Greek Participles
Translating Adverbial and Adjectival Participles
Adverbial Participles
* Modify a verb
* Translated as a dependent clause
* Introduced by an adverb
* Present: “While he is walking along the sea, Jesus says…
OR “Walking along the sea, Jesus said…
* Aorist: “When he walked along the sea, Jesus said…
OR “When he was walking along the sea, Jesus…
* Perfect: “After he had walked along the sea, Jesus…
Or “Having walked along the sea, Jesus…
Adjectival Participles
Either
(1) function adjectivally and modify a noun
* match the modified noun in case, number, & gender
* Translate as a dependent clause, using a relative pronoun
* Present: “the man, who is speaking, talks too much”
* Aorist: “the man, who was speaking, talks too much”
* Perfect: “the man, who had spoken, talks too much”
(2) function substantively and have a distinct grammatical
function within the sentence (according to their case)
* Translate using a pronoun and a relative clause
* Those who were listening heard Jesus. (nominative)
* He spoke to the one who was listening. (dative)
* He spoke concerning those who loved him. (genitive)
* He healed those who came to him. (accusative)
Does the participle have an article?
YES—it is adjectival.
* Determine whether the participle modifies a noun (matching it in case, number and gender) or is substantial (functioning as a noun) and translate accordingly.
NO—it is probably adverbially.
* Does the participle match a non-articular noun in
case, number and gender?
YES—it is adjectival (see above for translation).
NO—it is adverbial (see above for translation).
Two Additional Types of Participles
Genitive Absolute:
Participle and
accompanying noun or pronoun in the genitive case.
Participle does not
modify another noun and is not the object of a preposition.
Translate using the adverb "when" and making the genitive noun the subject of
the participle.
E.g., "When he was
walking...."
Periphrastic Participle:
Participle with no
article, but accompanied by a form of eimi.
Translate with a helping verb (e.g., "is" "was" "were")
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