Ancient Greek for Everyone:
A New Digital Resource for
Beginning Greek
Unit 7:
Introduction to -ω verbs
2013 edition
Wilfred E. Major
wmajor@lsu.edu
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This class
AGE Unit 7: Introduction to -ω verbs
• This unit introduces -ω verbs,
• but first: Review Greek verbs from Unit 2.
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• From Unit 2: A Greek verb by itself usually
communicates FIVE pieces of information:
– Person
– Number
– Tense
– Mood
– Voice
PARSING: To “parse” a Greek verb means to identify the
above five qualities about a specific verb form.
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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb
• To begin building a Greek verb, start with the “stem.”
• The stem tells you what action the verb describes:
δεικ = “show”
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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb
• All the verbs in this unit are in the present tense.
• So the stem needs a marker that says the verb is in the
present tense.
• Adding a -ν- to the stem typically marks a verb as in the
present tense. It will be easier to pronounce this verb by
adding –νυ–.
• So now the stem looks (and sounds) like this:
– δεικνυ = “show” (in the present)
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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb
• So now the verb is in the present tense.
• The most common mood of Greek verbs is the
indicative (which means the action is real). This is
also effectively the default mood for verbs.
• All the verbs in this unit are in the active voice, so
the following verb forms are
– Present tense
– Indicative mood
– Active voice
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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb
• To indicate person and number, the verb needs distinct
endings, which are as follows:
• -μι = I (1st person singular)
-μεν = we (1st person plural)
• -ς = you (2nd person singular)
-τε = y’all (2nd person plural)
• -σι = (s)he, it (3rd person sing) -ασι = they (3rd person plural)
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• δείκνυμι
– I show, am showing, do
show.
• δείκνυς
• δείκνυμεν
– We show, are showing,
do show.
• δείκνυτε
– You show, are showing,
do show.
• δείκνυσι
– Y’all show, are showing,
do show.
• δεικνύασι
– (S)he/it shows, is
showing, does show.
– They show, are showing,
do show.
Building a Greek Verb
The Present Indicative Active of δείκνυμι
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From Unit 2:
• The second most common mood of Greek verbs is the
infinitive (which refers to the action without person, number
or tense, so it needs only a single ending).
• The ending –ναι signals the verb is in the infinitive.
• δεικνύναι
– “show” in the infinitive mood (mode)
• This form is the present, infinitive, active.
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Conjugating a Greek verb
• The Latin verb conjugare means “join together” and from this
verb “conjugate” means to join a verb stem together with its
endings.
• Thus conjugating the present indicative active of a Greek verb
means saying or writing out all the forms in the present
indicative active.
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Conjugating a Greek verb
• From the practice of conjugating verbs, we can speak of a
“conjugation.” A conjugation is simply a set of verbs that all
use the same endings. You can think of a conjugation as a
verb family or verb type.
• Greek has two conjugations. They are named and identified
by the 1st person singular present active indicative ending
that they use.
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Conjugating a Greek verb
• All the verbs so far use the 1st person singular present
active indicative ending -μι, so they are known as
“-μι verbs.” This is one conjugation.
• This unit introduces the other conjugation, known as
“-ω verbs,” because they use the 1st person singular
present active indicative ending -ω.
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Conjugating a Greek verb
• Greek has two conjugations:
– -μι verbs
– -ω verbs
• Both conjugations build and parse the same way.
They just use somewhat different endings to
designate person and number.
• These two conjugations are not totally separate. Once all the
tenses (past, present and future) are reckoned, all Greek verbs
in fact use a blend of the two conjugations.
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Building a Greek verb
• Remember that, to begin building a Greek verb,
start with the “stem.”
• The stem tells you what action the verb describes:
δεικ = “show”
λυ = “loosen, destroy”
λαβ = “take”
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Building a Greek verb
• All -ω verbs have a sort of buffer sound just before the
verb’s ending. This buffer is a vowel sound called the
“thematic vowel.” -μι verbs do not have this vowel.
