Lesson 9 | Perfect (Stative) Participles

Grammar Point: Perfect Participles

Perfect participles communicate stative aspect. Stative aspect focuses on the results of an action. Like present participles, perfect middle and passive voice participles take the same form. This means that there are less forms to learn than aorist participles. Once again though, you do not need to memorize every form. Instead, focus on learning the three key features for each kind of participle. 
One of the clearest and most consistent marks of the perfect tense-form is reduplication. This means that the first letter of the stem doubles. For example, a perfect, active, participle, nominative, masculine, singular from λύω would double the λ and add an ε: λελυκώς. Or a perfect, active, indicative, 1st person, singular from λύω would be: λελυκα. Do you see how the first letter of the stem doubles
However, it is not always so straightforward. In their textbook Reading Biblical Greek, Richard Gibson and Con Campbell provide five helpful rules that explain reduplication in the perfect tense-form.
Stems that begin with a consonant double the initial letter and put an epsilon between the initial letter and its double. Eg. λελυκώς.
Stems that begin with an aspirated consonant (φ; χ; θ) double the initial letter but in its de-aspirated form (π, κ, τ). Eg. πεφίληκως.
Stems that begin with a vowel or vowel combo lengthen the vowel instead of doubling it. Eg. ἠγαπημένην.
Stems that begin with two consonants in a row or a σ, ζ, or ξ often add only an epsilon instead of doubling. Eg. ἔγνωκως.
Verbs with a preposition attached to the front of the verb stem (like παρακαλέω or εἰσέρχομαι) double the initial letter after the preposition. Eg. παρακεκλήμεθα.
You do not need to perfectly memorize these rules. However, you should take time to read them carefully so that you understand how different verbs might look in the perfect tense-form.

Now, we can finish filling in our three key features summary chart with the information for perfect participles. You should memorize this completed chart. You should be able to parse most participles with this information.

There are two quizlets below. This first quizlet will help you practice parsing perfect participles by including only forms of λύω. Focus on the three key features as you parse each participle.

Example
λελυμένην
Perfect, m/p, participle, accusative, feminine, singular from λύω

This second quizlet will be a bit more challenging. It contains perfect participles from a number of different verbs that you already learned in this class. Take time to parse each participle before flipping the card over.

Examples from the Greek NT
πορεύεσθε ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ οἱ κατηραμένοι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ. (NA28)

Go away from me, cursed ones, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels.

—Matthew 25:41
There are two perfect participles in this sentence: οἱ κατηραμένοι (cursed ones) and τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον (is prepared). Can you parse them even though you do not know either verb? 
οἱ κατηραμένοι comes from the verb καταράομαι. This is a compound verb (a verb with a preposition attached to the stem: κατ + αράομαι). Remember that stems that begin with a vowel will often lengthen the vowel in the perfect tense-form instead of doubling. Since this is a compound verb, the first vowel of the verbal part of the stem lengthens: καταράομαι becomes κατηραμένοι. We can also see the μεν tense former and the second pattern ending. Therefore, this is a perfect, passive, participle, vocative (direct address), masculine, plural from καταράομαι. It is functioning as a substantival, vocative participle that describes the people the Son of Man is talking to. Do you see how the stative aspect of the perfect participle focuses us on the resulting state of an action? These people are “the cursed ones.”
τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον comes from the verb ἐτοιμάζω. Since this verb begins with a vowel, we see a lengthened vowel in the perfect instead of a double letter: ε becomes η. We also see the μεν tense former and the second pattern ending. So, this is a perfect, passive, participle, accusative, neuter, singular from ἐτοιμάζω. With the article and a case, gender, and number that match the nearby noun τὸ πῦρ, this is an adjectival participle that describes the eternal fire (τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον). Again, the stative aspect focuses us on the resulting state of the verbal action (“prepared”).

Τοῖς δὲ γεγαμηκόσιν παραγγέλλω... (NA28)

Now, I give this command to the married ones...

—1 Corinthians 7:10
τοῖς γεγαμηκόσιν is from the verb γαμέω. Can you parse it? We see that the first letter is doubled, the κοτ tense former (scheming σ forces timid τ to drop out: κοτ + σιν = κοσιν), and the third pattern ending. Therefore, τοῖς γεγαμηκόσιν is a perfect, active, participle, dative, masculine, plural. It is a substantival participle that provides the main verb’s indirect object. Again, notice how perfect participles focus our attention on the state that results from the main verb (the “married ones”).

πεποιθὼς αὐτὸ τοῦτο, ὅτι ὁ ἐναρξάμενος ἐν ὑμῖν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐπιτελέσει ἄχρι ἡμέρας Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ (NA28)

because I am convinced of this very thing, that the One who began a good work in you all will complete it until the Day of Christ Jesus.

—Philippians 1:6
πεποιθὼς is from the verb πείθω. The first letter is double, which is a clear sign that this is a perfect tense-form. Then, we see the tense former. We would expect a κοτ tense former, but scheming σ shows up in the third pattern ending to cause trouble. Scheming σ forces timid τ to drop out, and then the remaining κο lengthens to κω with the ς. Finally, the κ from the tense former dropped out because of the θ. This is a bit tricky, but with the doubled first letter and the context we can figure it out. So, πεποιθὼς is a perfect, active, participle, nominative, masculine, singular from πείθω. This is an adverbial participle that describes the reason for the main verb. The participle's stative aspect focuses on the resulting state of the verb's action: "because I am convinced..."
You should also be able to parse the other participle in this sentence: ὁ ἐναρξάμενος. We see the σαμεν tense former and the second pattern ending. Therefore, we know this is an aorist, middle, participle, nominative, masculine, singular. It is from the verb: ἐνάρχομαι, and it is a substantival participle: "the one who began."