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The Subjunctive Mood
We have already learned three moods of Greek verbs: the indicative, infinitive, and imperative.
- The INDICATIVE mood indicates FACTS about actions or states.
- The INFINITIVE mood is a VERBAL NOUN.
- The IMPERATIVE mood is used to give COMMANDS.
In this lesson, we introduce another mood: the SUBJUNCTIVE.
The subjunctive mood primarily refers to HYPOTHETICAL actions in the PRESENT or FUTURE, i.e., in the same time covered by the PRIMARY tenses of verbs. There are only three tenses of the subjunctive, each of which expresses ASPECT, not time:
- PRESENT
- ongoing aspect
- AORIST
- simple aspect
- PERFECT
- completed aspect
Since the SUBJUNCTIVE mood always refers to hypothetical events, it NEVER has an augment.
The Subjunctive Mood: Personal Endings
ALL verbs in Greek use exactly the same personal endings to mark the subjunctive mood. These personal endings are THEMATIC PRIMARY endings, with the thematic vowel lengthened (ω/η) (S 457).
For the ACTIVE voice, the subjunctive personal endings are as follows:
|
(-ω →) –ω = I (1st sg) |
(-ομεν →) –ωμεν = we (1st pl) |
|
(-εις →) –ῃς = you (2nd sg) |
(-ετε →) –ητε = y’all (2nd pl) |
|
(-ει →) –ῃ = (s)he, it (3rd sg) |
(-ουσι →) –ωσι = they (3rd pl) |
These personal endings are the same form as the PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE ACTIVE of εἰμί. For this verb, note that:
- The present subjunctive of εἰμί is not enclitic.
- Accents and breathing marks are identical in all persons and numbers.
Present, Subjunctive, Active of εἰμί (S 768; GPH p. 179)
|
ὦ |
ὦμεν |
|
ᾖς |
ἦτε |
|
ᾖ |
ὦσι |
For the MIDDLE voice, the subjunctive personal endings are as follows:
|
(-ομαι →) –ωμαι = I (1st sg) |
(-ομεθα →) –ωμεθα = we (1st pl) |
|
(-εσαι → –ησαι →) –ῃ = you (2nd sg) |
(-εσθε →) –ησθε = y’all (2nd pl) |
|
(-εται →) –ηται = (s)he, it (3rd sg) |
(-ονται →) –ωνται = they (3rd pl) |
The Subjunctive Mood: Present and Aorist
All three tenses of the subjunctive use the same set of THEMATIC endings. The tense of the subjunctive is indicated not by any additional markers or endings, but only by the TENSE STEM. As discussed above, the tenses of the subjunctive reflect ASPECT, not time. As a result, it may be no surprise to learn that the PRESENT and AORIST are the most common tenses of the subjunctive that you will encounter. The PERFECT subjunctive, on the other hand, rarely appears in Greek. This tense is discussed separately below.
To see how to form the subjunctive in the PRESENT and AORIST tenses, let’s take a look at these examples:
- λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα, λέλυκα, λέλυμαι, ἐλύθην
- λαμβάνω, λήψομαι, ἔλαβον, εἴληφα, εἴλημμαι, ἐλήφθην
- δείκνυμι, δείξω, ἔδειξα, δέδειχα, δέδειγμαι, ἐδείχθην
Let’s begin with this verb: λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα, λέλυκα, λέλυμαι, ἐλύθην
- present tense stem: λυ–
- aorist active tense stem: λυσ–
- Note that for subjunctives, the α of the –σα ending is dropped from the first aorist stem.
- aorist passive tense stem: λυθη–
- Note that the aorist passive forms the subjunctive with the ACTIVE sub