The Perfect and Pluperfect

The perfect is the tense of results. The door was shut at some point, and it is still shut. The man died, and he is still dead. The law was written, and it stands written. Greek has a whole tense for this idea and marks it in an unmistakable way: it stutters the first sound of the verb. λύω, λέλυκα. Once you can hear that stutter, perfects jump off the page.

Pronunciation key: capital syllable = accent, ē = eta, ō = omega, ü = upsilon, ē also = ει, oo = ου, h = rough breathing, kh/th/ph = aspirated k/t/p.

What the perfect means

The perfect looks at a completed action from the point of view of its lasting result. English "I have loosed" is a fair translation, but Greek is stricter than English about the result still holding. Often the best English is a present: "is dead," "stands written," "is persuaded."

Compare the three past-looking tenses of λύω:

• ἔλυον, imperfect: "I was loosing," a process.
• ἔλυσα, aorist: "I loosed," an event.
• λέλυκα, perfect: "I have loosed," meaning it is loose now because of what I did.

Greek writers use the perfect less often than English speakers use "have done." An English speaker says "I have finished my homework" almost as casually as "I finished." A Greek writer reaches for the perfect when the present result matters to the point being made.

Reduplication

Reduplication means copying the opening sound of the verb. Unlike the augment, it is not limited to the indicative. The perfect infinitive, participle and the rest all keep it. Smyth 439 to 446 gives the rules; here they are in the order you will need them.

Verb starts with	Rule	Examples
One consonant	Copy it, add ε	λύω, λέλυκα [LE-lü-ka]; παιδεύω, πεπαίδευκα [pe-PAI-deu-ka]; γράφω, γέγραφα [GE-gra-pha]
A stop + λ, μ, ν or ρ	Copy the first consonant only	κρίνω, κέκρικα [KE-kri-ka]; γράφω starts γρ-, so γέγραφα
An aspirate φ, θ, χ	Copy as the smooth stop π, τ, κ	θύω, τέθυκα [TE-thü-ka]; φονεύω, πεφόνευκα [pe-PHO-neu-ka]; χορεύω, κεχόρευκα [ke-KHO-reu-ka]
ρ, two consonants, or ζ, ξ, ψ	Just ε, like a syllabic augment (ρ doubles)	ῥίπτω, ἔρριφα [ER-ri-pha]; στρατηγέω, ἐστρατήγηκα [es-tra-TĒ-gē-ka]; ζητέω, ἐζήτηκα [e-ZDĒ-tē-ka]
A vowel	Lengthen it, like a temporal augment	ἐλπίζω, ἤλπικα [ĒL-pi-ka]; ἀγγέλλω, ἤγγελκα [ĒNG-gel-ka]; ἄγω, ἦχα [Ē-kha]

Two refinements. The aspirate rule exists because Greek dislikes two aspirated syllables in a row (Grassmann's law, if you like names). And in compound verbs, reduplication goes after the prefix, exactly where the augment would: ἀπολύω, ἀπολέλυκα.

Irregular reduplication worth knowing now

• Attic reduplication: a few verbs starting with a vowel repeat the vowel and the next consonant, then lengthen. ἀκούω [a-KOO-ō], ἀκήκοα [a-KĒ-ko-a] "I have heard"; ἔρχομαι, ἐλήλυθα [e-LĒ-lü-tha] "I have come."
• ει instead of reduplication: λαμβάνω, εἴληφα [Ē-lē-pha] "I have taken"; the root of λέγω/εἶπον, εἴρηκα [Ē-rē-ka] "I have said."
• γίγνομαι, γέγονα [GE-go-na] "I have become, I am." ὁράω, ἑώρακα [he-Ō-ra-ka] (also ἑόρακα) "I have seen." θνῄσκω, τέθνηκα [TETH-nē-ka] "I have died, I am dead."

The perfect active: λέλυκα

The first perfect adds -κα to the reduplicated stem. Its endings look like the aorist's -α endings, except for the third person plural.

	Perfect active	Translation
1st sing.	λέλυκα [LE-lü-ka]	I have loosed
2nd sing.	λέλυκας [LE-lü-kas]	you have loosed
3rd sing.	λέλυκε(ν) [LE-lü-ke(n)]	he, she, it has loosed
1st pl.	λελύκαμεν [le-LÜ-ka-men]	we have loosed
2nd pl.	λελύκατε [le-LÜ-ka-te]	you (all) have loosed
3rd pl.	λελύκᾱσι(ν) [le-LÜ-kā-si(n)]	they have loosed

Infinitive: λελυκέναι [le-lü-KE-nai], "to have loosed." Participle: λελυκώς, λελυκυῖα, λελυκός [le-lü-KŌS, le-lü-KÜI-a, le-lü-KOS], "having loosed." Both are accented in a fixed spot, which is a useful recognition clue: for an ordinary -ω verb, an infinitive ending in accented -έναι is a perfect. (A few -μι verbs, such as τιθέναι "to place," also end in -έναι in the present, which you will meet later.)

Stem changes before -κα follow patterns you know. Short vowels lengthen, as in the future and aorist: τιμάω, τετίμηκα; ποιέω, πεποίηκα. Dentals drop: πείθω, πέπεικα "I have persuaded."

Second perfects: no κ

Verbs whose stem ends in a labial or palatal stop usually form a second perfect with plain -α. Many of them also aspirate the last consonant: π or β becomes φ, κ or γ becomes χ (Smyth 569 to 571). Some change the stem vowel as well.

