Hellenistic Greek © 2009, 2015
Lesson 14: Infinitives in English and Hellenistic Greek

What is an Infinitive?

Observe the following sentences:

John asked me to return the book.
I want to see your new watch.
To be honest, I don't know what happened.
I was able to walk again after the surgery.
She really knows how to sing.

The verbs preceded by “to” in these sentences are calledinfinitives. Infinitives do not indicate person or number. Hellenistic Greek had a set of verb endings that indicated tense, but not person or number and allowed verbs to function in the same way as those in the English examples above. Look at the following examples:

Ἡρῴδης θέλει σε ἀποκτεῖναι
Herod wants to kill you (Luke 13:31)

Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον
Don't think that I came to destroy the law (Matthew 5:17)

Differences between English and Hellenistic Greek Infinitives

While Greek and English infinitives have much in common, as you progress in this course, you will see many differences between the ways they function. For now, though, you only need to focus on two key differences. First, Hellenistic Greek had two different types of infinitives (present and aorist), while English only has one. Second, Hellenistic Greek infinitives were often used with the article (ὁ, ἡ, τό) while the English infinitive is never preceded immediately by "the."

Infinitives and Aspect

Greek infinitives could have either a present or aorist form. The contrast between the two forms had nothing to do with time. It is a difference of aspect.

The Present Infinitive

The present infinitive was used to express progressive or imperfective aspect. It pictures the action expressed by the verb as being in progress. Compare the following examples.

μετέβη ἐκεῖθεν τοῦ διδάσκειν καὶ κηρύσσειν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν αύτῶν
He went from there to teach and proclaim in their cities (Matthew 11:1)

Here the author uses the present infinitive for the two highlighted verbs to present the teaching and proclaiming as an ongoing ministry rather than an isolated event.

The present infinitive also appears n Mark 8:34. Here again, it suggests progressive or imperfective aspect.

εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἀκολουθεῖν
If anyone wants to follow after me

Jesus is not talking about following him to the store, here. He is talking about taking up a lifestyle of following his teachings and example. The end point of this "following" is not in focus.

The present infinitive is very often used in combination with the aorist indicative of ἄρχω (ἤρξατο = he/she began) to present an action as beginning in the present and extending into the future with no focus on when it will end. Observe the following example from Mark 6:34:

καὶ ἤρχατο διδάσκειν αὐτοὺς πολλά
and he began to teach them many things

Here the focus is on the beginning of the action, but the end is left unspecified.

The Aorist Infinitive

The aorist infinitive does not express progressive aspect. It presents the action expressed by the verb as a completed unit with a beginning and end.

Ἡρῴδης θέλει σε ἀποκτεῖναι
Herod wants to kill you (Luke 13:31)

Here the aorist infinitive is appropriate because the author is not saying Herod wanted to go on an indefinite killing spree, but that he wanted to commit one specific act of killing.

ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ σου δεῖ με μεῖναι
It is necessary for me to stay in your house (Luke 19:5)

In this statement, Jesus is presented as stating his desire to spend the night at Zacchaeus' house, not a request to take up residence there for an indefinite time.

"Substantival" Infinitives

In English, both gerunds (verb+ing forms) and infinitival clauses may function like nouns. They can serve as the subject or object of another verb, for example.

Hellenistic Greek used infinitival clauses both in the way English speakers use gerunds (sentences 2 and 4) and in the way we use infinitival clauses (3 and 5). When Greek infinitives function this way, we call them substantival infinitives.

Articular Infinitives

In Greek, substantival infinitives are often found with the article. This article is not translated, since the article is never used with an infinitive in English. In the examples below, the Greek infinitive and its translation are shown in blue.

περισσόν μοί ἐστιν τὸ γρἀφειν ὑμῖν
Writing to you is superfluous for me
It is superfluous for me to write to you (2 Corinthians 9:1)

The genitive case article is often used with an infinitive to express purpose

In these examples, the infinitival clause (shown in blue) tells why the action in the main clause was taken. The infinitive states the purpose. When you see a genitive case article with an infinitive, you should expect the infinitival clause to express the purpose of the main clause.

Forms for the Hellenistic Greek Infinitive

Infinitives of Ω Conjugation Verbs

The ending -ειν is used for the present and second aorist infinitive. The two are distinguished by the stems they use.

The first aorist uses the ending -σαι (σ·αι). The sigma (σ) of the first aorist infinitive ending causes the same spelling changes that you learned in the lesson on the first aorist of compound verbs. If you cannot remember those spelling changes, review Spelling Changes Caused by the Aorist Σ in lesson 10.

Lexical Form	Present	First Aorist	Second Aorist
γράφω	γράφειν	γράψαι
ζητέω	ζητεῖν	ζητῆσαι
λαμβάνω	λαμβάνειν		λαβεῖν
λέγω	λέγειν		εἰπεῖν

Remember that a few verbs use first aorist endings with a second aorist stem.

Lexical Form	Present	(Second) Aorist
γινώσκω	γινώσκειν	γνῶναι

Here is how the aorist infinitive of such irregular verbs is formed:

Lexical Form	Second Aorist Stem		First Aorist Ending		Hybrid Aorist Form
γινώσκω	γνῶν-	+	-σαι	=	γνῶναι

Infinitives of ΜΙ Conjugation Verbs

For most μι conjugation verbs, both the aorist and the present infinitive use the ending -αι. Most use ν to connect this ending to the stem, but a few use σ.

The two tenses are distinguished by their stems. The aorist tense stem is determined by removing the first syllable of the present tense stem. For example, the present active infinitive of δίδωμι (I give) is διδόναι. The aorist infinitive is δοῦναι. Study the following table. Notice that the stem vowel is short in the present infinitive, but often becomes a diphthong in the aorist.

Lexical Form	Present Infinitive	Aorist Infinitive
δίδωμι (I give)	διδόναι	δοῦναι
τιθημι (I put, appoint)	τιθέναι	θεῖναι
ἴστημι (I put, place)	ἰστάναι	στῆναι or στῆσαι

Exercise 1: Practice Recognizing Infinitives

Take this practice quiz to see how well you can recognize the infinitive forms you have just studied.