Lesson 8: VERBS - Passive Voice The passive voice is the same in English as in Greek. Passive Voice: The subject is being acted upon by an outside force. It receives the action of the verb. Example: λυοµαι - “I am being loosed.” (Active voice: “I am loosing”)
1. Present Passive Indicative: The present passive pictures continuous action being received by the subject in the present time. V-PPI-1S λυοµαι: I am being loosed.
V-PPI-1P λυοµεθα: we are being loosed.
V-PPI-2S λυη: you are being loosed.
V-PPI-2P λυεσθε: you all are being loosed.
V-PPI-3S λυεται: he, she, it is being loosed.
V-PPI-3P λουνται: they are being loosed.
2. Agents: There are four distinct uses of the passive voice (indicated by prepositions) a. υπο − used with the genitive: the original/direct agent producing the action on the subject: by V-PPI-3S διδασκεται He is being taught
PREP T-GSM υπο του by the
N-GSM αγγελου. messenger.
b. δια − used with the genitive: The original agent acts through means of the indirect agent: through T-NSM N-NSM V-PPI-3S PREP N-GSM ο κοσµος εγενετο δια Χριστου. The world is being made through Christ. (Christ is the indirect agent, God the original agent.) c. εν − used with the dative: the agent is impersonal (with or without the preposition εν): by means of T-NPM N-NPM V-PPI-3P PREP T-DSM N-DSM T-GSM N-GSM οι ανθρωποι σωζονται εν τω λογω του Μεσσιου. The men are being saved by the word of the Messiah. d. none - sometimes the passive is used with no agent expressed. V-PPI-3S εγειρεται He is being raised up. (*For the sake of this homework, when these prepositions are used as agents they may be translated with the meanings given in this lesson alone, instead of the broader range of meaning available.)