First Aorist

Table of contents

1. Principal Parts and Memorization
2. The Aorist
   1. First and Second Aorists
   2. Augments
3. Aorist Indicative - Formation
   1. Aorist Active and Middle
      1. (1st) Aorist Active Endings
      2. (1st) Aorist Middle Endings
   2. Practice Opportunity 1
   3. Aorist Passive
      1. Aorist Passive Endings
   4. Practice Opportunity 2
   5. Practice Opportunity 3
4. Summary: Aorist Active, Middle, and Passive (3rd person)

---

Principal Parts and Memorization

Many verbs have six principal parts, and while it is generally a good idea to memorize them all when you encounter new verbs, that is a lot to keep in mind. So, our goal in this textbook will be to keep the amount of vocabulary at a manageable level for retention and memorization and to suggest some strategies for memorizing piecemeal, rather than all in one fell swoop.

To that end, for most, if not all, of this semester, we will be working primarily with three of the six principal parts of verbs: 1, 3, and 6. Please memorize those three principal parts and the definition of a verb as you come across new ones. We will format verb entries in the textbook (but not in the isolated vocabulary lists or reference charts) in such a way as to remind you what you should pay attention to: bolded principal parts should be memorized, while you can de-prioritize coded principal parts. So:

• δείκνυμι, δείξω, ἔδειξα, δέδειχα, δέδειγμαι, ἐδείχθην, “to show”
• κελεύω, κελεύσω, ἐκέλευσα, κεκέλευκα, κεκέλευσμαι, ἐκελεύσθην, “to order”

We will use these two verbs primarily in the coming lessons to demonstrate different verb forms and translations, so commit to memory the bolded forms above.

We will also use the bolded versus coded scheme in other contexts as well, so be attuned to that – bold encourages memorization, while code is merely for your information.

---

The Aorist

As discussed in the verb overview, the aorist tense is used to indicate an instantaneous or completed verbal action that occurred in the past. Here are some English examples:

• He sighed.
• They arrived.

Note how these forms of the verb indicate a one-and-done event, rather than drawing attention to a process (e.g., “he was sighing” or “they were arriving”); for verbal actions like these that occurred over a period of time in the past, we would use the imperfect tense, which we’ll learn about soon.

In Greek, the aorist tense of a verb is formed using the third and sixth principal parts: the third helps us form the active voice (“she showed”) and middle voice (“she showed for herself”), while the sixth helps us form the passive voice (“she was shown”).

First and Second Aorists

The third principal part also indicates a very important distinction between two kinds of aorists: the first aorist (also known as a “weak aorist”) and the second aorist (also known as a “strong aorist”). The distinction between the two dictates what sets of endings we can use to conjugate the verb in the aorist active and middle voices. This affects only the verbal forms that are built on the third principal part.

• A first aorist has a third principal part that ends in -α or -άμην.
• A second aorist has a third principal part that ends in -ον or -όμην.

Note how our two verbs above (κελεύω and δείκνυμι) both have third principal parts that end in -α (ἐκέλευσα and ἔδειξα respectively), which makes them both first aorists.

The first aorist is also known as a sigmatic aorist, so called because of the usual presence of a sigma (σ) or “s” sound before the -α; note, for example, the sigma before the -α in ἐκέλευσα. This idea applies even if you don’t necessarily see the letter sigma: ἔδειξα is considered sigmatic because the consonant before the -α, ξ, is a combination of a “k” and “s” sound (ἔδειξα: e-dayk-sa). This will also happen with the letter ψ, which is a combination of a “p” and “s” sound (e.g., λείπω, “to leave”, has a third principal part ἔλειψα).

We will focus solely on first aorists for this unit; we’ll learn about second aorists later.

Augments

You will also notice that the third and sixth principal parts of δείκνυμι (ἔδειξα, ἐδείχθην) and κελεύω (ἐκέλευσα, ἐκελεύσθην) both begin with the letter ε, while their first principal parts do not. This initial ε is an augment, a marker on a finite verb that indicates that the finite verb is in a past tense and in the indicative mood. Note how that is phrased: the augment is applied only to finite verbs in a past tense and in the indicative mood, not participles, infintives, or finite verbs in other moods.

There are two kinds of augments.

• The ε- discussed above is a syllabic augment, so called because it adds an extra syllable to the verb, and it is used when the verb in question begins with a consonant.
• The other kind of augment is a temporal augment, used when the verb in question already begins with a vowel. The temporal augment is a lengthening of the initial vowel, and you can often compare the first and third principal parts to see how the initial vowel was lengthened. For example, the verb ἀδικέω, “to wrong”, has as its third principal part ἠδίκησα, where the initial η is a lengthened form of α.

---

Aorist Indicative - Formation

As mentioned in the verb overview, the combination of a verb’s stem with a set of endings indicates five different aspects of a finite verb. Any given verb has as many possible stems as it has principal parts, and for the current unit, we will focus on two of those principal parts: the third and sixth.

Recall that a finite verb has five aspects: person, number, tense, voice, and mood.

• person and number will always be indicated solely by a verb’s ending.
• tense, voice, and mood will be indicated by a combination of verb stem (including the presence or absence of an augment) and the verb’s ending.

The only tense under consideration in this unit is the aorist, and the only mood under consideration is the indicative.

As for the other aspects, we will discuss 3rd person forms in both the singular and the plural and in all three voices, active, middle, and passive.

Aorist Active and Middle

To form the aorist tense in the active and middle voices, we use the third principal part, which gives us the aorist active and middle stem. Let’s take κελεύω and its third principal part, ἐκέλευσα, as an example.

