The subjunctive mood (ἡ ὑποτακτικὴ ἔγκλισις)
Here we present the formation of the subjunctive mood, which builds on the work you have already done with the optative mood. The present and aorist tenses of the subjunctive mood are formed on the stems of the same principal parts as all other forms of the Greek verb: first part for all voices of the present, third part for aorist active and middle, and sixth part for aorist passive. The endings of the subjunctive mood are characterized by long vowels (η, ω) in their base. You’ll be happy to learn that the subjunctive uses the same endings for both present active and middle/passive and aorist active and middle tenses: you can distinguish the tense by the principal part it is formed on.
The personal endings of the subjunctive are:
| Person and Number | Present and Aorist Active | Present and Aorist Middle | Present Passive |
|---|---|---|---|
| First singular | -ω | -ωμαι | -ωμαι |
| Second singular | -ῃς | -ῃ | -ῃ |
| Third singular | -ῃ | -ηται | -ηται |
| First plural | -ωμεν | -ωμεθα | -ωμεθα |
| Second plural | -ητε | -ησθε | -ησθε |
| Third plural | -ωσι(ν) | -ωνται | -ωνται |
The aorist passive subjunctive borrows the active endings, but with a fixed accent:
| Person and Number | Aorist Passive (6th principal part) |
|---|---|
| First singular | -ῶ |
| Second singular | -ῇς |
| Third singular | -ῇ |
| First plural | -ῶμεν |
| Second plural | -ῆτε |
| Third plural | -ῶσι(ν) |
- the accent of the aorist subjunctive passive is not recessive!
Historically, the aorist passive forms are actually a contraction of the ending’s long vowel with the regular stem -θε-, e.g., ἀρχθε + ῃ. Like other forms including contractions, the accent remains on the syllable it would have fallen on in an uncontracted form, e.g., ἀρχθέῃ > ἀρχθῇ.
Compare the present tense of the indicative, subjunctive and optative moods in the third person singular of all three voices. Notice that
- all forms are built on the same stem
- middle and passive voices use the same endings
- the vowel joining ending to stem makes the subjunctive and optative moods easily distinguishable from the indicative
| Tense + Voice | Indicative | Subjunctive | Optative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present Active | ἄρχ-ει | ἄρχ-ῃ | ἄρχ-οι |
| Present Middle | ἄρχ-εται | ἄρχ-ηται | ἄρχ-οιτο |
| Present Passive | ἄρχ-εται | ἄρχ-ηται | ἄρχ-οιτο |
Similarly, compare the aorist tense of the three moods in the third person. Notice that:
- only indicative forms have the augment
| Tense + Voice | Indicative | Subjunctive | Optative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aorist Active | ἤρξ-ε | ἄρξ-ῃ | ἄρξ-αι or ἄρξ-ειε |
| Aorist Middle | ἤρξ-ατο | ἄρξ-ηται | ἄρξ-αιτο |
| Aorist Passive | ἤρχθ-η | ἀρχθ-ῇ | ἀρχθ-είη |