• This “thematic vowel” blends with the verb ending in a
stable, consistent way, so you actually learn the thematic
vowel and the verb ending combination together.
• The thematic vowel keeps the verb ending stable. Recall
how some -μι verbs change vowel lengths or make other
changes. -ω verbs are not susceptible to these types of
changes because of the thematic vowel.
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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb
• Recall that almost all the verb forms so far are
– Present tense
– Indicative mood
– Active voice
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Building a Greek verb
• To indicate person and number, -ω verbs need distinct
endings, which are as follows:
• -ω = I (1st person singular)
-ομεν = we (1st person plural)
• -εις = you (2nd person singular) -ετε = y’all (2nd person plural)
• -ει = (s)he, it (3rd person sing) -ουσι = they (3rd person plural)
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Building a Greek verb
• To indicate person and number, -ω verbs need distinct
endings, which are as follows:
• -ω = I (1st person singular)
-ομεν = we (1st person plural)
• -εις = you (2nd person singular) -ετε = y’all (2nd person plural)
• -ει = (s)he, it (3rd person sing) -ουσι = they (3rd person plural)
• Notice that the thematic vowel is an “o” sound in the 1st person
(singular and plural) and the 3rd person plural, but an “e” sound in the
2nd person (singular and plural) and the 3rd person singular.
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• λύω
• λύομεν
– I loosen, destroy.
• λύεις
– We loosen, destroy.
• λύετε
– You loosen, destroy.
• λύει
– Y’all loosen, destroy.
• λύουσι
– (S)he/it loosens, destroy.
– They loosen, destroy.
Building a Greek Verb
The Present Indicative Active of λύω
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• The ending –ειν signals that an -ω verb is in the infinitive.
• λύειν
– “loosen, destroy” in the infinitive mood (mode)
• This form is the present, infinitive, active.
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Spell it Like It Sounds!
• Remember: A word ending in -σι can add a final -ν
(“nu-movable”) to make pronunciation easier:
– For example, εἴκοσι εἶσι  εἴκοσιν εἶσιν.
– This added -ν has no meaning; it simply helps
pronunciation.
– For the verb λύω, this means λύουσι can appear as
λύουσιν. It does not affect the parsing, meaning or
translation.
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• From Unit 2: Placing the accent:
– On most Greek words, the “recessive” rule determines the
placement of the accent. This means:
– If the last syllable of the word contains a single short
vowel, the accent “recedes” two syllables:
– δίδοτε
– It can recede only to the last short vowel sound of this
syllable (never to the first part), so the accent appears as an
acute (“/”):
– ἄνθρωπος, δώσετε (= δοόσετε)
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• From Unit 2: Placing the accent:
– On most Greek words, the “recessive” rule determines the
placement of the accent. This means:
– If the word has only two syllables and the last syllable of
the word contains a single short vowel, the accent
“recedes” to the first syllable:
– δότε
– or the first part of a long vowel sound:
– δῶρον (= δόορον)
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• From Unit 2: Placing the accent:
– On most Greek words, the “recessive” rule determines the
placement of the accent. This means:
– If the last syllable of the word contains a long vowel sound,
the accent “recedes” only one syllable:
– διδότω.
– It can recede only to the second part of this syllable, so the
accent always appears as an acute (“/”):
– παραδώσω (= παραδοόσω = παραδοόσοο)
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• VOCABULARY: Although a Greek verb can morph into
many different forms, it is listed in a dictionary (Greek
“lexicon”) under just one form:
– First person
– Singular
– Present
– Indicative
– Active
• For example: λύω set free, destroy
λαμβάνω take
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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Classical
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ἀκούω hear
βουλεύω deliberate, resolve
θύω sacrifice
κελεύω order
κωλύω prevent
λύω loosen, destroy
παύω stop
πιστεύω trust, rely on, believe in
πορεύω carry; (mid.) go, march
φύω produce
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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament)
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ἀκούω hear
ἀπολύω release, divorce, forgive
θεραπεύω heal, serve
κλαίω cry out
λύω loosen, destroy
περισσεύω be left over, increase, exceed
πιστεύω trust, rely on, believe in
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Building a Greek verb
• All the verbs so far are in the present tense.
