The Greek Verb System: A The Greek Verb System: A Bird’s Eye ViewBird’s Eye View

Chapter 2Chapter 2

Greek LanguageGreek Language

InflectionUnlike 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 Rather than Inflection, English verbs depend on Independent verbs depend on Independent Pronouns to indicate number, Pronouns to indicate number,

gender, etc.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 Greek verbs, however, to indicate gender, number, etc., are inflected.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 GrammarEnglish 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 GrammarEnglish 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 tenseNote: 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 GrammarEnglish 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- MoodsGreek Verbs- Moods

Mood is the way a speaker/writer chooses to

affirm the reality or unreality of an action

Greek Verbs- MoodsGreek 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- VoiceGreek 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- VoiceGreek 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 TenseGreek 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.

AspectAspect

“. . . The view of the action that the speaker/writer chooses to present to

the hearer.”

Greek TensesGreek TensesTense 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 AspectsGreek Aspects“. . . The view of the action that the speaker/writer “. . . The view of the action that the speaker/writer

chooses to present to the hearer.”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)Greek Tense (Aspect)

Time of Action

Kind of Action PastPast PresentPresent FutureFuture

ImperfectiveImperfective Imperfect

I was loving

Present

I am loving

Future

I will be loving

AoristicAoristic Aorist

I loved

Present

I love

Future

I will love

PerfectivePerfective Pluperfect

I had loved

Perfect

I have loved

Future Perfect

I will have loved

Essentially, there are 3 tenses in Essentially, there are 3 tenses in Greek: Past, Present, and Future.Greek: Past, Present, and Future.

All others are variations of one of All others are variations of one of these 3, depending on how the these 3, depending on how the

writer/speaker wishes to writer/speaker wishes to communicate the kind of action communicate the kind of action

taking place.taking place.