Subjunctive and imperative
You will recognise the moods beyond the indicative (subjunctive, imperative, optative), tell the two Greek negatives οὐ and μή apart, and read the verbs of John 3:16 and the Lord's Prayer with confidence.
Verbs that do not state facts
Most of the verbs you have met so far are in the indicative mood. The indicative simply states what happened or what is: "God loved", "He gave". But the Bible is full of sentences that do something else. They express a purpose, a possibility, a wish or a command: "so that he may not perish", "may your kingdom come". Greek marks these by changing the shape of the verb, and the label for that shape is its mood. Besides the Indicative, the 원어 panel shows Subjunctive, Imperative and Optative.
Start with John 3:16.
("loved") and ("gave") are indicative: they report what God did. But "shall not perish but have eternal life" gives the purpose of God's giving, and Greek puts the verb of a ἵνα purpose clause in the subjunctive. So (apolētai) and (echē) are Subjunctive. The subjunctive here does not cast doubt on the promise; it is simply the grammar of purpose.
The subjunctive: purpose and condition
The subjunctive speaks of what may happen, or is meant to happen. A useful rule of thumb is that it shows a long vowel in the ending. The indicative ἔχει (echei) becomes ἔχῃ (echē), with ει turned into ῃ, and ἀπόληται carries the long η. That is usually true, though there are exceptions, so let the panel confirm it.
The subjunctive very often follows a small word (it also forms prohibitions and strong denials, as you will see below). One is (hina), "so that, in order that", which governs both subjunctives in John 3:16: see . The other is (ean), "if". John 3:3 shows it.
(gennēthē) means "unless someone is born". The subjunctive comes right after ἐάν. Read ἐὰν μή as a unit: "unless".
The imperative: commands and requests
The Imperative gives a command, and the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord's Prayer are full of them. Most are addressed to "you".
(aiteite) is "Ask!", in the 2nd person plural because Jesus speaks to a crowd. The next two verbs, ζητεῖτε and κρούετε, are imperatives too. In the present, the 2nd person plural imperative looks exactly like the indicative ("you ask"), so context and the panel tell you which it is. (dos), "Give", from the Lord's Prayer, shows that an imperative is not always harsh. A humble request to God uses the same form.
Greek also has a 3rd person imperative, translated "let it be…" or "may it…". Its mark is the ending -τω.
(elthetō) is not "Come!" but "let it come", so "Your kingdom come". The same shape appears in (hagiasthētō), "hallowed be". "Hallowed be" and "Your kingdom come" are how English Bibles render this 3rd person imperative.
οὐ and μή
Greek has two words for "not". The panel labels both "Negative Particle · Negative". The rule of thumb is simple: with the indicative the usual negative is (ou), about 1,670 times; with the other moods (subjunctive, imperative, optative) it is (mē), about 1,070 times. Participles and infinitives usually take μή as well. You can see both in the verses above.
In John 3:3, δύναται, "he cannot", is indicative, so it takes οὐ. In John 3:16, ἀπόληται, "may not perish", is subjunctive, so it takes μή. The Lord's Prayer has the same pattern.
(eisenegkēs) is "do not lead us", a prohibition. Greek uses μή for prohibitions, and a prohibition addressed to "you" is often μή with an aorist subjunctive, as here (μή with a present imperative is also used). The next word, , "but", sets the contrast.
Put the two together and you get something stronger. In John 6:35 Jesus says that whoever comes to him will οὐ μή hunger.
means "will never hunger". Remember οὐ μή as an emphatic "never, certainly not".
The optative, briefly
The fourth mood, the Optative, is rare in the New Testament and mostly expresses a wish. Paul's favourite use is the best-known one.
(genoito) is optative, and μὴ γένοιτο means "may it never be!", rendered "Certainly not!" in the BSB. That is all you need for now. The mark of the optative is usually οι in the ending.
Summary
Mood is the speaker's attitude. A fact is indicative; a purpose or possibility is subjunctive (often after ἵνα and ἐάν); a command or request is imperative; a wish is optative. The negative is οὐ with the indicative and μή with the other moods, and οὐ μή is an emphatic "never". Rather than memorising the endings, read the panel's mood label as you go and let the pattern settle in. In the next lesson you will meet verbs whose forms look unusual.
Words in this lesson
- mēnot1,068 times in the NT
- ouno1,668 times in the NT
- hinain order that/to668 times in the NT
- eanif336 times in the NT
- apolluōto destroy90 times in the NT
- aiteōto ask70 times in the NT
Practice
- Practice 1 of 14
In John 3:16, what mood is ?
- Practice 2 of 14
Which word introduces the subjunctive verbs in John 3:16?
- Practice 3 of 14
What mood is ?
- Practice 4 of 14
What is the best translation of ?
- Practice 5 of 14
Why does John 3:3 use οὐ in οὐ δύναται, and not μή?
- Practice 6 of 14
In John 3:3, what is ?
- Practice 7 of 14
What does οὐ μή πεινάσῃ in John 6:35 mean?
- Practice 8 of 14
What mood is γένοιτο in μὴ γένοιτο (Romans 6:2)?
Word practice
- Practice 9 of 14
μή (mē) — What does it mean?
- Practice 10 of 14
οὐ (ou) — What does it mean?
- Practice 11 of 14
ἵνα (hina) — What does it mean?
- Practice 12 of 14
ἐάν (ean) — What does it mean?
- Practice 13 of 14
ἀπολλύω (apolluō) — What does it mean?
- Practice 14 of 14
αἰτέω (aiteō) — What does it mean?
Original text and grammar: STEPBible (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0). Pronunciation: Erasmian Greek, academic Hebrew. The listen button uses the device’s modern Greek/Hebrew voice. Scripture quotations: BSB.