§404
The imperative mood occurs in the New Testament almost exclusively in the present and aorist tenses.
Lesson XXVIII
36 exercises — none rated yet
The imperative mood occurs in the New Testament almost exclusively in the present and aorist tenses.
The present imperative, active, middle, and passive, is formed on the present stem; the aorist imperative, active and middle, on the aorist stem; and the aorist passive imperative, on the aorist passive stem. There is of course no augment. See §245.
The imperative mood has no first person, but only second and third.
The present active imperative of λύω is as follows:
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| Singular | |
| 2. | λῦε |
| 3. | λυέτω |
| Plural | |
| 2. | λύετε |
| 3. | λυέτωσαν |
The present middle imperative of λύω is as follows:
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| Singular | |
| 2. | λύου |
| 3. | λυέσθω |
| Plural | |
| 2. | λύεσθε |
| 3. | λυέσθωσαν |
for thyself. yourselves. 3. AvécOw, let him 3. λυέσθωσαν, let them loose for himself. loose for themselves.
It will be observed that the present active and the present middle and passive imperative have the variable vowel o/e.
The aorist active imperative of λύω is as follows:
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| Singular | |
| 2. | λῦσον |
| 3. | λυσάτω |
| Plural | |
| 2. | λύσατε |
| 3. | λυσάτωσαν |
The aorist middle imperative of λύω is as follows:
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| Singular | |
| 2. | λῦσαι |
| 3. | λυσάσθω |
| Plural | |
| 2. | λύσασθε |
| 3. | λυσάσθωσαν |
for thyself. for yourselves. . 3. λυσάσθω, let him 3. λυσάσθωσαν, let them loose for himself. loose for themselves.
It will be observed that the aorist active and the aorist middle imperative have the characteristic -σα of the aorist stem. This -σα is disguised only in λῦσον, the second aorist active imperative, second person singular.
It will be observed that the aorist passive imperative has the characteristic -θε of the aorist passive stem. This -θε is lengthened to -θη.
The second aorist active imperative of λείπω, I leave, is as follows:
A table appears here in the book — see Paradigms below.
The second aorist middle imperative of λείπω is as follows:
It will be observed that the second aorist active and the second aorist middle imperative are formed on the second aorist stem. They have the same endings as the present imperative.
The second aorist middle imperative second person singular (e. g. λιποῦ) always has an irregular accent, instead of following the rule of recessive accent.
Further, the forms εἰπέ, ἐλθέ, from λέγω and ἔρχομαι, have an irregular accent.
There is no distinction of time between the tenses in the imperative mood. The aorist imperative refers to the action without saying anything about its duration or repetition, while the present imperative refers to it as continuing or as being repeated. Thus λῦσον means simply loose, while λῦε means continue loosing, or the like. Ordinarily it is impossible to bring out the difference in an English translation. Compare §283.
The imperative mood is used in commands.
Examples: ἀκούσατε τοὺς λόγους μου, hear my words; ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκουέτω, let him who has ears hear. It will be observed that the English language has, properly speaking, no imperative of the third person. Hence in translating the Greek imperative of the third person we have to use the helping verb let, so that the noun or pronoun that is the subject of the imperative in Greek becomes the object of the helping verb in English.
Prohibition (the negative of a command) is expressed by the present imperative with μή or by the aorist subjunctive with μή.
Examples: (1) μὴ λῦε or μὴ λύσῃς, do not loose (μὴ λύῃς or μὴ λῦσον would be wrong); (2) μὴ λυέτω or μὴ λύσῃ, let him not loose; (3) μὴ λύετε or μὴ λύσητε, do not loose; (4) μὴ λυέτωσαν or μὴ λύσωσιν, let them not loose.
Present Imperative of εἰμί The present imperative of εἰμί, I am, is as follows:
12 entries
| Greek | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ἁγιάζω | verb | I hallow, I sanctify |
| ἀγρός, ὁ | noun (m) | a field |
| γῆ, ἡ | noun (f) | earth, landγῆ has the circumflex accent throughout, because there has been contraction |
| ἐγγύς | adverb | near |
| ἐλεέω | verb | I have mercy on, I pity |
| ὅσος | adjective | as great as, as much as, as many asὅσος, η, ον; relative |
| ὅστις | pronoun | whoever, whichever, whateverὅστις, ἥτις, ὅτι, plural οἵτινες; indefinite relative. Scarcely used except in the nominative; sometimes used almost like the simple relative ὅς |
| οὖς, ὠτός, τό | noun (n) | an ear |
| ὀφθαλμός, ὁ | noun (m) | an eye |
| σκότος, σκότους, τό | noun (n) | darkness |
| ὕδωρ, ὕδατος, τό | noun (n) | water |
| φῶς, φωτός, τό | noun (n) | light |
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| Singular | |
| 2. | λύθητι |
| 3. | λυθήτω |
| Plural | |
| 2. | λύθητε |
| 3. | λυθήτωσαν |
Machen's textbook has no answer key. These answers were written for this project, so treat the check as a second opinion rather than a mark: English to Greek it is close to reliable, Greek to English it measures how much of one good translation you accounted for. The rating is yours and you can always change it.
Storage is unavailable in this browser session, so your answers and ratings will be lost when you close the tab.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.
| a b g d e z | α β γ δ ε ζ |
|---|---|
| h q i k l m | η θ ι κ λ μ |
| n c o p r s | ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς |
| t u f x y w | τ υ φ χ ψ ω |
| ) ( | smooth / rough breathing |
| / \ = | acute / grave / circumflex |
| | + | iota subscript / diaeresis |
Marks go after the vowel: type a)/ for ἄ, w| for ῳ. Sigma becomes ς at the end of a word.