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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:

For the MIDDLE voice, the subjunctive personal endings are as follows:

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 tense stem: λυσ–
  • Note that for subjunctives, the α of the –σα ending is dropped from the first aorist stem.

The Present Subjunctive Active of λύω (S 383; GPH p. 71)

The Present Subjunctive Middle of λύω (S 383; GPH p. 71)

The Aorist Subjunctive Active of λύω (S 383; GPH p. 79)

The Aorist Subjunctive Middle of λύω (S 383; GPH p. 71)

Now let’s take a look at this verb, in the active voice: λαμβάνω, λήψομαι, ἔλαβον, εἴληφα, εἴλημμαι, ἐλήφθην

• present tense stem: λαμβαν–
• aorist tense stem: λαβ–

The Present Subjunctive Active of λαμβάνω

The Aorist Subjunctive Active of λαμβάνω (S 384; GPH p. 84)

Finally, let’s take a look at this verb, in the active voice: δείκνυμι, δείξω, ἔδειξα, δέδειχα, δέδειγμαι, ἐδείχθην

• present tense stem: δεικνυ–
• aorist tense stem: δειξ–

The Present, Subjunctive, Active of δείκνυμι (S 418; GPH p. 158)

The Aorist, Subjunctive, Active of δείκνυμι

–μι Verbs

The verbs δίδωμι, ἵστημι, and τίθημι form the PRESENT and AORIST subjunctive by adding the lengthened thematic ending to the short vowel stem, which then contracts (S 749).

The Present, Subjunctive, Active of δίδωμι (S 416; GPH p. 125)

The Aorist, Subjunctive, Active of δίδωμι (S 416; GPH p. 130)

The Present, Subjunctive, Active of ἵστημι (S 416; GPH p. 136)

The Second Aorist, Subjunctive, Active of ἵστημι (S 416; GPH p. 140)

Recall that ἵστημι has both a SECOND and FIRST aorist to indicate INTRANSITIVE and TRANSITIVE use, respectively. The first aorist conjugates regularly:

The First Aorist, Subjunctive, Active of ἵστημι 

The Present, Subjunctive, Active of τίθημι (S 416; GPH p. 147)

The Aorist, Subjunctive, Active of τίθημι (S 416; GPH p. 152)

The Subjunctive Mood: Main Clause

The Greek subjunctive is used both in MAIN CLAUSES (i.e., as the main verb) and SUBORDINATE CLAUSES. We discuss subordinate clauses in a later lesson. For now, let us look at the use of subjunctives as MAIN VERBS.

There are three uses of the subjunctive in main clauses:

• HORTATORY
• DELIBERATIVE
• PROHIBITIVE

Hortatory Subjunctive

The HORTATORY subjunctive is used to convey an exhortation, proposal, or request (S 1797-1799). Common characteristics of the hortatory subjunctive are:

• It is used only in the PRESENT or AORIST tense
• It is used only in the 1st PERSON, almost always in the PLURAL
• The negative is μή

While hortatory subjunctives often express suggestions for action, in other contexts they may serve essentially as 1st person imperatives.

• μὴ παύωμεν τοὺς ἐκ τῆς μάχης φεύγοντας.
  • Let’s not stop the men fleeing from battle.
• πόλεμον παύσωμεν.
  • Let’s stop the war.
• τοὺς ἵππους λύσωμεν.
  • Let’s free the horses.
• τοὺς ἵππους λύωμεν.
  • Let’s free the horses.
• τοὺς ἵππους λαβώμεθα.
  • Let’s take the horses.

Deliberative Subjunctive

The DELIBERATIVE subjunctive is used when a speaker is asking himself or herself a question about what to do or what to say (S 1805-1808). Common characteristics of the deliberative subjunctive are:

• It is used only in the PRESENT or AORIST tense
• It is used only in the 1st PERSON
• The negative is μή

DELIBERATIVE subjunctives are always found in QUESTIONS. This distinguishes them from HORTATORY subjunctives, which are statements.

• παύωμεν τοὺς ἐκ τῆς μάχης φεύγοντας;
  • Shall we stop the men fleeing from battle?
• πόλεμον παύσωμεν;
  • Shall we stop the war?
• τοὺς ἵππους λύσω;
  • Shall I free the horses?
• τοὺς ἵππους λύωμεν;
  • Shall we free the horses?
• τοὺς ἵππους λαβώμεθα;
  • Shall we take the horses?

Prohibitive Subjunctive

The PROHIBITIVE subjunctive is used to express prohibitions (S 1800). Common characteristics of the prohibitive subjunctive are:

• It is used only in the AORIST tense
• It is usually in the 2nd PERSON (rarely in the 3rd PERSON)
• It is always accompanied by the negative μή.

Since PROHIBITIVE subjunctives are always in the AORIST tense, they denote simple aspect. If the prohibition requires ongoing aspect, the present imperative is used.

• μὴ παύσητε τοὺς ἐκ τῆς μάχης φεύγοντας.
  • Don’t stop the men fleeing from battle.
• πόλεμον μὴ παύσῃς.
  • Don’t stop the war.
• τοὺς ἵππους μὴ λύσῃς.
  • Don’t free the horses.
• τοὺς ἵππους μὴ λύετε.
  • Don’t free the horses.
• τοὺς ἵππους μὴ λάβησθε.
  • Don’t take the horses.

The Subjunctive Mood: Perfect

As noted above, the subjunctive can also be formed in the PERFECT tense to express COMPLETED aspect. Though the perfect subjunctive is rarely encountered in Greek (S 691-693), its active form is relatively straightforward to identify. As with the PRESENT and AORIST, subjunctive personal endings are simply added to the TENSE STEM, in this case, the PERFECT TENSE STEM.

Let’s look, for example, at this verb: λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα, λέλυκα, λέλυμαι, ἐλύθην

• perfect active tense stem: λελυκ–

The Perfect Subjunctive Active of λύω (S 383; GPH p. 92)

In the PERFECT tense, the forms of the SUBJUNCTIVE mood proved difficult for Greeks to say. Sometimes in the ACTIVE voice, and always in the MIDDLE voice, Greek used the following PERIPHRASTIC forms (S 599, 691):

• perfect active:
  • PERFECT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE followed by the SUBJUNCTIVE form of εἰμί .
  • e.g. λελύκῃ or λελυκὼς ᾖ
• perfect middle:
  • PERFECT MIDDLE PARTICIPLE followed by the SUBJUNCTIVE form of εἰμί .
  • e.g. λελυμένος ᾖ (never λελυ– + –ηται)

The Perfect, Subjunctive, Middle of λύω (GPH p. 92)

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