Core Four -μι Verbs - Aorist Tense
Table of contents
Athematic Aorists
The core four -μι verbs that we learned about in the previous unit exhibit a third principal part that conjugates in the aorist active and middle in part with athematic conjugation patterns. Despite the fact that their third principal parts end in -α, we cannot simply classify the verb as first aorist or second aorist and apply the appropriate endings; we have to take special stem changes and athematic endings into account for some forms of the aorist active and middle. The aorist passive of these verbs is completely regular and formed according to the rules we already know; we only have to worry about this for forms built on the 3rd principal part.
A quick reminder of the secondary tense endings for athematic verbs, with the ones that we’ll use most often in bold:
| Secondary Tense Act. | Secondary Tense Middle | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | -ν | -μην |
| 2nd sg. | -ς | -σο |
| 3rd sg. | –* | -το |
| 1st pl. | -μεν | -μεθα |
| 2nd pl. | -τε | -σθε |
| 3rd pl. | -σαν | -ντο |
* This dash indicates that this “ending” is actually an absence of an ending. This will apply to the second aorist of ἵστημι – more on this below.
Athematic Aorists of the Cour Four -μι Verbs
The core four -μι verbs that we learned about in the last unit will exhibit athematic conjugation in their aorist tense as well. However, as opposed to the previous athematic aorists, the aorists of δίδωμι, τίθημι, ἵημι, and ἵστημι will have special considerations, including alternating stems.
δίδωμι, τίθημι, ἵημι
The third principal parts of δίδωμι, τίθημι, and ἵημι look deceptively like first aorists due to their ending in -α:
- δίδωμι > ἔδωκα
- τίθημι > ἔθηκα
- ἵημι > -ἧκα
These three verbs will conjugate like a first aorist in the aorist active singular; this means that it will use the first aorist endings in those persons and numbers. However, for all other aorist active and middle forms, each verb will use a short vowel stem and athematic endings.
- ἔδωκα: aor. act. sg. stem (ἐ)δωκ-, short vowel stem (ἐ)δο-
- ἔθηκα: aor. act. sg. stem (ἐ)θηκ-, short vowel stem (ἐ)θε-
- -ἧκα: aor. act. sg. stem ἡκ-, short vowel stem ἑ- (augmented: εἱ-)
Aorist Active
| δίδωμι | τίθημι | ἵημι | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | ἔδωκα | ἔθηκα | -ἧκα |
| 2nd sg. | ἔδωκας | ἔθηκας | -ἧκας |
| 3rd sg. | ἔδωκε(ν) | ἔθηκε(ν) | -ἧκε(ν) |
| 1st pl. | ἔδομεν | ἔθεμεν | -εἷμεν |
| 2nd pl. | ἔδοτε | ἔθετε | -εἷτε |
| 3rd pl. | ἔδοσαν | ἔθεσαν | -εἷσαν |
Aorist Middle
| δίδωμι | τίθημι | ἵημι | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | ἐδόμην | ἐθέμην | -εἵμην |
| 2nd sg. | ἔδου* | ἔθου* | -εἷσο |
| 3rd sg. | ἔδοτο | ἔθετο | -εἷτο |
| 1st pl. | ἐδόμεθα | ἐθέμεθα | -εἵμεθα |
| 2nd pl. | ἔδοσθε | ἔθεσθε | -εἷσθε |
| 3rd pl. | ἔδοντο | ἔθεντο | -εἷντο |
* The 2nd sg. aor. mid. of δίδωμι and τίθημι both drop their intervocalic sigmas and contract the remaining vowels to form the diphthong -ου: ἔδοσο > ἔδοο > ἔδου; ἔθεσο > ἔθεο > ἔθου.
ἵστημι
ἵστημι has two different third principal parts: ἔστησα and ἔστην. The first is a completely regular first aorist (meaning its active plural forms do not use a short vowel stem and athematic endings). The latter follows a completely athematic pattern: you generate the stem by taking the -ν, keep that stem through all six forms, and use the secondary tense athematic endings listed above, meaning an absence of an ending for 3rd singular and -σαν in the 3rd plural.
| ἔστησα | ἔστην | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | ἔστησα | ἔστην |
| 2nd sg. | ἔστησας | ἔστης |
| 3rd sg. | ἔστησε(ν) | ἔστη |
| 1st pl. | ἐστήσαμεν | ἔστημεν |
| 2nd pl. | ἐστήσατε | ἔστητε |
| 3rd pl. | ἔστησαν | ἔστησαν |
The major difference is in the meaning of each aorist. The forms of ἔστησα are transitive, like the active forms of ἵστημι that we learned about in the last unit, and as a result, they take direct objects. For example:
- ὁ ἀνὴρ τοὺς ἵππους παρὰ τὴν οἰκίαν ἐστήσεν. The man made the horses stand near the house.
The forms of ἔστην, on the other hand, are intransitive, like the middle/passive forms of ἵστημι, and generally won’t take direct objects. For example:
- οἱ ἵπποι παρὰ τὴν οἰκίαν ἔστησαν. The horses stood near the house.
Be aware, though, that the 3rd plural of both forms looks exactly the same: ἔστησαν. Both, however, are formed from different components:
- ἔστησαν from ἔστησα = ἐ- (augment) + -στησ- (stem) + -αν (1st aorist ending)
- ἔστησαν from ἔστην = ἐ- (augment) + -στη- (stem) + -σαν (athematic ending)
You will often need context to tell which form of the aorist ἔστησαν derives from. For example, the presence of a direct object will indicate that you’re dealing with the transitive form of the verb, rather than the intransitive form which doesn’t take a direct object:
- τοὺς ἵππους παρὰ τὴν οἰκίαν ἔστησαν. They made the horses stand near the house.
- παρὰ τὴν οἰκίαν ἔστησαν. They stood near the house.