ἐνεστὼς χρόνος – Present Indicative Verbs

A verb is a word that is generally used to state the idea of action or being in a sentence. There are many types of verbs and verbal patterns in Koine (and English for that matter!). Earlier you were introduced to some imperatives, which are verbs that give commands. Now, you will learn about verbs that indicate action or being in the present time. These are called present indicatives, or ἐνεστὼς χρόνος in Greek.

In Greek, present indicative verbs have various endings. These endings mark the verb for person and number. This means, for example, that if I am the one doing the action, the ending of the verb is different than if you were doing it. In fact, since the verb is marked for person and number, the subject might not need to be stated directly. Take a look at the following examples.

1. λύω τὸν ὄνον. (I untie the donkey.)
2. λύεις τὸν ὄνον. (You untie the donkey.)

Notice that the only difference is the ending of the verb. We know I am the one untying the donkey in the first sentence because λύω ends in the 1st person singular ending. And in the second sentence we know that you are untying the donkey because λύεις ends in the 2nd person singular ending.

There are two main patterns that the endings of present indicative follow. We call these active and middle. Later on you will learn that there can be some meaning associated with the active and middle forms of verbs, but for now it is best to think of these as formal patterns.

See the Present Indicative Verbs Chart for more examples of these patterns.

Active

The main pattern in the active group is the -ω verb pattern. The first person singular (I) forms of the words end with -ω.

	ὑποδείγματα (examples)	ὃ μεθερμηνευμένον (which is translated)
ἐγώ σύ αὐτός | αὐτή | αὐτό	λύω τὸν ὄνον. λύεις τόν ὄνον. λύει τόν ὄνον.	I untie the donkey. You untie the donkey. He/she/it unties the donkey.

There is a second pattern in the active group whose first person singular forms end with -μι. These are not as common, but they are some of the high frequency verbs in the language.

	ὑποδείγματα (examples)	ὃ μεθερμηνευμένον (which is translated)
ἐγώ σύ αὐτός | αὐτή | αὐτό	τίθημι τὸ βιβλίον ἐπὶ τὴν τράπεζαν. τίθης τὸ βιβλίον ἐπὶ τὴν τράπεζαν. τίθησι τὸ βιβλίον ἐπὶ τὴν τράπεζαν.	I place the book on the table. You place the book on the table. He/she/it places the book on the table.

Middle

Verbs whose first person singular forms end in -μαι are middle verbs.

	ὑποδείγματα (examples)	ὃ μεθερμηνευμένον (which is translated)
ἐγώ σύ αὐτός | αὐτή | αὐτό	ἔρχομαι πρὸς τὴν τράπεζαν. ἔρχῃ πρὸς τὴν τράπεζαν. ἔρχεται πρὸς τὴν τράπεζαν.	I go to the table. You go to the table. He/she/it goes to the table.