Here are the steps to conjugate in the aorist active and middle:

1. To get the aorist active and middle stem, take the -α off the third principal part.
2. Add the appropriate personal ending to indicate the appropriate person, number, and voice. (“Personal endings” are so called because they indicate the person [and number] of the verb.)
3. Apply a recessive accent based on the rules laid out in the unit on accents.

(1st) Aorist Active Endings

(1st) Aorist Middle Endings

* In the 3rd singular aorist active ending, note how the ν is encased in parentheses. This is called a moveable nu, and it appears in the ending when the word that follows the verb begins with a vowel or when the verb comes before a punctuation mark like a period.

Application

Using the rules above, let’s conjugate κελεύω in the 3rd person singular and plural in the active and middle voices and figure out how to translate those forms.

1. Our third principal part is ἐκέλευσα, so when we take off the -α, we are left with the stem: ἐκελευσ-.
2. Add the appropriate endings.
   • For the active, we add the endings -ε(ν) for the singular or -αν for the plural.
   • For the middle, we add the endings -ατο for the singular or -αντο for the plural.
3. In all forms, the accent will occupy the antepenult, since none of the ultimas contained in the endings are long.

Following our conjugation rules, we come up with the following forms for 3rd person:

Translation

So much for forming these verbs in Greek; what do they actually mean? Put differently, how do we translate forms like ἐκελεύσατο or ἐκέλευσαν?

The verb’s ending indicates the verb’s person and number, and so it automatically supplies us with a subject, even if we don’t have a separate word to indicate the subject as we do in English. So, the form ἐκέλευσαν, by virtue of the fact that it’s 3rd person plural, automatically has the subject “they.” We can supply an explicit noun or pronoun to serve as the subject, as we’ll learn in a later unit, but in the absence of an explicit noun in the appropriate case, we should use the verb’s person and number to supply a subject for the verb.

Note also that these are aorist forms, so the action of the verb occurred in the past. The best translation for an aorist tense verb is its simple past tense, often denoted with an “-ed.”

The last consideration is the verb’s voice. Recall that the active voice indicates that the subject is performing the action of the verb, so when we combine that information with the person and number of the verb, we have everything we need to translate our active forms:

• ἐκέλευσεν = “he/she/it ordered”
• ἐκέλευσαν = “they ordered”

The middle voice, on the other hand, implies that the subject has some self-interested motive for acting out the verb or is performing the verb upon themself. As a result, the translation of the middle voice requires context, and often, translation of the middle voice is a matter of personal opinion. For example, note all the ways in which our aorist middle forms can be translated (and these options are not exhaustive):

• ἐκελεύσατο = “he ordered for himself”, “she ordered herself”, “they (singular) ordered for themselves”
• ἐκελεύσαντο = “they (plural) ordered for themselves”, “they ordered themselves”

---

Practice Opportunity 1

Translate the following sentences into English, using the verb entries above and the example nouns listed in the verb overview.

Answer key here.

1. ὁ πολίτης ἐκέλευσεν.
2. ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὴν πόλιν ἔδειξεν.
3. οἱ πολῖται ἐκελεύσαντο τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.

---

Aorist Passive

We can apply the same principles that we used above to conjugate verbs in the aorist passive, which uses the 6th principal part. Sixth principal parts will often, though not always, exhibit a θ towards the end of its stem. Again, we will use κελεύω and its sixth principal part ἐκελεύσθην as our example.

Here are the steps to conjugate a verb in the aorist passive:

1. To get the aorist passive stem, take the -ην off the sixth principal part.
2. Add the appropriate personal ending to indicate the appropriate person and number.
3. Apply a recessive accent based on the rules laid out in the unit on accents.

Aorist Passive Endings

Application

So, when we apply these rules to κελεύω:

1. Our sixth principal part is ἐκελεύσθην, so when we take off the -ην, we are left with the stem: ἐκελευσθ-.
2. Add the appropriate endings: -η for 3rd singular and -ησαν for 3rd plural.
3. In the singular, the accent will occupy the penult, pulled forward from the antepenult by the long ultima (-η). In the plural, the accent will occupy the antepenult, since the ultima (the -αν of the -ησαν ending) is short.

Translation

The tense is still aorist (i.e., a simple past tense), and the same subjects are in play depending on whether the verb is 3rd person singular or plural. The passive voice, however, indicates a different pathway of activity: the verb is performed upon the subject, rather than the subject performing the action. So, note the following translations:

• ἐκελεύσθη: “he/she/it was ordered”
• ἐκελεύσθησαν: “they were ordered”

Envision the voice of a verb indicating the direction of an arrow between the subject and the verb.

• In the active voice, the arrow points from the subject towards the verb: the subject performs the verb and makes that action happen (ἐκέλευσεν: he ordered).
• In the passive voice, the arrow points from the verb to the subject: the verb happens to the subject, and the subject receives the verb’s action (ἐκελεύσθη: he was ordered).

---

Practice Opportunity 2

Translate the following sentences into English, using the verb entries above and the example nouns listed in the verb overview.

Answer key here.

1. τὰ χρήματα ἐδείχθησαν.
2. ἡ πόλις ἐκελεύσθη.
3. οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐκελεύσθησαν.

---

Practice Opportunity 3

Use the dictionary entry for δείκνυμι to conjugate the verb to match the English in each prompt.

Answer key here.

1. she showed
2. they were shown
3. he showed (for himself)
4. they showed
5. she was shown
6. they showed (for themselves)

---

Summary: Aorist Active, Middle, and Passive (3rd person)

---

---