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Koine Greek: Verbs

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A verb is a "doing word" like Γραφω, which means "I am writing".

Verbs in Koine Greek
RELATED TOPICS
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS
CONTENTS

In Koine Greek there are numerous aspects to the verb that don't exist in English, and it takes a significant amount of time to become familiar with all the uses of the verbs.

Grammatical components of a verb in Greek

The root or stem of a verb can be modified to give it different meanings. A verb has the following components

  • Person
    • First Person (I or we)
    • Second Person (You)
    • Third Person (He / she / it or they)
  • Number
    • Singular
    • Plural
  • Tense
  • Voice
    • Active
    • Middle
    • Passive
  • Mood
    • Indicative - simple statement
    • Imperative - a command
    • Subjunctive - possible or potential

For example, the verb Γραφω means "I am writing" or "I write"

  • First person - the subject is the person who says the word
  • Singular - the subject refers to one person, not a group
  • Present - the verb describe an action that is occurring or ongoing, i.e. it has a continuous action; usually it implies (but not always) the action is occurring in the present time
  • Active - the subject is doing the verb
  • Indicative

Tense of a verb

The tense of a verb has two component

  • Time
  • Aspect

Time may be either past, present or future, and tends to be the most important part of a verb's tense in English

Aspect refers to the how the action unfolds, and tends to be the most important part of a verb in Koine Greek. Aspect may be either

  • Undefined
  • Continuous
  • Resultative

Contents

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