Lesson 3: Present Active Indicative

In Greek, as in English, there are different parts of speech: verbs, which are words that describe action; nouns, which name objects; and adjectives, which modify nouns. There are other parts of speech which we will discuss later. For now, we will focus on one particular type of verb.

When one talks about Greek verbs one must be very clear as to which kind of verb one is talking about. Greek verbs, you see, have "Tense", which describes both kind and time of action. They also have "Voice", which indicates whether the subject of the verb is acting (active voice) or being acted upon (passive voice). Greek verbs also have "Mood", which shows the verb's relation to reality. And finally, Greek verbs also have number (singular or plural). We will see many examples of aong; so do not worry now about whether or not you fully grasp these ideas. You will!!!!

The first kind of verb we will discuss is the one which occurs most often in the New Testament: Present, Active, Indicative. That is, the tense is present (describing action taking place now), the voice is active (meaning that the verb's subject is acting and not being acted upon), and the mood is indicative (which demonstrates true reality). Present, Active, Indicative verbs are translated by a present tense English verb. (See the examples below in the vocabulary).

Before we go any further, the following words will need to be memorized by the student for vocabulary. These words occur very frequently in the New Testament.

γινωσκω = I know

γραφω = I write

διδασκω = I teach

ἐγειρω = I raise up, lift up

λαμβανω = I receive, take to myself

λεγω = I say, I speak

πεμπω = I send

φερω = I bear, I carry, I bring

ASSIGNMENT: Memorize these vocabulary words and learn to correctly pronounce them.

You will notice that each of these verbs ends with the letter w. And they are all translated by "I...." In Greek, the verb called the present, active, indicative, always ends with the following endings (called conjugations):

-ω = I ...

-εις = you ...

-ει = he, she or it, depending on the context

-ομεν = we...

-ετε = you

-ουσι= they

-ειν = infinitive

Thus, to learn to recognize the Present, Active, Indicative, you simply need to recognize the verbal ending. You can take any of the verbs ending, add the endings above, and have the correct conjugation.

For instance:

λεγω = I say

λεγεις = You say

λεγει = He, she or it (depending on the contexts) says

λεγομεν = We say

λεγετε = You say

λεγουσι = They say

λεγειν = to say

ASSIGNMENT: Take each of the verbs from the vocabulary above and conjugate them, then translate them.

Example:

διδασκ + ω = I teach

διδασκ + εις = you teach

διδασκ + ει = he, she or it teaches

διδασκ + ομεν = we teach

διδασκ + ετε = you teach

διδασκ + ουσι = they teach

διδασκ + ειν = to teach

Now, do the rest of the verbs for yourself (but don't include the + marker, it is simply there to show you how conjugation is done).