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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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
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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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.