Clauses and Coordination

Clauses and Coordination
Coordinating Conjunctions
Correlative Conjunctions
Particles
Post-Positives
μέν … δέ

Clauses and Coordination

A phrase that contains a finite verb (or multiple finite verbs) is called a clause, and individual clauses are often defined by the finite verb, which tells us what else we can expect in the clause: the subject, direct or indirect objects, prepositional phrases, etc.

If we were to simply add clause after clause as we speak or write, however, it would make for boring reading.

The soldier showed the house. The sailor boarded the ship.

What is the relationship between these clauses? How can we make a logical connection between the ideas contained in the first sentence and the second?

Coordinating Conjunctions

That is where conjunctions and particles can help us out.

A conjunction (from the Latin verb coniungo, coniungere, coniunxi, coniunctus, “to join together”) joins together two or more similar elements, from the level of individual words to entire clauses and sentences. Examples in English include words like “and” or “but”. Note also the conjunction that joins together those two examples: “or.”

Here are some examples of conjunctions in Greek and how they connect ideas together:

καί and τε couple together clauses or individual words: “and”
ἀλλά introduces a clause that strongly contrasts the previous clause: “but”
δέ can either connect clauses together or imply a contrast (weaker than ἀλλά): “and” or “but.” Note that δέ usually joins only clauses together, rather than individual words like nouns.
ἤ indicates options: “or”

In terms of the difference between ἀλλά and δέ, think of ἀλλά as a “big but” and δέ as a “small but.”

Note that τε and δέ are post-positive, which we’ll discuss below.

More specifically, each of the words above is a coordinating conjunction, defined here as a conjunction that joins elements together on its own (versus correlative conjunctions, which we’ll discuss in the next section).

Here are some examples of how these conjunctions can be used:

οἱ ἄνδρες τὸν κίνδυνον ἔδειξαν καὶ ταῖς γυναιξὶν εἶπον. “The men showed the danger and spoke to the women.”
αἱ γυναικὲς ἦλθον ἀλλὰ τὸν κίνδυνον οὐκ ἔβλεψαν. “The women came, but they did not see the danger.”
ὁ παῖς τὸ βίβλιον ἔβλεψεν ἢ εἶλεν. “The child saw or took the book.”

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are combinations of coordinating conjunctions that are used together to strengthen the relationships between the items being joined. In more plain English, correlative conjunctions help us more clearly identify what elements are being joined together.

There are two specific sets of correlative conjunctions to be aware of for now:

καί … καί and τε … τε (or any other combination, e.g., καί … τε or τε … καί) mean “both … and”
ἤ … ἤ means “either … or”

Whenever you see a καί or an ἤ, you must look at the full context of the clauses around it to see if there’s another καί or ἤ to form a correlative conjunction. If so, the “both” and the “either”, respectively, of the correlative conjunction can help you organize your translation better. If not, then the καί or ἤ in question is simply a coordinating conjunction and can be translated straightforwardly as “and” or “or” respectively. Some examples (with comparisons to sentences with coordinating conjunctions):

καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες τὸν κίνδυνον ἔδειξαν καὶ ταῖς γυναιξὶν εἶπον. “The men both showed the danger and spoke to the women.”
ὁ παῖς τὸ βίβλιον ἢ ἔβλεψεν ἢ εἶλεν. “The child either saw or took the book.”
ὅ τε ἀνήρ ἥ τε γυνὴ ἦλθον. “Both the man and the woman came.” (More on the placement of τε below.)

Particles

A particle is a word that contextualizes the idea in the clause that contains it. The relationship between the particle and the clause that contains it is similar to flavor agents in a culinary dish: in the same way that salt versus citrus versus sugar can create different flavor profiles in the same dish, different particles can lend different interpretations of how a clause relates to the clauses around it.

Here are some examples of particles:

γάρ gives an explanation for the previous clause. Why did it happen? “for/because…”
οὖν draws a conclusion from the previous clause. This happened; “therefore…”

And here are some examples of these particles in use:

ἦλθον· ἤχθησαν γὰρ, “They came, for they were led.” (The second clause, which contains γάρ, explains why they came.)
τὸν κίνδυνον ἔβλεψεν· ἐκελεύσατο οὖν. “He saw the danger; therefore, he gave the order.” (The second clause, which contains οὖν, indicates that him giving the order was the result or outcome of being held.)

Post-Positives

You’ll notice in the most recent examples that γάρ and οὖν were placed after the first word of the clause. This is because γάρ and οὖν and the conjunctions δέ and τε are post-positive (from the Latin preposition post, “after”, and verb pono, ponere, posui, positus, “to place”). A post-positive cannot be the first word in its clause or phrase and gets placed (ponere) after (post) the first word.

When translating a post-positive from Greek into English, you will often need to translate it before the word that precedes it in the Greek, as you can see in the examples from the particles section. See also the following examples with conjunctions:

ἐκέλευσε ἐκελεύθη τε. She ordered and was ordered.
ἔδειξε, ἐδείχθη δέ. He showed and was shown.

When you have multiple conjunctions or particles, particularly with post-positives, you must be able to determine which words are being coordinated by each conjunction. Take a look at the following example:

ὁ παῖς ἦλθεν, τὸν δὲ ἄνδρα καὶ τὴν γυναικὰ ἔβλεψεν.

We have two conjunctions here, the post-positive δέ and the coordinating conjunction καί. Keep in mind that a post-positive should be translated before the word that precedes it; if it helps, you can (mentally [or physically!]) draw an arrow from the δέ to the space before τὸν to indicate that that’s where it belongs in English. Once we rearrange the sentence in that way, we can understand more clearly what our conjunctions are coordinating: δέ links together our two clauses, while καί joins together the two direct objects that receive the action of the second verb ἔβλεψεν (imagine arrows extending from καί to τὸν … ἄνδρα and τὴν γυναικὰ to indicate that those are the words that καί coordinates). Thus, we come up with a translation like this:

The child came, and (δέ) he saw the man and (καί) the woman.

μέν … δέ

There is a special set of particles that can enumerate the parts of a list consisting of two or more elements. The beginning of the list is indicated by the post-positive particle μέν; following parts of the list are indicated by the post-positive particle/conjunction δέ. There is no exact translation equivalent in English for μέν.

For example:

ἦλθεν μὲν, ἤχθη δέ, ἐκελεύσθη δέ. “He came, he was led, and he was ordered.”

This list consists of three verbal actions; the first, ἦλθεν, is marked by μέν, while the following elements, ἤχθη and ἐκελεύσθη, are each marked by δέ.

When this list consists of only two elements (i.e., a μέν and one δέ), the particles create a comparison or contrast between the two clauses, either the entirety of the clauses or elements within the clauses. A μέν-δέ comparison can also serve to differentiate two groups or people acting in different ways. The “standard” translation of a μέν-δέ that generations of Greek students have been taught is something like “on the one hand (μέν) … on the other hand (δέ),” but any translation that gets across the idea that two actions, groups, etc., are being compared or contrasted is fine.

This is particularly important when we begin adding nouns or pronouns into our sentences. For example, in the following sentence and its sample translations, notice how μέν and δέ follow a masculine nominative singular article ὁ. The use of μέν-δέ here means that each ὁ refers to a different person, and the correlation contrasts what one man is doing versus what another man is doing:

ὁ μὲν ἦλθεν, ὁ δὲ ἤχθη.
- That man came, but the other man was led.
- He came, but he was led.
- He came, while the other one was led.

Clauses and Coordination

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