Lesson 9 | Μι Indicatives
[1] One Key to Recognizing Μι Verbs
Learn the verbal roots
(The Μι Verb Key)
You have already encountered verbs that change their stem in various tenses. Each of those stems are built from the verbal root.
Root: The most basic form of a verb
Stem: The most basic form of a verb in a given tense¹
Μι verbs are typically built directly on the verbal root. Recognizing that root is essential. For example, consider several forms of δίδωμι:
δώσω
δότω
διδόνται
δοθήσεται
ἐδίδου
ἔδωκεν
If you only know the lexical form, δίδωμι, you might never recognize δώσω as the same word. However, if you know that the root for δίδωμι is {δο}, and learn the four rules on the next step, then you will have no problem. So, I encourage you to learn the root along with the lexical form for μι verbs.
Verbal roots for the most common μι verbs:
- δίδωμι > {δο}
- ἵστημι > {στα}
- τίθημι > {θε}
- ἀφίημι > {ίη}² This root only occurs in the NT with a prepositional prefix, so look for the forms αφιη*, αφε*, and αφη*
Of course, εἴμι is also a very common μι verb. But because it is so irregular, we have provided its various tense forms with each lesson.
Take a look at the list of examples from δίδωμι again. While some of these forms may look odd to you, do you recognize any key features that changed with each form?
For example,
Augment
[ἔ]δωκεν
Reduplication
[δι]δόνται
Tense Former
δώ[σ]ω
Ending Pattern
δοθήσ[εται]
The next step will cover four rules to help you recognize all these forms.