You will be able to—
1. understand how the participle works in English and Greek as a verbal attributive adjective, substantive adjective, and adverb;
2. recognize and write the participle forms in the aorist active, middle, and passive paradigms;
3. translate aorist participle forms;
4. gain more practice in translating and working with Greek; and
5. master ten more high-frequency vocabulary words.

In Greek, present participles are used in much the same way as they are in English. Present participles are formed in English by adding “-ing” to the verbal form (e.g., “walking”). A participle is a verbal adjective.

Aorist participles typically indicate action before the action of the main verb (see chap. 19). The aorist participles are also used for action as a complete whole. In such cases, the aorist is used merely to state that an action took place. It need not specify when (past, present, or future) the action actually took place.  

A Greek participle may be translated adverbially or adjectivally. As an adverb the participle tells when, how, why, or in what circumstances the verb is functioning. The adverbial participle modifies and points to the verb. The aorist adverbial participle is usually translated with the temporal preposition “after” (e.g., After surfing the web, he found the information). The adverbial usage is usually anarthrous (does not have the article).

The adjectival use is usually marked with the article before the noun modified or before the substantival participle. The participle can function as an attributive adjective. Often connecting words like “who” or “which” will be used to translate these types of participles (e.g., The man who sat there is the chief). It can also be used like a substantive adjective (The one who sat there is the organizer). Or it can, when anarthrous, be used as a predicate adjective (The organizer is the one sitting there). 

The time of the participle is relative to the time of the main verb. In aorist participles, the action often takes place before the action of the main verb: “After talking, he saw his friend.” The aorist may also describe attendant circumstances, with action taking place at the same time as the main verb. Writers use the aorist to portray complete/wholistic action in a backgrounding manner.

The aorist adjectival participle will often be translated by using the English past tense verb rather than an “ing” English participle, adding “who,” “which,” or “the one who” (e.g., The one who spoke to me wrote the book,” or “The one who loosed me entered the temple). Adverbial participles will often be translated in a temporal clause by using “while, after, or before” (e.g., After laughing, the boy left).

We will be learning the aorist active, middle, and passive as well as noting second aorist forms. Active participles are used when the word the participle modifies is doing the action (e.g., The man who skated by is a friend).

A middle participle usually is translated as an active emphasizing the subject’s participation in the action of the verb. However, it may indicate that the action occurs for the benefit of the subject. Mounce calls this the “self-interest” nuance (Basics, 224). E.g., The woman who freed herself went to the library.

A passive participle is used when the word modified receives the action of the participle (e.g., The boy who was stung by the bees ran for cover.) The aorist active and middle forms are built from the aorist stem. Aorist passive participles are built from the aorist passive stem. Here is a chart about aorist participles:

 

	Adverbial participle has no Art.	Adjectival attributive has Art. before noun it modifies.	Adjectival substantive has Art. but no noun to modify.
Aorist Active	after loosing	(the girl) who loosed	the one who loosed
Aorist Middle	after loosing himself	(the girl) who loosed herself	the ones who loosed themselves
Aorist Passive	after being loosed	(the girl) who was loosed	the one who was loosed

 

Sometimes the participle may act as a main verb as Wallace’s chart on the semantic range of the participle indicates (Wallace, 269).

                            Verbal                       Adjectival

Independent	(Verbal) Imperatival Indicative	(Substantival) Subject, object, etc.
Dependent	(Adverbial) Temporal, Causal, Means, Manner, etc.	(Adjectival) Attributive Predicate

Aorist active participles are built from the aorist verb stem. The first aorist suffix σα is added to the stem. Then, in the masculine and neuter, the sign of the participle (ντ) is added, followed by the third declension noun endings.

Note: There is no augment on participles.

Stem	Aor.	Ptc. ντ	Third Declension	Masc./Neut. Participle
λυ +	σα +	ντ +	ος =	λύσαντος

The aorist active feminine is formed by adding the first aorist suffix σα, followed by the sign of the participle (σ) and the first declension endings.

Stem	Aor.	Ptc. σ	First Declension	Fem. Participle
λυ +	σα +	σ +	ης =	λυσάσης

Aorist middle participles are similar in form to present middle participles. The main difference is that the aorists have the first aorist σα suffix attached to the stem.

Stem	Aor.	Mid. Ptc.	Second Declension	Masc. Participle
λυ +	σα +	μεν +	ος =	λυσάμενος

Finally, the aorist passive stem, marked with the characteristic θε, is followed by ντ and the third/first/third declension endings.

