Koine Greek: Conditions

Conditions in Koine Greek
RELATED TOPICS	...
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS
CONTENTS

Lesson

A Conditional Sentence is one which conveys the idea that "if" a certain event occurs (or is true), "then" a certain outcome will occur (or is true).

In Koine Greek, there are 4 main grammatical ways of writing a conditional sentence.

• First Class Condition
• Second Class Condition
• Third Class (or Future) Condition
• Fourth Class Condition

Any condition sentence consists of two parts. The first part is called the protasis and is the condition - in English it begins with "if". The second part is called the apodosis - in English it begins with "then".

First Class Condition

First class conditions are formed by

• Protasis - ει + indicative
• Apodosis - anything

The protasis in first class conditions is negated by ου, as would be expected for the indicative mood.

Second Class Condition

Second class conditions are formed by

• Protasis - ει + indicative
• Apodosis - αν + anything

The protasis in first class conditions is negated by μη, rather than the expected ου.

Third Class (or Future) Condition

Third class conditions are formed by

• Protasis - εαν + subjunctive
• Apodosis - anything

Fourth Class Condition

Fourth class conditions are not found in the New Testament. They are formed by

• Protasis - ει + optative
• Apodosis - αν + optative (or αν + imperfect)

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