Present	Perfect	Meaning	What changed
γράφω	γέγραφα [GE-gra-pha]	I have written	nothing but reduplication
πέμπω	πέπομφα [PE-pom-pha]	I have sent	ε to ο, π to φ
λαμβάνω	εἴληφα [Ē-lē-pha]	I have taken	ει prefix, β to φ
πάσχω	πέπονθα [PE-pon-tha]	I have suffered	vowel grade change
πείθω	πέποιθα [PE-poi-tha]	I trust, I am confident	ει to οι; meaning shifts
φεύγω	πέφευγα [PE-pheu-ga]	I have fled, I am in exile	aspirate rule in reduplication

Notice πείθω has two perfects. πέπεικα means "I have persuaded (someone)." πέποιθα means "I have been persuaded," and so "I trust." This kind of split, transitive versus intransitive, is common in second perfects.

The perfect middle and passive: λέλυμαι

The perfect middle/passive has no κ and no thematic vowel. The endings attach straight to the reduplicated stem. One set of forms serves for middle and passive.

	Perfect middle/passive	Translation (passive)
1st sing.	λέλυμαι [LE-lü-mai]	I have been loosed, I am free
2nd sing.	λέλυσαι [LE-lü-sai]	you have been loosed
3rd sing.	λέλυται [LE-lü-tai]	he, she, it has been loosed
1st pl.	λελύμεθα [le-LÜ-me-tha]	we have been loosed
2nd pl.	λέλυσθε [LE-lüs-the]	you (all) have been loosed
3rd pl.	λέλυνται [LE-lün-tai]	they have been loosed

Infinitive: λελύσθαι [le-LÜS-thai]. Participle: λελυμένος, -η, -ον [le-lü-ME-nos], "having been loosed," declined like ἀγαθός with the accent fixed on -μέν-.

When the stem ends in a consonant, the endings collide with it. γράφω gives γέγραμμαι "it has been written by me," and the third person γέγραπται [GE-grap-tai] "it has been written, it stands written." Attic writers use it for what stands written in a law, a decree or a book: the writing happened once, and the text is still there. Consonant-stem perfect middles get tricky in the third plural, and Attic often uses the participle with εἰσί instead (γεγραμμένοι εἰσί). You will meet those in reading, and a dictionary or parser will sort them out.

The pluperfect: the perfect moved into the past

The pluperfect takes the perfect stem and adds the augment in front. It means a result that already stood at some point in the past: "I had loosed," "he had died (and was dead by then)." It is rarer than the perfect, so learn to recognize it and do not stress over producing every form.

	Pluperfect active	Pluperfect middle/passive
1st sing.	ἐλελύκη [e-le-LÜ-kē]	ἐλελύμην [e-le-LÜ-mēn]
2nd sing.	ἐλελύκης [e-le-LÜ-kēs]	ἐλέλυσο [e-LE-lü-so]
3rd sing.	ἐλελύκει(ν) [e-le-LÜ-kē(n)]	ἐλέλυτο [e-LE-lü-to]
1st pl.	ἐλελύκεμεν [e-le-LÜ-ke-men]	ἐλελύμεθα [e-le-LÜ-me-tha]
2nd pl.	ἐλελύκετε [e-le-LÜ-ke-te]	ἐλέλυσθε [e-LE-lüs-the]
3rd pl.	ἐλελύκεσαν [e-le-LÜ-ke-san]	ἐλέλυντο [e-LE-lün-to]

Those are the older Attic active forms from Smyth 383. Later Attic writers (and most of what you will read after Plato's time) use ἐλελύκειν, ἐλελύκεις, ἐλελύκει in the singular. When a perfect begins with a vowel or with ε that stands in for reduplication, the pluperfect usually adds no further augment: ἤγγελκα, pluperfect ἠγγέλκη.

οἶδα: the perfect that means "I know"

οἶδα [OI-da] is an ancient perfect from the same root as εἶδον, "I saw." "I have seen" became "I know," and it works as a present. Its pluperfect ᾔδη or ᾔδειν [ĒI-dē, ĒI-dēn] works as a past, "I knew." It is irregular and very common, so learn the present now.

	οἶδα	Translation
1st sing.	οἶδα [OI-da]	I know
2nd sing.	οἶσθα [OIS-tha]	you know
3rd sing.	οἶδε(ν) [OI-de(n)]	he, she knows
1st pl.	ἴσμεν [IS-men]	we know
2nd pl.	ἴστε [IS-te]	you (all) know
3rd pl.	ἴσᾱσι(ν) [I-sā-si(n)]	they know

Infinitive εἰδέναι [ē-DE-nai], "to know." Participle εἰδώς [ē-DŌS], "knowing." Others with present meaning: τέθνηκα "I am dead," ἕστηκα "I am standing," μέμνημαι "I remember" (literally "I have reminded myself"), κέκτημαι "I own" (literally "I have acquired").

Principal parts so far

A Greek verb has six principal parts (Lesson 20 sets them all out). You now know four of them: present, future, aorist, perfect active. The fifth is the perfect middle/passive.

Present	Future	Aorist	Perfect active	Perfect mid./pass.
λύω	λύσω	ἔλυσα	λέλυκα	λέλυμαι
παιδεύω	παιδεύσω	ἐπαίδευσα	πεπαίδευκα	πεπαίδευμαι
γράφω	γράψω	ἔγραψα	γέγραφα	γέγραμμαι
πέμπω	πέμψω	ἔπεμψα	πέπομφα	πέπεμμαι
λαμβάνω	λήψομαι	ἔλαβον	εἴληφα	εἴλημμαι