Postby stefaniach » November 30th, 2017 3:01 am
Hi Dunn,
Thank you for asking this.
Ικανοποιημένος is a perfect tense, passive voice participle of the verb ικανοποιώ (to satisfy). You can tell that by its -μένος ending which is a characteristic of that type of participle.
The word "satisfied" can also be a past participle in English just like the verb form "gone" (go, went, gone / satisfy, satisfied, satisfied). Such participles can function as adjectives in speech. That's why the Greek perfect tense, passive voice participles have 3 genders. For example, ικανοποιημένος, ικανοποιημένη, ικανοποιημένο. Maybe in English it's OK to consider such a word as an adjective depending on its use within a sentence, however in Greek, it will be always considered for what it really is; a participle.
That said, it doesn't mean that an adjective in English will always translate to an adjective in Greek. For example the word "sad" (100% adjective) translates as λυπημένος, another participle from the verb λυπούμαι (to be sad/sorry).
This mismatch is quite common and happens to other word types as well. For example an English verb might translate to a whole phrase in Greek if there's no equivalent verb.
I think it's better not to consider the transitiveness or reflexiveness of a verb in this case, as they are irrelevant.
If you want to learn more about the Greek participles, have a look at lessons 1-4 of the Upper Intermediate audio series. And if you have more questions, let me know!
Regards,
Stefania
Team GreekPod101.com