Lesson 9 | Infinitives
[3] Aorist Infinitives
Aorist infinitives communicate perfective aspect. Like aorist participles, there are two ways to form aorist infinitives: first aorist and second aorist. If an aorist participle forms as a first aorist participle, it will also form as a first aorist infinitive. If an aorist participle forms as a second aorist participle, it will also form as a second aorist infinitive.
Like first aorist participles, first aorist infinitives form with a present tense stem and a perfective (σ or θ) tense former. So, remember to be on the lookout for scheming σ! Like second aorist participles, second aorist infinitives form with a distinct aorist stem and tense formers that look similar to present infinitive tense formers.
λῦσαι λύσασθαι λυθῆναι
βαλεῖν βαλέσθαι βληθῆναι
Examples from the Greek NT
καὶ τῷ θέλοντί σοι κριθῆναι καὶ τὸν χιτῶνά σου λαβεῖν, ἄφες αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ ἱμάτιον And to the one who wants to receive judgment [with reference] to you and to take your shirt, give your cloak to that person too! —Matthew 5:40
This is a complex sentence. The main verb is well into the sentence. Authors often do this to introduce or emphasize a topic. In this case, the whole phrase from the initial καὶ to λαβεῖν is picked up by the pronoun αὐτῷ. The diagram clarifies this:
Let’s focus on the participial phrase. Can you parse τῷ θέλοντί?
θελ+οντ+ι
[Stem]
[Tense Former]
[Ending]
We see the present stem, the οντ tense former, and the third pattern ending. It is a present, active, participle, dative, masculine, singular from θέλω: “to the one who wants.” This is one of those verbs that leaves us without a complete action (when it doesn’t have a direct object noun). We are left asking: “to the one who wants what?” The two infinitives answer that question for us. Together, they complete the participle’s action: to receive a certain judgment and to take your cloak.
Can you parse κριθῆναι?
κριν+θηναι
[Stem]
[Tense Former]
We see the θηναι tense former and know that this is a first aorist, passive, infinitive from κρίνω. The θ caused the ν from the stem to drop out. It is an aorist infinitive. So, it communicates perfective aspect.
How about λαβεῖν?
λαβ+ειν
[Stem]
[Tense Former]
We see the aorist stem and the ειν tense former. So, this is a second aorist, active, infinitive from λαμβάνω. Note how it takes its own direct object: “your cloak.”
ὅτι ἦλθεν ἐκ τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς ἀκοῦσαι τὴν σοφίαν Σολομῶνος because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. —Matthew 12:42
This clause has one infinitive in it: ἀκοῦσαι. Can you parse it?
ακου+σαι
[Stem]
[Tense Former]
We see the σαι tense former and know that It is an aorist, active, infinitive. How is it functioning in this clause? Let’s look at the diagram to get a clearer picture.
Πολλὰ εἶχον γράψαι σοι ἀλλ᾿ οὐ θέλω διὰ μέλανος καὶ καλάμου σοι γράφειν· I had many things to write to you, but I do not want through ink and pen to write to you. —3 John 13
This example has one aorist infinitive and one present infinitive from the same verb (γράφω). Can you parse them?
γραφ+ειν
[Stem]
[Tense Former]
γραφ+σαι
[Stem]
[Tense Former]
For γράφειν, we see the present stem and the ειν tense former. So, it is a present, active, infinitive.
What about γράψαι? It has the same stem as the present tense-form stem and has the first aorist active infinitive tense former (σαι). Scheming σ changed the φ to a ψ (γραφ + σαι = γράψαι). It is an aorist, active, infinitive.
Here is the diagram to help you see this sentence’s structure.
In the diagram, we see that γράψαι actually describes Πολλὰ further and not the verb directly. Authors often used infinitives to explain another word. John did not just have many things. He had many things to write. The second infinitive (γράφειν) completes that clause’s main verb: “I do not want to write.”