Elementary New Testament Greek, 2014a

12: Aorist Tense
The Formation of the 3rd Principal Part
Since it is clear from the chart that the Aorist Active and Middle Tenses (down the entire External-Aspect column) are formed from the Third Principal Part, we must learn how this
particular Principal Part is formed. From the diagram below you can see that a verb Root may travel down any of ve (5) Assembly Lines:
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Input Third Principal Part Factory Product
Assembly Line
Machinery
A add () +
B add () +
Verb Root Engineer? C add nothing +
D add nothing + /
Third Principal
Part
E add nothing + nothing
Some Traditional Labels
We’ve been using the images of Assembly Lines to describe the different ways verb Roots undergo transformation into Principal Parts. But in the standard Greek tools that you will
be using (lexicons, grammars), a traditional nomenclature is used. (Notice that any form using an alpha connecting vowel () is known as a “First” Aorist.)
A add () + = “First Aorist” (type 1?)
B add () + = “First Aorist” (type 2?)
C add nothing + = “First Aorist” (type 3?)
D add nothing + / = “Second Aorist”
E add nothing + nothing = “Root Aorist”