle, aorist active: λύσας, λύσασα, λῦσαν
The same pattern with the aorist's σα: stem λυσαντ-, feminine λυσασ-. No augment: that belongs only to the indicative.
| masc. sg | fem. sg | neut. sg | masc. pl | fem. pl | neut. pl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | λύσας96 | λύσασα17 | λῦσαν· | λύσαντες68 | λύσασαι2 | λύσαντα· |
| genitive | λύσαντος8 | λυσάσης· | λύσαντος· | λυσάντων6 | λυσασῶν· | λυσάντων· |
| dative | λύσαντι13 | λυσάσῃ· | λύσαντι· | λύσασι(ν)2 | λυσάσαις· | λύσασι(ν)· |
| accusative | λύσαντα22 | λύσασαν2 | λῦσαν· | λύσαντας12 | λυσάσας· | λύσαντα· |
The other voices are easier still. Middle and passive participles end in -μενος, -μένη, -μενον and decline like ἀγαθός: λυόμενος "ransoming" or "being freed", λυσάμενος "having ransomed" (aorist middle). The aorist passive is λυθείς, λυθεῖσα, λυθέν "having been freed". The future adds σ: λύσων "about to free", λυσόμενος "about to ransom".
A participle's tense is about time compared with the main verb, not with now. A present participle happens at the same time as the main verb, an aorist participle usually before it, and a future participle after it, often as a purpose: what someone means to do.
ἀναβαίνει οὖν ὁ Κῦρος λαβὼν Τισσαφέρνην ὡς φίλον
“So Cyrus goes up, having taken Tissaphernes along as a friend.”
Aorist participle: the taking comes first. «λαβών» is from «λαμβάνω» "take", whose aorist stem is «λαβ-». There is no augment: that belongs only to the indicative. Anabasis 1.1.2
τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἔχων ὁπλίτας ἀνέβη τριακοσίους
“And he went up with three hundred Greek hoplites (literally "having").”
Present participle: he has them all the while he goes. «τριακοσίους» "three hundred" stands far from «ὁπλίτας» "hoplites"; the matching endings show that they belong together. Anabasis 1.1.2
συλλαμβάνει Κῦρον ὡς ἀποκτενῶν
“He arrests Cyrus, meaning to kill him.”
Future participle with «ὡς»: what the king intends to do next. It never happened: their mother pleaded for Cyrus and sent him back to his province. Anabasis 1.1.3
Three ways to use a participle. With the article, it becomes a noun: ὁ πιστεύων "the one who believes, whoever believes". With the article and a noun, it describes like an adjective: ὁ ἀμνὸς ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν "the lamb who takes away the sin". Without an article, it adds the circumstances of the main action: when, while, because or although. λαβὼν Τισσαφέρνην can be "having taken Tissaphernes", "after taking" or "when he had taken".
ὁ λύων τὸν δοῦλον the one who frees the slave Article + participle: a noun. The participle takes an object like any verb.
λύσας τὸν ἵππον, ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀπῆλθεν. Having untied the horse, the man went away. Aorist: the untying comes first.
ἡ μήτηρ λέγουσα τὸν λόγον δακρύει. The mother weeps as she tells the story. Present: at the same time. «λέγουσα» is feminine, agreeing with «ἡ μήτηρ».
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ὁ πιστεύων, article + present participle: "the one who believes". Later in the verse, ὁ δὲ ἀπειθῶν "but the one who disobeys" has the same shape.
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
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ἐρχόμενον "coming", from ἔρχομαι, agrees with τὸν Ἰησοῦν (masculine accusative singular). Then ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου, "the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world": the participle αἴρων takes an object, like any verb.
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
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Back to Chryses (lesson 14). Two participles tell why and how he came: λυσόμενος (future middle) "to ransom" and φέρων (present) "bringing". Both are masculine nominative singular, agreeing with Chryses, the subject of ἦλθε "he came".
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
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ἐξαιτησαμένη, an aorist middle participle, is feminine nominative, agreeing with ἡ μήτηρ: "the mother, having begged for him, sends him back". First she pleads, then she sends him: the aorist shows the order.
Greek shown exactly as the source file gives it. Click any word to look it up.
- πιστεύω …
- λαμβάνω …
- φέρω …
- μήτηρ …
- ἀποκτείνω …