Optative (Ancient Greek)

The optative mood (/ˈɒptətɪv/ or /ɒpˈteɪtɪv/;Ancient Greek [ἔγκλισις] εὐκτική, [énklisis] euktikḗ, "[inflection] for wishing", Latin optātīvus [modus] "[mode] for wishing") is a grammatical mood of the Ancient Greek verb, named for its use as a way to express wishes.

The optative mood in Greek is found in four different tenses (present, aorist, perfect and future) and in all three voices (active, middle and passive). It has five main uses:

Together, the optative and the subjunctive cover most of the areas for which the Latin subjunctive is used; however, for counterfactual situations in the present or the past ("it would be happening", "it should have happened" etc.), the imperfect and aorist tenses of the indicative are used in Ancient Greek.

Over the centuries, the optative mood became more and more rarely used, and it has disappeared in Modern Greek.

The optative of wish or volitive optative expresses wishes for the future: "may it happen!" It is sometimes preceded by εἴθε (eíthe) or εἰ γάρ (ei gár) "if only":

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