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	ὁ	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	tē	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	ὁ	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	zē	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.