Hand out No.

6 (23rd of January, 2019)

by Zechariah Qamar [Lecturer in Greek/Latin] greek.iol@pu.edu.pk

Verb
Future Indicative Active—continued
per Fut. meaning Fut. Meaning
1st λυσω I shall loose. λυσομεν We shall loose.
2nd λυσεις You will loose. λυσετε You will loose.
3rd λυσει He/she/it will loose λυσουσιν They will loose.
δὲ —but, γαρ—because, for. These two words are “enclitic”, which mean that they cannot
come as the first words in the phrase with which they are connected, though in English they
are translated first. Note that “for” in English is ambiguous, and may mean “on behalf of”,
“in the interest of”, as well as “because”. γαρ in Greek ONLY MEANS “FOR” WHEN IT IS
EQUIVALENT TO “BECAUSE”.)

1. This differs from the Present only by the addition of –s—between the stem and the
ending:
e.g. ἀκουω—ἀκουσω, πιστευω—πιστεουσω
2. If the last letter of the stem is a consonant, s is assimilated to it:
π, πτ, β, φ plus σ becomes ψ
κ, γ, χ, σσ plus σ becomes ξ
θ, ζ plus σ becomes σ
3. Some verbs have vowel stems in ε, α, ο and in this case the future lengthens the vowel to
h or w:
φιλεω—φιλησω I love.
τιμαω—τιμησω I honour.
πληροω—πληρωσω I fill.
4. Three exceptions to this last rule are:
καλεω—καλεσω I call.
τελεω—τελεσω I complete.
ἐαω—ἐασω I allow.

We can therefore construct the following typical Futures:

Qamar 1
 Diphthong stem Consonant stem Vowel Stems
Singular (-εω) (-αω) (οω)
I ἀκουσω γραψω φιλησω τιμησω πληρωσω
You ἀκουσεις γραψεις φιλησεις τιμησεις πληρωσεις
He ἀκουσει γραψει φιλησει τιμησει πληρωσει
Plural
We ἀκουσομεν γραψομεν φιλησομεν τιμησομεν πληρωσομε
ν
You ἀκουσετε γραψετε φιλησετε τιμησετε πληρωσετε
They ἀκουσουσιν γραψουσιν φιλησουσι τιμησουσι πληρωσουσι
ν ν ν

Future Tenses of Liquid Verbs

5. Verbs whose stems ends in a liquid (λ, μ, ν, ρ) have somewhat different forms in the
Future. The Greeks did not like the pronunciation of s after these letters, so the σ was dropped
and an ε which combined with the ending was put in its place.
6. In four of the six forms the ε is absorbed into the diphthong of the ending, ω. εις, ει,
ουσιν, but in the first and second person plural it turns the short vowel into a diphthong, ου and
ει.
7. Words which have λλ in the Present Tense drop one λ in the Future, whilst words which
have a diphthong in the stem before λ, ν, ρ shorten it in the Future.
Here are some typical forms:

Present
μενω βαλλω ἀγγελλω αἰρω σπειρω
remain throw announce lift up sow
Future
μενω βαλω ἀγγελω ἀρω σπερω
μενωεις βαλεις ἀγγελεις ἀρεις σπερεις
μενωει βαλει ἀγγελει ἀρει σπερει
μενωουμεν βαλουμεν ἀγγελουμεν ἀρουμεν σπερουμεν
μενωειτε βαλειτε ἀγγελειτε ἀρειτε σπερειτε
μενωουσιν βαλωουσιν ἀγγελουσιν ἀρουσιν σπερουσιν

Qamar 2