Stem	Aor. Pass.	Ptc. ντ	Third Declension	Masc./Neut. Participle
λυ +	θε +	ντ +	ος =	λυθέντος

First Aorist Active Participles (recognize these forms)  

	3	1	3
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nom.	λύσας	λύσασα	λῦσαν
Gen.	λύσαντος	λυσάσης	λύσαντος
Dat.	λύσαντι	λυσάσῃ	λύσαντι
Acc.	λύσαντα	λύσασαν	λῦσαν
Plural
Nom.	λύσαντες	λύσασαι	λύσαντα
Gen.	λυσάντων	λυσασῶν	λυσάντων
Dat.	λύσασι(ν)	λυσάσαις	λύσασι(ν)
Acc.	λύσαντας	λυσάσας	λύσαντα

First Aorist Middle Participles

	2	1	2
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nom.	λυσάμενος	λυσαμένη	λυσάμενον
Gen.	λυσαμένου	λυσαμένης	λυσαμένου
Dat.	λυσαμένῳ	λυσαμένῃ	λυσαμένῳ
Acc.	λυσάμενον	λυσαμένην	λυσάμενον
Plural
Nom.	λυσάμενοι	λυσάμεναι	λυσάμενα
Gen.	λυσαμένων	λυσαμένων	λυσαμένων
Dat.	λυσαμένοις	λυσαμέναις	λυσαμένοις
Acc.	λυσαμένους	λυσαμένας	λυσάμενα

First Aorist Passive Participles

	3	1	3
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nom.	λυθείς	λυθεῖσα	λυθέν
Gen.	λυθέντος	λυθείσης	λυθέντος
Dat.	λυθέντι	λυθείσῃ	λυθέντι
Acc.	λυθέντα	λυθεῖσαν	λυθέν
Plural
Nom.	λυθέντες	λυθεῖσαι	λυθέντα
Gen.	λυθέντων	λυθεισῶν	λυθέντων
Dat.	λυθεῖσι(ν)	λυθείσαις	λυθεῖσι(ν)
Acc.	λυθέντας	λυθείσας	λυθέντα

First Aorist Active Participles (know these forms cold)

	3	1
Nom.	λύσας	λύσασα	λῦσαν
Gen.	λύσαντος	λυσάσης	λύσαντος

 

 First Aorist Middle Participles

	2	1	2
Nom.	λυσάμενος	λυσαμένη	λυσάμενον
Gen.	λυσαμένου	λυσαμένης	λυσαμένου

First Aorist Passive Participles

	3	1	3
Nom.	λυθείς	λυθεῖσα	λυθέν
Gen.	λυθέντος	λυθείσης	λυθέντος

The second aorist participles use the second aorist stem, to which the present active participle endings (3-1-3) are suffixed:

ἰδών, ἰδόντος, ἰδόντι, etc.

ἐλθών, ἐλθόντος, ἐλθόντι, ἐλθόντα, etc.

εἰπών, εἰπόντος, εἰπόντι, εἰπόντα, etc.

The second aorist passive uses the same endings as the first aorist passive participles except they are built off the passive stem.

γραφείς, γραφέντος, etc. [Note the θ is dropped]

In translating the aorist participle attributively or substantivally, there is often no “ing” added: The one who came, or, The woman who was seated.

οὗτος ἀκούσας ὅτι  Ἰησοῦς ἥκει ἐκ τῆς  Ἰουδαίας . . . ἀπῆλθεν.
This one, after hearing that Jesus had come out of Judea, . . . went (Jn. 4:47).

 

οἱ νεκροὶ ἀκούσουσιν τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ, . . . καὶ οἱ ἀκούσαντες ζήσουσιν.
The dead will hear the voice of the Son, . . . and the ones who hear will live (Jn. 5:25).

 

καὶ εὑρόντες αὐτὸν πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης εἶπον αὐτῷ,  Ῥαββί
And after finding him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi” (Jn. 6:25).

	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
Nom.	λύσας	λύσασα	λῦσαν
Gen.	λύσαντος	λυσάσης	λύσαντος
Nom.	λυθείς	λυθεῖσα	λυθέν
Gen.	λυθέντος	λυθείσης	λυθέντος

ἀναβαίνω	I go up (82)
ἄρχω	I rule, begin (in mid.) (86)
ἕκαστος, -η, -ον	each, every (82)
ἐκβάλλω	I drive out (81)
κἀγώ	and I, but I (81)
καταβαίνω	I go down (83)
μᾶλλον	more, rather (81)
μήτηρ, -ός, ἡ	mother (83)
ὅπου	where, since (82)
ὥστε	therefore, so (that) (83)