| Components
of the Greek Verb |
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A verb is a word that expresses an action or state of being (e.g., to run
or to be). There are five components of a Greek verb.
(1) Tense: that quality of verbs which has to do with two facets
of action:
(a) TIME of action
1 past (e.g., I ran)
2 present (e.g., I am running)
3 future (e.g., I shall run)
(b) KIND of action (i.e., aspect)
1 imperfective aspect focuses on the process or duration of the
action (e.g, I am running).
2 perfective aspect focuses on the state or condition resulting from
a completed action (e.g., I have run).
3 aoristic aspect presents the action as a whole, without
highlighting its precise nature (e.g., I ran).
Read Black (Learn §15) for a more detailed discussion of
aspect.
(2) Voice: that quality of verbs which describes the
relationship of the subject to the action:
(a) ACTIVE: the subject is doing the action (e.g., The Lord glorifies
his name).
(b) PASSIVE: the subject is receiving the action or is being acted upon
(e.g., The Lord is being glorified).
(c) MIDDLE: the subject is pictured as acting in his or her own interest
(e.g., I am washing myself).
(3) Mood: that quality of verbs which describes the relation of
the action to reality from the vantage point of the narrator or speaker:
(a) INDICATIVE: action
viewed as real from the perspective
of the speaker (e.g., The Lord is risen).
(b) IMPERATIVE: action
viewed as potential, and is
contingent upon the subject's response to a command (e.g.,
"Take up your bed and walk").
(c) SUBJUNCTIVE: the action is viewed as probable or contingent,
often present in a conditional statement (e.g., "If you abide
in me...").
(d) OPTATIVE: action
viewed as possible, perhaps unlikely. Usually it is found within a wishful statement or prayer (e.g.,
"Oh, that man might seek my face and live").
(4) Person: that quality of verbs which describes where the
subject is in relation to what is being said in the sentence:
(a) FIRST person: the subject is speaking (e.g., "I am the
light of the world").
(b) SECOND person: the subject is being spoken to (e.g., "You,
Lord, have the words of eternal life").
(c) THIRD person: the subject is being spoken about (e.g., "He
is the Christ").
(5) Number: that quality of verbs which indicates whether the
subject is singular (e.g., he is loosing) or plural (e.g., they
are loosing)
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| Parsing
Present Active Indicative Verbs |
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To parse (or analyze) a verb is to identify its tense, voice, mood, person,
and number, and also provide its lexical form. There are three simple steps to
learning how to parse:
(1) Understand this configuration of personal pronouns:
| |
Singular |
Plural |
| 1 |
I |
we |
| 2 |
you |
you |
| 3 |
he, she, it |
they |
(2) Learn this corresponding configuration of present active indicative personal
endings:
| |
Singular |
Plural |
| 1 |
w |
omen |
| 2 |
eij |
ete |
| 3 |
ei |
ousi$n% |
The two preceding tables may be
superimposed:
| |
Singular |
Plural |
| 1 |
w |
I |
omen |
we |
| 2 |
eij |
you |
ete |
you |
| 3 |
ei |
he, she, it |
ousi$n% |
they |
Remember that these are present
active indicative endings. The present active indicative depicts action as though it
were presently being
performed by the subject.
(3) Finally, determine the personal suffix affixed to the stem of the
verb form under analysis. A stem
is also called a lexal, because it is this morpheme with which the meaning of a
word is associated (for a definition
of morpheme, see Black, Learn §3).
Usually you can discover the stem of a verb by slicing off the w
from its lexical entry (i.e., the form of the verb that appears in a
lexicon). This, of course, applies to verbs belonging to the omega
conjugation.
Then you will be able to determine what pres act ind personal suffix is
attached to the form you are analyzing.
| Present tense form: |
le,gete |
| Lexical entry: |
levgw |
| Remove the omega to find stem: |
levg |
Determine what pres act ind
personal ending is attached: |
levg w
le,g eij
le,g ei |
le,g omen
le,g ete
le,g ousi$n% |
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| Using
a Parsing Form |
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A parsing form provides a convenient format to identify
a verb's tense, voice, mood, person, number, and provide its lexical
entry. Here are some examples:
| Form |
Tense |
Voice |
Mood |
Person |
Number |
Lexical
Entry |
| a;gei |
pres |
act |
ind |
3 |
sg |
a;gw |
I lead |
| lu,ete |
pres |
act |
ind |
2 |
pl |
lu,w |
I loose |
| e;comen |
pres |
act |
ind |
1 |
pl |
e;cw |
I have |
| pisteu,ousi |
pres |
act |
ind |
3 |
pl |
pisteu,w |
I believe |
| ble,peij |
pres |
act |
ind |
2 |
sg |
ble,pw |
I see |
Under Lexical Entry one must provide the
form of the verb that occurs in a lexicon, as well as a gloss (i.e., a common
definition of the word).
When you parse a verb aloud, you should speak as in the following example for
ble,peij:
Present active indicative second person singular, from
ble,pw,
"I see."
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| Translating
Present Active Indicative Verbs |
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In order to translate a present active indicative verb you have to know two
things:
(1) You must be able to immediately recognize the meaning of the stem of the
verb in question.
In other words, you should be able to determine that the
lexical entry for gra,fei is
gra,fw
(I write).
(2) You must be able to recognize what present active indicative personal
ending appears at the end of the word. You should be able to visualize where
this ending falls in the present active indicative ending table. For
example, the ending ei in
gra,fei is found in the first column, third row: hence, pres act ind 3 sg from gra,fw,
"I write." This may be translated: he
(or she) writes |
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| Uses
of the Present Tense |
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The present active indicative verb gra,fei may be translated in at least
two
ways:
(1) Simple present: he writes.
This would be an appropriate translation in contexts
that call for aoristic aspect.
(2) Progressive present: he is writing.
This would be an appropriate translation in contexts
that call for imperfective
aspect.
There are many more uses of the present tense. Read more about them in Black,
Learn §22 and Still Greek, 107.
It must be kept in mind that the
various uses of tenses in Greek are not innate or inherent to the
tenses themselves. A particular usage springs from a number of
converging factors such as verb tense, the semantic range of words,
and literary context (or co-text).
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