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Related patterns of verbs are known as conjugations. The entire Greek verb system may be divided into two basic conjugations: the –w conjugation and the –mi conjugation. These terms refer to the ending of the first person singular suffix in the present active indicative. The older but much smaller of the two systems is the –mi conjugation. The most common –mi verb is eijmiv (I am), used about 2,500 times in the Greek New Testament. However, the great majority of New Testament verbs belong to the –w conjugation. Mastering this conjugation is therefore essential before attempting to read the Greek New Testament. This lesson introduces the conjugations of luvw (I loose) in the present and future active indicative and the conjugation of eijmiv (I am) in the present indicative.
Greek has separate sets of person-number suffixes for the Primary tenses, which deal with Present and future time, and for the secondary tenses, which are oriented to the Past. The Greek Primary tenses are the present, the future, the perfect and the future Perfect. In the active indicative, the Primary suffixes are:
In addition, Greek adds a vowel before the suffixes –mev and –Te. This vowel,
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Singular
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Plural
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1st person
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–w I
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–men we
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2nd person
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–ei~ you
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–te you
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3rd person
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–ei he, she, it
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–ousi(n) they
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known as a connecting vowel, or neutral morpheme, functions as a phonological cushion between the verb stem and the suffix. It is added solely for the sake of pronunciation and does not affect meaning. The connecting vowel is o before m and n, and e before all other letters.
The primary suffixes and connecting vowels are used in the formation of the present and future active indicative tenses. (see chart in second column). Note that the main feature distinguishing these two paradigms is their stems. By removing the –w from luvw, we obtain the present stem lu-. The conjugation of the present active indicative of any –w verb can be obtained by (a) substituting the present stem of that verb for lu– and then (b) adding the primary active suffixes along with the appropriate connecting vowels. Thus, for example, the present active indicative of gravfw (I write) is: gravfw, gravfei~, gravfei, gravfomen, gravfete, gravfousi(n).
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Present
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Future
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Singular
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1st person
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luvw I loose
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luvsw I will loose
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2nd person
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luvei~ you loose
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luvsei~ you will loose
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3rd person
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luvei he looses
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luvsei he will loose
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Singular
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1st person
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luvomen we loose
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luvsomen we will loose
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2nd person
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luvete you loose
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luvsete you will loose
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3rd person
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luvousi(n) they loose
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luvsousi(n) they will loose
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By removing –w from luvsw, we obtain the future stem luvs-. Notice that Greek indicates future time by adding a s is called future time morpheme and is equivalent in meaning to the English auxiliary verb “will.” Thus the analysis of luvsomen (we will loose) would be lu (lexical morpheme), –s– (future time morpheme), –o– (neutral morpheme), and –men (person-number suffix). This may also be shown graphically as follows (the symbol # refers to “zero” significance):
lu + s + o + men = luvsomen
loose + will + # + we = we will loose
Observe that the only difference between the forms of the present tense and the future tense is that the future tense forms contain the future time morpheme s.
When the stem of a verb ends in a consonant, a phonological change called amalgamation will occur when the future time morpheme x is attached:
1. p or b or f + s forms the double consonant y. Thus the future of pevmpw (I send) is pevmyw.
2. k or g or c + s forms the double consonant x. Thus the future of a[gw (I lead) is a[xw.
3. T or d or q drop out before s. Thus the future of peivqw (I trust in) is peivsw. If the verb stem is different rom the present stem (as is sometimes the case), the future time morpheme s is added to the verb stem instead of the present stem. For example, the verb stem of khruvssw (I preach) is not khruvss– but khruk-. From khruk– is formed the future khruvxw by the rules given above (khruk + sw = khruvxw).
Notice that each Greek verb has a built-in internal subject. When an external subject for a verb is given, the internal subject is not translated. Thus luvei is “he looses,” but ¾Ihsouß~ luvei is “Jesus looses,” not “Jesus he looses.” Since pronoun suffixes do not indicate gender, luvei may also be translated “she looses” or “it looses,” depending on the context.
Notice also that Greek distinguishes between second person singular and second person plural, a distinction not made by English. See, for example, John 4:20, where the Samaritan woman says to Jesus: “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you [plural: “you Jews”] say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Greek does not, however, have familiar and polite forms of the second person as in French, German and other languages. A slave and a master would have addressed each other in the second person singular.
Finally, observe that the phoneme n is sometimes added to the third person plural suffix –susi, especially before a word beginning with a vowel or at the end of a clause or sentence, as in luvousin ajnqrwvpou~, “they loose men.” This usage is called movable n. As with “a” and “an” in English (for example, “an apple”), this type of phonetic modification does not affect the meaning of the individual word or morpheme.
Next issue, we will continue our study of these conjugations.
This column is an adaptation of the author’s Learn to Read New Testament Greek (Nashville: Broadman, forthcoming). It is used with permission of the publishers.
