Perfect participles are used when the action being described is a state of being frontground or “dwelled upon”. Perfect participles can be translated by using the helping verb “having” (e.g., having spoken). When used adverbially, the temporal preposition “after” may be used (e.g., after having driven). It also may be simultaneous (“while”), causal (“because”), instrumental (“by”) or concessive (“even though”). 

The perfect participle is formed from the perfect stem (fourth principal part). In the masculine and neuter -οτ is added to the stem, followed by the third declension endings. In the feminine -υι is added to the stem, followed by the first declension endings:

 

Reduplication	Stem	Perfect	Ptc.	Third declension	Masc./Neut. participle
λε +	λυ +	κ +	οτ +	ος =	λελυκότος

 

Perfect middle/passive participles use the same endings as the present middle/passive participles (-μεν + 2-1-2 declension endings). The only difference is that the perfect participles are built on the perfect stem and have a perfect reduplication on the front and there is no connecting vowel.

 

Reduplication	Stem	Mid./Pass. Ptc.	Second declension	Masc. participle
λε +	λυ +	μεν +	ος =	λελυμένος

 

Perfect Active Participles (be able to recognize)

	3	1	3
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nom.	λελυκώς	λελυκυῖα	λελυκός
Gen.	λελυκότος	λελυκυίας	λελυκότος
Dat.	λελυκότι	λελυκυίᾳ	λελυκότι
Acc.	λελυκότα	λελυκυῖαν	λελυκός
Plural
Nom.	λελυκότες	λελυκυῖαι	λελυκότα
Gen.	λελυκότων	λελυκυιῶν	λελυκότων
Dat.	λελυκόσι(ν)	λελυκυίαις	λελυκόσι(ν)
Acc.	λελυκότας	λελυκυίας	λελυκότα

 

Perfect Middle/Passive Participles

	2	1	2
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nom.	λελυμένος	λελυμένη	λελυμένον
Gen.	λελυμένου	λελυμένης	λελυμένου
Dat.	λελυμένῳ	λελυμένῃ	λελυμένῳ
Acc.	λελυμένον	λελυμένην	λελυμένον
Plural
Nom.	λελυμένοι	λελυμέναι	λελυμένα
Gen.	λελυμένων	λελυμένων	λελυμένων
Dat.	λελυμένοις	λελυμέναις	λελυμένοις
Acc.	λελυμένους	λελυμένας	λελυμένα

ἠγαπηκώς, ἠγαπηκότος, . . . (Masc.)

ἠγαπηκυῖα, ἠγαπηκυίας . . .  (Fem.)

ἠγαπηκός, ἠγαπηκότος . . . (Neut.)

ἠγαπημένος (Masc.), ἠγαπημένη (Fem.), ἠγαπημένον (Neut.) ...

Several verbs form their perfect participles from an irregular stem. They are all active and are fairly rare. You should be aware that they occur and be able to recognize them. Here are three examples:

γίνομαι	γεγονώς, -ότος
ἔρχομαι	ἐληλυθώς, -ότος
πείθω	πεποιθώς, -ότος

Perfect οἶδα (I know) (Stevens, 323)

	2	1	2
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nom.	εἰδώς	εἰδυῖα	εἰδός
Gen.	εἰδότος	εἰδυίας	εἰδότος
Dat.	εἰδότι	εἰδυίᾳ	εἰδότι
Acc.	εἰδότα	εἰδυῖαν	εἰδός
Plural
Nom.	εἰδότες	εἰδυῖαι	εἰδότα
Gen.	εἰδότων	εἰδυιῶν	εἰδότων
Dat.	εἰδόσι(ν)	εἰδυίαις	εἰδόσι(ν)
Acc.	εἰδότας	εἰδυίας	εἰδότα

Chant This:  Perfect Active Participles

	3	1	3
Nom.	λελυκώς	λελυκυῖα	λελυκός
Gen.	λελυκότος	λελυκυίας	λελυκότος

 

Perfect Middle/Passive Participles

	2	1	2
Nom.	λελυμένος	λελυμένη	λελυμένον
Gen.	λελυμένου	λελυμένης	λελυμένου

 

Ὁ μὲν γάμος ἕτοιμός ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ κεκλημένοι οὐκ ἦσαν ἄξιοι.
The wedding is ready, but those having been called were not worthy (Mat. 22:8).

τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν.
The one having been born of the flesh is flesh (Jn. 3:6).

ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ  Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ τεθεραπευμένῳ, Σάββατόν ἐστιν.
Therefore the Jews were saying to him who had been cured, “It is the Sabbath” (Jn. 5:10).

