Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon

A.in combination with Conjunctions and Relatives.

B.in Apodosis.

C.in Iterative sentences.

A.in combinations with Conjunctions and Relatives:

I.such words are regularly foll. by the subj., viz. ἐάν (= εἰ ἄν) ἤν, ἄν , ἐπήν; ὃς ἄν quicunque, πρὶν ἄν, etc.; ἐπειδάν, ὅταν, ὁπόταν: the protasis generally has a fut. in apodosis, εἰ δέ κεν ὣς ἔρξηις, γνώσηι if perchance thou do thus, thou shalt know, Il.

II.in epic sometimes with Opt., ὥς κε δοίη ὧι κ᾽ ἐθέλοι that he might give her to whomsoever he might please, Od.: in such cases κε or ἄν does not affect the Verb.

III.in epic, sometimes with εἰ and Ind., οἵ κέ με τιμήσουσι Il.

IV.in late Greek, ἐάν, etc., take Ind., ἐὰν οἴδαμεν NTest.

B.combined IN APODOSIS with the Verb, denoting that the assertion is dependent on some condition; ἦλθεν he came, ἦλθεν ἄν he would have come; ἔλθοι may he come, ἔλθοι ἄν he would come:

I.with Ind.:

1.with imperf. and aor., the protasis implies non-fulfilment of a condition, and the apod. expresses what would be or would have been the case if the condition were or had been fulfilled. The imperf. with ἄν refers to continued action in present or past time, the aor. generally to action in past time; οὐκ ἂν νήσων ἐκράτει, εἰ μὴ ναυτικὸν εἶχεν he would not have been master of islands if he had not had a fleet, Thuc.; εἰ ταύτην ἔσχε τὴν γνώμην, οὐδὲν ἂν ἔπραξεν if he had come to this opinion, he would have accomplished nothing, Dem.:—the protasis is often understood, οὐ γὰρ ἦν ὅ τι ἂν ἐποιεῖτε for there was nothing which you could have done (i. e. if you had tried), id=Dem.:—hence the Ind. with ἄν represents a potential mood; ἦλθε τοῦτο τοὔνειδος τάχ᾽ ἄν this reproach might perhaps have come, Soph.

2.in epic, with fut. ind., so as to modify the simple fut.; καί κέ τις ὧδ᾽ ἐρέει and some one will perchance speak thus, Il.

II.with Subj., in epic, much like fut. ind., εἰ δέ κε μὴ δώηισιν, ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι, i. e. I will take her myself, id=Il.

III.with Opt.:

1.after protasis in opt. with εἰ or some relative word, εἴ μοί τι πίθοιο, τό κεν πολὺ κέρδιον εἴη if he should obey me, it would be much better, id=Il.; sometimes with ind. in protasis, καί νύ κεν ἔνθ᾽ ἀπόλοιτο, εἰ μὴ νόησε he would have perished, had she not perceived, id=Dem.:—sometimes the tense in protasis is pres. or fut., and the opt. with ἄν in apodosis= fut., φρούριον εἰ ποιήσονται, βλάπτοιεν ἄν if they shall build a fort, they might perhaps damage, Thuc.

2.the protasis is often understood: τὸν δ᾽ οὔ κε δύ᾽ ἀνέρε ὀχλίσσειαν two men could not heave the stone (i. e. if they should try), Il.:—hence the opt. with ἄν becomes a potential mood, βουλοίμην ἄν I should like, Lat. velim (but ἐβουλόμην ἄν I should wish, if it were of any avail, vellem).

3.the opt. with ἄν comes to have the force of a mild command or entreaty, χωροῖς ἂν εἴσω you may go in, Soph.; κλύοις ἂν ἤδη hear me now, id=Soph.

IV.with inf. and part.:—the pres. inf. or part. represents imperf. ind., φησὶν αὐτοὺς ἐλευθέρους ἂν εἶναι, εἰ τοῦτο ἔπραξαν he says they would (now) be free, if they had done this, Dem.; ἀδυνάτων ἂν ὄντων [ὑμῶν] ἐπιβοηθεῖν when you would have been unable to assist, Thuc.;—or represents pres. opt., φησὶν αὐτοὺς ἐλευθέρους ἂν εἶναι, εἰ τοῦτο πράξειαν he says they would (hereafter) be free, if they should do this, Xen.;—the aor. inf. or part. represents aor. ind. or opt., οὐκ ἂν ἡγεῖσθ᾽ αὐτὸν κἂν ἐπιδραμεῖν; do you not think he would even have run thither? Dem.; οὐδ᾽ ἂν κρατῆσαι αὐτοὺς τῆς γῆς ἡγοῦμαι I think they would not even be masters of the land, Thuc.; οὔτε ὄντα οὔτε ἂν γενόμενα, i. e. things which are not and never could happen, id=Thuc.:—so the perf. (or plup.) inf. or partic., πάντα ταῦθ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἂν ἑαλωκέναι [φήσειεν ἄν] he would say that all these would have been destroyed by the barbarians, Dem.

C.with imperf. and aor. ind. in the ITERATIVE construction, to express a condition fulfilled whenever an opportunity offered; εἶτα πῦρ ἂν οὐ παρῆν then there would be no fire at hand, i. e. there never was, Soph.; διηρώτων ἂν αὐτοὺς τί λέγοιεν Plat.

D.GENERAL REMARKS:

I.Position of ἄν.

1.ἄν may be separated from its inf. by such verbs as οἴομαι, δοκέω, so that ἄν has the appearance of belonging to the pres. ind., καὶ νῦν ἡδέως ἄν μοι δοκῶ κοινωνῆσαι I think that I should, Xen.:—in the peculiar case of οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ἂν εἰ, ἄν belongs not to οἶδα but to the Verb which follows, οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ἂν εἰ πείσαιμι ῀ οὐκ οἶδα εἰ πείσαιμι ἄν, Eur.

2.ἄν never begins a sentence.

II.Repetition of ἄν:— in apodosis ἄν may be repeated with the same verb, ὥστ᾽ ἄν, εἰ σθένος λάβοιμι, δηλώσαιμ᾽ ἄν Soph.