Lesson 7 | Greek Verbs and Present (Imperfective) Participles
Review
This lesson introduced you to Greek verbs. You learned that:
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.
Remember, Greek verbs communicate time only in the indicative mood.
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)
2. The Koine Greek verbal system has three aspects
Imperfective: Describes part of the action as it is happening.
Perfective: Describes the whole action (from beginning to end), that it happened.
Stative: Focuses on the results of the action, that it has happened.
3. Participles are verbal adjectives
Adverbial participles use the main verb’s subject and occur in the nominative case
Genitive absolutes are adverbial participles that use a different subject and occur in the genitive case
Adjectival participles function like adjectives
I hear; I understand; I obey (verb)
I want; I will; I desire (verb)
I call; I invite; I name (verb)
I believe; I trust (verb)