• Like some -μι verbs, some -ω verbs have a specific marker
to indicate that the verb is in the present tense.
• As for -μι verbs, adding a -ν- to the stem typically marks a
verb as in the present tense. To make a verb easier to
pronounce, the stem often adds –αν– rather than –ν– by
itself.
• For example, this stem looks (and sounds) like this:
– λαβ = “take”  λαμβαν = “take” (in the present)
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• λαμβάνω
• λαμβάνομεν
– I take.
– We take.
• λαμβάνεις
• λαμβάνετε
– You take.
• λαμβάνει
– (S)he/it takes.
– Y’all take.
• λαμβάνουσι
– They take.
Building a Greek Verb
The Present Indicative Active of λαμβάνω
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• The ending –ειν signals that an -ω verb is in the infinitive.
• λαμβάνειν
– “take” in the infinitive mood (mode)
• This form is the present, infinitive, active.
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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Classical
• ἁμαρτ- ἁμαρτάνω miss, fail, make a mistake
• βη-  βαίνω walk, come, go
– συμβαίνω happen, agree, result
• ἐλα-  ἐλαύνω drive
• λαβ-  λαμβάνω take, grab; receive, get
– καταλαμβάνω seize, catch up to, arrest
– ὑπολαμβάνω take up, reply, suppose
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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Classical
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λαθ-  λανθάνω escape notice of; (mid.) forget
μαθ-  μανθάνω learn
πι-  πίνω drink
τεμ-  τέμνω cut
τυχ-  τυγχάνω happen to (+part.), meet (+gen)
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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament)
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ἁμαρτ-  ἁμαρτάνω miss, fail, make a mistake
ἀνα + βη-  ἀναβαίνω walk up, go aboard, enter
κατα + βη-  καταβαίνω walk down, descend
λαβ-  λαμβάνω take, grab; receive, get
παρα + λαβ-  παραλαμβάνω take, receive, accept
πι-  πίνω drink
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Building a Greek verb
• All the verbs so far are in the present tense.
• Like some -μι verbs, some -ω verbs have a specific marker
to indicate that the verb is in the present tense.
• Another such marker is -σκ-.
• Some of these verbs, as do some -μι verbs, duplicate the
initial sound of the stem in the present tense.
• For example, this stem looks (and sounds) like this:
γνω = “know”  γιγνωσκ = “know” (in the present)
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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Classical
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θαν-  θνήσκω or ἀποθνῄσχω die
γνω-  γιγνώσκω know
διδαχ-  διδάσκω teach
εὑρ-  εὑρίσκω find
μνη  μιμνήσκω remind
παθ  πάσχω suffer, experience
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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament)
• θαν-  ἀποθνῄσχω die
• γνω-  γινώσκω know, recognize, understand
– ἀναγινώσκω read
– ἐπιγινώσκω know, recognize, understand
• διδαχ-  διδάσκω teach
• εὑρ-  εὑρίσκω find
• παθ  πάσχω suffer, experience
Note: Classical γιγνώσκω becomes γινώσκω in Koine Greek.
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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Core
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ἀκούω hear
ἁμαρτάνω miss, fail, make a mistake
ἀποθνῄσχω die
βαίνω walk, come, go
γι(γ)νώσκω know, recognize, understand
διδάσκω teach
εὑρίσκω find
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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Core
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λαμβάνω take, grab; receive, get
λύω loosen, destroy
πάσχω suffer, experience
πίνω drink
πιστεύω trust, rely on, believe in