Lesson 1 | Present Indicatives
[2] εἰμί in the Present Indicative
Let’s look at one final example. As we do, you will need to learn the forms of a common and important irregular verb: εἰμί (I am).
καὶ ὃς οὐ λαμβάνει τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μου, οὐκ ἔστιν μου ἄξιος. And whoever does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. —Matthew 10:38
Let’s look at λαμβάνει first.
λαμβαν+ει
[Augment]
[Stem]
[Tense-Former]
[Ending]
Again, the stem along with the lack of augment and tense-former tell us that this is a present tense-form from λαμβάνω. Like the last example, the ending tells us that this is an active, indicative, third person, singular form. So, we can put that all together and parse λαμβάνει as a present, active, indicative, third person, singular from λαμβάνω: “he takes” or “he is taking.”
Now, let’s look at ἀκολουθεῖ.
ακολουθε+ει
[Augment]
[Stem]
[Tense-Former]
[Ending]
We have a present stem and no augment or tense-former along with the ει ending (note the vowel merger here: ακολουθε+ει=ἀκολουθεῖ). This is a present, active, indicative, third person, singular from ἀκολουθέω: “he follows” or “he is following.”
Finally, we have ἔστιν.
This verb comes from εἰμί (“I am”), an irregular verb. Since it is so common, you need to memorize its present tense forms. As you do, note two things:
- This verb does not have either an active or passive voice, but rather is what we call “stative.”
- The plural endings for εἰμί are similar to the plural endings for the primary active verb pattern.