 

Participle Translation Charts

Active Participle

Active Participle	Adverbial has no Art..	Adjectival attributive has Art. before noun it modifies.	Adjectival substantive has Art. but no noun.
Present	While loosing	(The boy) who is loosing	The one loosing
Aorist	After loosing	(The girl) who was loosing	The one who was loosing
		(The girl) who loosed	The one who loosed
Perfect	After having loosed	(The crowd) having loosed	The ones having loosed

Middle Participle

Middle Participle	Adverbial has no Art.	Adjectival attributive has Art. before noun it modifies.	Adjectival substantive has Art. but no noun.
Present	While loosing himself	(The boy) who is loosing himself	The one loosing himself
Aorist	After loosing herself	(The girl) who was loosing herself	The one who was loosing himself
		(The girl) who loosed herself	The one who loosed himself
Perfect	After having loosed themselves	(The crowds) having loosed themselves	The ones having loosed themselves

As usual, the middle/deponents are translated as active//passives as passives.

Passive Participle

Passive Participle	Adverbial has no Art.	Adjectival attributive has Art. before noun it modifies.	Adjectival substantive has Art. but no noun.
Present	While being loosed	(The boy) who is being loosed	The one being loosed
Aorist	After being loosed	(The girl) who was being loosed	The one who was being loosed
Perfect	After having been loosed	(The crowd) having been loosed	The ones having been loosed

 

English often uses helping verbs to aid in designating verb tense (e.g., will go) or to specify a change in voice (e.g., he was led). While Greek usually indicates tense by prefixes and suffixes to the verb, it also uses εἰμί + participle to indicate a single verbal idea. εἰμί + participle is called a periphrastic construction.

Periphrastic constructions are formed with present and perfect participle forms. The εἰμί may be of any tense. When using the present participle, the tense of the εἰμί form matches the tense with which it is translated. With the perfect participle, the perfect tense uses the present forms of εἰμί, and the pluperfect tense uses the imperfect forms.

Gal. 1:23 (Imperfect εἰμί + present ptc.)
μόνον δὲ ἀκούοντες ἦσαν ὅτι
But only, they kept hearing that

 

Mat. 16:19 (Future εἰμί + perfect ptc.)
ἔσται δεδεμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς
will have been bound in heaven (Hewitt, New Testament Greek, 151f.)

Translate the periphrastic form as the normal tense of the verb. While there may be an emphasis on continuous aspect of the verb, the context will determine if the aspect is the actual focus of the construction. Normally, however, translate periphrastic constructions like the regular verb tense (Mounce, Basics, 277). Note the absence of the aorist participle.  Some think that it is because of the durative/continuous/process force reflected in the periphrastic.  Porter observes that no elements may be inserted between the auxiliary verb (εἰμί) and the participle except those which complete or modify the participle (Porter, Idioms, 45).

Translated Tense	Periphrastic Construction
Present	Present εἰμί	+ Present participle
Imperfect	Imperfect εἰμί	+ Present participle
Future	Future εἰμί	+ Present participle
Perfect	Present εἰμί	+ Perfect participle
Pluperfect	Imperfect εἰμί	+ Perfect participle
Future Perfect	Future εἰμί	+ Perfect participle

Present εἰμί = εἰμί, εἶ, ἐστίν, ἐσμέν, ἐστέ, εἰσί(ν) (chap. 7) I am . . .

Future εἰμί = ἔσομαι, ἔσῃ, ἔσται, ἐσόμεθα, ἔσεσθε, ἔσονται (chap. 10) I will be . . .

Imperfect εἰμί = ἤμην, ἦς, ἦν, ἦμεν, ἦτε, ἦσαν (chap. 12) I was . . .

 

A genitive absolute links a participle and a noun or pronoun in the genitive case and is only loosely connected to the rest of the sentence. The subject of the sentence is not the subject of this participial construction. The construction Participle (gen.) + noun/pronoun (gen.) is called “absolute” from the Latin “absolutus,” which means “separated” (Mounce, Basics, 275).  The genitive noun is often taken as the subject of the participle.  This construction is used when there is a pronounced shift in characters in the narrative (“he/she” to a different “they” etc.)(Stevens, 300).

Participle (gen.) + noun/pronoun (gen.)

Τοῦ δὲ  Ἰησοῦ γενομένου ἐν Βηθανίᾳ ἐν οἰκίᾳ Σίμωνος τοῦ λεπροῦ, προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ γυνή
But when/after Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came . . . (Mat. 26:6–7).

 

ὁ γὰρ  Ἰησοῦς ἐξένευσεν ὄχλου ὄντος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ.
For Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place (Jn. 5:13).

ἀνοίγω	I open (77)
βαπτίζω	I baptize (77)
εὐαγγέλιον, -ου, τό	gospel (76)
μαρτυρέω	I witness (76)
πέμπω	I send (79)
πονηρός, -ά, -όν	evil, bad (78)
πρόσωπον, -ου, τό	face (76)
σημεῖον, -ου, τό	sign, miracle (77)
στόμα, -ατος, τό	mouth (78)
ὑπάγω	I go away (79)