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The Greek Verb System: A Bird’s Eye View Chapter 2 Greek Language Inflection Unlike English, Greek verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, participles, et al, are highly inflected, i.e., they undergo changes to indicate gender, case, number, etc. Rather than Inflection, English verbs depend on Independent Pronouns to indicate number, gender, etc. Singular Plural 1st Person I have We have 2nd Person You have Y’alI have 3rd Person He, she, it has They have Greek verbs, however, to indicate gender, number, etc., are inflected. e[cw I have e[comen We have e[ceiV You have e[cete Y’all have e[cei He has e[cousi They have All finite Greek verbs have 2 parts: a stem and one or more affixes (in the form of a prefix, suffix, or infix). English Grammar • Verb – a word that describes action or state of being. – I am studying Greek. – Greek is the language of the New Testament. • Person – First (I, we) – Second (you) – Third (he, she, it, they) • Number – either singular or plural – I am the teacher. – You are the students. • Agreement – A verb must agree with its subject in person and number. English Grammar • Mood – Indicates the manner in which an assertion is made • Tense – In English, tense refers to time of action – I study – present tense – I will study – future tense – I studied – past tense Note: the time of the verb is from the standpoint of the speaker/writer, not the reader. • Aspect - What is the difference between: – I studied last night. – I was studying last night. – The difference is in the kind of action: completed versus continuous. English Grammar • Voice – refers to the relationship between the subject and the verb. – Active – the subject does the action of the verb. • Bill hit the ball. – Passive – the subject receives the action of the verb. • Bill was hit by the ball. Greek Verbs- Moods Mood is the way a speaker/writer chooses to affirm the reality or unreality of an action Greek Verbs- Moods • Indicative [affirmation] • Imperative [command] • Subjunctive [contingency] • Infinitive [verbal expression w/o limits of person & number] • Optative [request or desire] (not widely used in NT) Greek Verbs- Voice Voice is the way in which the speaker/writer chooses to relate the grammatical subject of a verb to the action of the verb. Greek Verbs- Voice •Active – Action completed by the subject of the verb •Passive – Subject receives the action of the verb •Middle - The subject acts in some way upon itself or to itself. Greek Tense “Unlike English, the most significant feature of tense in Greek is kind of action. A secondary consideration is . . . time of action [and this only in the indicative mood].” As a result, much more significant in Greek is how a speaker/writer portrays the action as it relates to aspect and, secondarily, time. Aspect “. . . The view of the action that the speaker/writer chooses to present to the hearer.” Greek Tenses Tense Active Voice Passive Voice Present I study I am being studied Future I will study I will be studied Imperfect I was studying I was being studied Aorist I studied I was studied Perfect I have studied I have been studied Pluperfect I had studied I had been studied Future Perfect I will have studied I will have been studied Greek Aspects “. . . The view of the action that the speaker/writer chooses to present to the hearer.” • Imperfective –Focus: process or duration of action • Perfective –Focus: state or condition resulting from a completed action • Aoristic –Focus: entire verbal idea, w/o comment on process or result of action Note: “The aoristic is the normal . . . aspect in Greek. A deviation from the aoristic to another aspect is generally exegetically significant.” (p. 13) Greek Tense (Aspect) Time of Action Kind of Action Past Present Future Imperfective Imperfect I was loving Present I am loving Future I will be loving Aoristic Aorist I loved Present I love Future I will love Perfective Pluperfect I had loved Perfect I have loved Future Perfect I will have loved Essentially, there are 3 tenses in Greek: Past, Present, and Future. All others are variations of one of these 3, depending on how the writer/speaker wishes to communicate the kind of action taking place.
