Person third

Glossary

Third person is a grammatical feature indicating that the speaker is talking about a person (or thing) other than the speaker or writer or the person being addressed (the reader or listener) (e.g., he ran, she ran, they ran).

Mark 1:8

αὐτὸς

δὲ

βαπτίσει

ὑμᾶς

ἐν

Πνεύματι

Ἁγίῳ

autos

de

baptisei

hymas

en

Pneumati

Hagiō

he

but

he will baptize

you

with

Spirit

Holy

…but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Summary

Third person is used when the narrator or speaker refers to someone besides himself or the listener (or reader).

Article

The third person is used when the person or thing referred to does not include either the speaker(or writer) or the person (or people) being addressed. Pronouns in the third person (he, him, his, she, her, or it or group of people/things they, them, or their) refer to someone or something that is spoken about.

The third person can be used in both direct and indirect speech.

Third person references appear in both Verb forms, and Pronoun_Personal forms.

Form

When a word is in the third person, it can be recognized by a variety of changes to the form. These changes differ greatly from each other and are hard to sum up in a simple, helpful way. These changes can be classified into Verbal Conjugation forms and Personal Pronouns.

The third person of a verb is formed by adding a third person personal ending (or sufformative) to the verb stem. These endings can be divided into eight basic types: primary active, secondary active, primary middle/passive and secondary middle/passive. There are also singular and plural endings. The paradigm below shows a sample of the kinds of changes that indicate a third person verbal form.

Paradigm

Eight common Third Person Verbal Conjugation Forms

Parsing

Greek

Transliteration

Gloss

Third person present active indicative singular

λύει

lyei

He/she/it is loosing

Third person present active indicative plural

λύουσι(ν)

lyousi(n)

They are loosing

Third person present passive indicative singular

λύεται

lyetai

He/she/it is being loosed

Third person present passive indicative plural

λύονται

lyontai

They are being loosed

Third person imperfect active indicative singular

ἒλυε(ν)

elye(n)

He/she/it was loosing

Third person imperfect active indicative plural

ἒλυον

elyon

They were loosing

Third person imperfect passive indicative singular

ἐλύετο

elyeto

He/she/it was being loosed

Third person imperfect passive indicative plural

ἐλύοντο

elyonto

They were being loosed

Personal pronouns also have person and appear in various forms. Greek distinguishes between Number Singular and Number Plural , AND between Gender Masculine , Gender Feminine ,and Gender Neuter in the third person.

Third Person Independent Personal Pronoun Forms

Masculine

Parsing

Greek

Transliteration

Gloss

Third person nominative singular

αὐτός

autos

he

Third person nominative plural

αὐτοί

autoi

they

Third person genitive singular

αὐτοῦ

autou

his

Third person genitive plural

αὐτῶν

autōn

their

Third person dative singular

αὐτῷ

auto

him

Third person dative plural

αὐτοῖς

autois

them

Third person accusative singular

αὐτόν

auton

him (or it)

Third person accusative plural

αὐτούς

autous

them

Feminine

Parsing

Greek

Transliteration

Gloss

Third person nominative singular

αὐτή

autē

she

Third person nominative plural

αὐταί

autai

they

Third person genitive singular

αὐτῆς

autēs

her

Third person genitive plural

αὐτῶν

autōn

their

Third person dative singular

αὐτῇ

autē

her

Third person dative plural

αὐταῖς

autais

them

Third person accusative singular

αὐτήν

autēn

her (or it)

Third person accusative plural

αὐτάς

autas

them

Neuter

Parsing

Greek

Transliteration

Gloss

Third person nominative singular

αὐτό

auto

it

Third person nominative plural

αὐτά

autα

they

Third person genitive singular

αὐτοῦ

autou

its

Third person genitive plural

αὐτῶν

autōn

their

Third person dative singular

αὐτῷ

auto

it

Third person dative plural

αὐτοῖς

autois

them

Third person accusative singular

αὐτό

auto

it

Third person accusative plural

αὐτά

autα

them

The third person can be found in verb forms, and in Pronoun_Personal forms.

Function

As stated above a suffix is added to the verb stem to indicate the person and number for the subject of the verb. The subject in a sentence is the person or thing that does the action of the verb. However, if the verb is in the passive voice , the subject of the sentence receives the action of the verb.

