A deponent verb is a verb that is active in meaning but takes its form from a different voice, most commonly the middle or passive.

Deponency and tense

Some verbs are deponent universally, but other verbs are deponent only in certain tenses, or use deponent forms from different voices in different tenses. For example, the Greek verb αναβαινω (anabaino) uses active forms in the imperfect and aorist, but in the future it is a middle-voice deponent, αναβησομαι (anabesomai). If it were not deponent, the future active form would be αναβαισω (anabaiso), but this form does not occur in Koine Greek, because the verb is deponent in the future tense. The future forms that do occur have the same meaning and translation value that the active forms would have if they occurred.

Languages with deponent verbs

This list is not exhaustive.

• Greek has middle-voice deponents (some of which are very common) and some passive-voice deponents.
• Latin has passive-voice deponents, such as loqui ('to speak') and sequi ('to follow').
• Swedish has a few passive-voice deponents, although interestingly, its closely related neighbour languages Danish and Norwegian don't have them.

Examples

• Swedish andas ("breathe", deponent), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ånde ("breathe", non-deponent).
• Swedish hoppas ("hope", deponent), Danish håbe, Norwegian Bokmål håpe ("hope", non-deponent).

Sources

• Greek example αναβησομαι (anabesomai) taken from the principal parts table in the appendix to Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, William D. Mounce.

See also

• Grammatical voice