Lesson 12 Deponent and Compound Verbs, Infinitives Deponent Verbs: Verbs that appear in the middle or passive form but are active in function. Somewhere in the development of the language, the active forms were dropped out of preference for the middle or passive. Thus while the form changed, the function did not. These deponent verbs will be parsed as active verbs, so for the purposes of this class, it is unnecessary to apply this. Compound Verbs: Verbs that have a preposition added into the word. Usually the meaning of the preposition will determine the significance of the compound expression. γινωσκω means “I am knowing”, but αναγινωσκω means “I am reading”. These compound verbs will have Strong’s numbers to the compound definition, so for the purposes of this class, it is unnecessary to remember this. This is interesting related to the etymology of the words. Verb/Case Exception: A very few verbs take their object in a case other than in the accusative. Example: ακουω may take its object in the genitive or the accusative. Usually ακουω followed with a genitive noun means “to hear without understanding”, while when it is followed by a noun in the accusative it means, “to hear with understanding.” (This probably explains the difficulty involved in Acts 9:7 and 22:9. The incident is the experience of Paul seeing the light and hearing the voice on the road to Damascus. Acts 9:7 states that Paul’s companions heard the voice (ακουω in the genitive); Acts 22:9 says they did not hear the voice (ακουω with the accusative). Thus both constructions say the same thing: the companions of Paul did not understand what the voice said to Paul; to them it was an unintelligible sound. Present Infinitives: The infinitive is a verbal noun. Example: to eat, to sleep, to run. This means that it shares in the nature of a verb and the nature of a noun in its function. The present active infinitive ending is ειν. V-PAN λυειν - to loose/destroy The present middle and passive infinitive ending is εσθαι. V-PP/MN λυεσθαι - to be loosed/destroyed The present infinitive of the being verb ειµι is εινα (to be.) The voice function of infinitives is the same as that of the indicative mood.
The active voice indicates the subject is acting, passive being acted upon, etc. V-PAI-1S V_PAN T-ASM N-ASM αρχοµαι λυειν τον ανθωπον I am beginning to loose the man. V-PAI-1S V_PMN αρχοµαι λυεσθαι I am beginning to loose myself. V-PAI-1S V_PPN PG T-GSM N-GSM αρχοµαι λυεσθαι υπο του ανθρωπου. I am beginning to be loosed by the man.
New Words: οτι - that/because αλλα - but/yet/nevertheless/indeed/in fact