John 1:14

καὶ

λόγος

σὰρξ

ἐγένετο

καὶ

ἐσκήνωσεν

ἐν

ἡμῖν

kai

ho

logos

sarx

egeneto

kai

eskēnōsen

en

hemin

and

the

word

flesh

it became

and

it lived

among

us

The Word became flesh and lived among us.

The personal ending of the verb is generally sufficient to show the person and number of the subject of the sentence. Therefore, an emphasis is being made when the nominative case of the personal pronoun is used in conjunction with the verb.

Ephesians 4:11

καὶ

αὐτὸς

ἔδωκεν

τοὺς

μὲν

ἀποστόλους

kai

autos

edōken

tous

men

apostolous

and

he

he gave

some

(to be)

apostles

He gave some to be apostles

The third person Personal Pronoun can be used as a subject, an object, or to indicate possession. Personal pronouns may also be used as the object of a preposition. The number (singular or plural) and the gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) will agree with its antecedent. However, the case will depend on its function in the sentence.

Prepositions Third person personal pronouns can be the object of a preposition. They therefore can occur in the Genitive, Dative, or Accusative case depending upon the preposition.

Third person personal pronoun - preposition

Romans 1:17

δικαιοσύνη

γὰρ

Θεοῦ

ἐν

αὐτῷ

ἀποκαλύπτεται

ἐκ

πίστεως

εἰς

πίστιν

dikaiosynē

gar

Theou

en

autō

apokalyptetai

ek

pisteōs

eis

pistin

righteousness

for

of God

in

it

it is being revealed

from

faith

into

faith

For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith

Subject of a sentence or clause (including predicate nominative)

Third person personal pronoun – nominative case αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό, αὐτοί, αὐταί, αὐτά

As stated above, the personal ending of the verb is generally sufficient to show the person and number of the subject of the sentence. Therefore, an emphasis is being made when the nominative case of the personal pronoun is used in conjunction with the verb.

Matthew 5:8

Μακάριοι

οἱ

καθαροὶ

τῇ

καρδίᾳ

ὅτι

αὐτοὶ

τὸν

Θεὸν

ὄψονται

Makarioi

hoi

katharoi

kardia

hoti

autoi

ton

Theon

opsontai

Blessed

(are)

the

pure

in the

heart

because

they

the

God

they will see

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Possession

Third Person personal pronoun – Genitive case αὐτοῦ, αὐτῆς, αὐτοῦ, αὐτῶν, αὐτῶν, αὐτῶν

Example: Matthew 5:2

καὶ

ἀνοίξας

τὸ

στόμα

αὐτοῦ

ἐδίδασκεν

αὐτοὺς

kai

anoixas

to

stoma

autou

edidasken

autous

and

he opened

the

mouth

his

he was teaching

them

He opened his mouth and taught them

Objective Cases

Third person personal pronoun – Dative case αὐτῷ, αὐτῇ, αὐτῷ, αὐτοῖς, αὐταῖς, αὐτοῖς

Matthew 8:20

καὶ

λέγει

αὐτῷ

Ἰησοῦς

kai

legei

autō

ho

Iēsous

and

he says

to him

the

Jesus

Jesus said to him

Third person personal pronoun – Accusative case αὐτόν, αὐτήν, αὐτό, αὐτούς, αὐτάς, αὐτά

Mark 1:37

καὶ

εὗρον

αὐτὸν

καὶ

λέγουσιν

αὐτῷ

ὅτι

πάντες

ζητοῦσίν

σε

kai

heuron

auton

kai

legousin

autō

hoti

pantes

zētousin

se

and

they found

him

and

they said

to him

that

everyone

is seeking

you

They found him and they said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”

Reflexive use of the third person personal pronoun – εἀυτοῦ, εἀυτῆς, εἀυτοῦ The third person reflexive pronoun occurs 317 times in the New Testament. It occurs in the Genitive, Dative, and Accusative forms. αὐτός, αὐτή, and αὐτό are used as a reflexive pronoun 119 times.

Romans 14:7

οὐδεὶς

γὰρ

ἡμῶν

ἑαυτῷ

ζῇ

καὶ

οὐδεὶς

ἑαυτῷ

ἀποθνῄσκει

oudeis

gar

hēmōn

heautō

kai

oudeis

heautō

apothnēskei

no one

for

of us

to himself

he lives

and

no one

to himself

he dies

For none of us lives for himself, and none dies for* himself.