Lesson 7 | Greek Verbs and Present (Imperfective) Participles

Grammar Point 1: Intro to Greek Verbs

It is not a small feat that you made it this far into the course. We have finished learning the basics of the non-verb parts of Koine Greek. Now, we are ready to start learning about verbs. Take some time to thank our Lord that he has helped us make it this far and ask him to help us keep learning. 
As we learn Greek verbs, we will use the verb λύω as our paradigm verb. Greek verbs, like Greek nouns, change their form (inflect) to communicate different roles and functions. Here are a few examples of λύω in different forms (you do not need to memorize these).


As you look at this table, you should notice at least three things.
First, notice how many different forms there are. This is just a small sample of all the forms that one particular verb can take. So, like we did with nouns, we will not memorize the different forms of each verb. Instead, we will learn the basic elements of each tense-form. This will allow you to parse specific verbs in their NT context.
Second, notice the different color-coded elements of each verb form in this table. Do you notice any elements that stay the same? For λύω, the stem (λυ) stays the same in each of these different forms. Also, each form has a red ending. These endings communicate the verb’s person and number. Do you notice any elements that change between the different forms? There are many differences, like the augment at the beginning of some forms or the aspect marker (blue) in the middle of some forms or the reduplication (purple) at the beginning of others.
Third, note that each part of the verb form works to communicate something about the verb’s meaning. The stem communicates the verb’s lexical meaning, the augment communicates time, and the aspect marker communicates the specific tense-form. 
If you feel overwhelmed about all that there is to learn, that is okay. You do not need to remember everything right now. However, there are a few things that you need to learn now.

1. Koine Greek verbs have six parts
Stem: The verb’s lexical core that communicates its meaning (λύω)
Tense-form: How the speaker portrays the verb’s action (aspect - see #2 below)
Present (λύω - I am untying)
Imperfect (ἔλυον - I was untying)
Aorist (ἔλυσα - I untied)
Future (λύσω - I will untie)
Perfect (λέλυκα - I have untied)
Pluperfect (ἐλελύκειν - I had untied)
Voice: The subject’s relationship to the verb’s action
Active - The subject does the verb’s action (He hits the ball).*
Middle - The subject is affected by the verb’s action (He hits himself).
Passive - The subject receives the verb’s action (He was hit by the ball).
Mood: How the speaker portrays the verb’s relationship to reality**
Indicative - The speaker portrays the verb’s action as a reality (He did this).
Subjunctive - The speaker portrays the verb’s action as a possibility (He might do this).
Imperative - The speaker portrays the verb’s action as a command (Do this!).
Optative***
Person: The speaker’s relation to the verb’s subject
First Person (ἔγω/ἡμεῖς)
Second Person (σύ/ὑμεῖς)
Third Person (all other nouns and pronouns)
Number: The number of the verb’s subject
Singular (ἔγω/σύ/αὐτός)
Plural (ἡμεῖς/ὑμεῖς/αὐτοί)

* Note that some verbs (like ἔρχομαι) do not occur in the active voice. You will know this from the verb’s lexical form. When you learn new vocabulary, verbs that end in -ομαι normally occur as middle or passive voice verbs.
** I based the Mood definitions on Daniel Wallace’s Greek Grammar: Beyond the Basics, pages 442–493.
*** In Koine Greek, the subjunctive mood had mostly replaced this mood. It does not often occur in the Greek NT.

2. Aspect and Greek Verbs


For Greek verbs, aspect is the dominant feature (although time is part of Greek verbs in the indicative mood). Aspect is viewpoint. It is the way that an author invites us to view the verb’s action. Koine Greek scholars are divided right now over the number of aspects in Koine Greek. Most argue that there are three aspects (perfective, imperfective, and stative). Others argue that there are only two aspects (perfective and imperfective). This class takes the view that there are three aspects: perfective, imperfective, and stative. Once you learn Koine Greek, I encourage you to read Chapter 5 in Dr. Con Campbell’s Advances in the Study of New Testament Greek to learn more as well as Chapter 7 in Going Deeper with New Testament Greek by Dr. Andreas Kostenberger, Dr. Benjamin Merkle, and Dr. Rob Plummer. 
An author used perfective aspect to describe the action as a whole. The author invites us to view the action from the outside. He shows us that the action happened, and so we see the whole action with its beginning, middle, and end. 
An author used imperfective aspect to describe the action as it is happening. With imperfective aspect, the author invites us to view the action from within. We do not see the whole action from start to finish. Instead, we see part of the action as it is happening. 
An author used stative aspect to describe the state that resulted from an action. With stative aspect, the author invites us to focus on the results of what has happened.
Perfective aspect is like seeing that the hour hand on a clock moved. Imperfective aspect is like looking at a clock from the inside and watching the gears grind while the hour hand is moving. Stative aspect is like hearing the clock chime because the hour hand has moved.


In the indicative mood, the Koine Greek tense-forms communicate aspect as well as time. Remember though, Greek verbs communicate time only in the indicative. This table explains how each tense-form communicates aspect and time in the indicative mood.


You do not need to master this table now. However, you do need to be aware that Greek tense-forms communicate aspect. You also need to start identifying a tense-form with its aspect (i.e., the present tense-form is imperfective). 

Note
Are you wondering why the perfect is “non-past?” There are two reasons. First, Greek verbs communicate past time only in the indicative mood through an augment at the beginning of the word. This usually takes the form of an ε. You can see this ε in all the past time tense-forms in the chart. The perfect does not have an augment, and so it is not marked for past time. Second, the stative aspect focuses on the resulting state of the verb’s action. The Greek perfect tense-form is non-past (even if we think of the verb’s action as a past event in English) because its aspect focuses us on the resulting state. In the perfect indicative, this resulting state is non-past. In the pluperfect, it is past.

Advances in the Study of Greek: New Insights for Reading the New Testamentby Constantine R. Campbell

Going Deeper with New Testament Greek: An Intermediate Study of the Grammar and Syntax of the New Testamentby Andreas J. Köstenberger, Benjamin L. Merkle, and Robert L. Plummer