JK Greek Lessons: Learn to Read the Bible in Greek

In our Vocabulary Jumpstart lesson, we learned twelve different verbs, representing actions like running and hearing, but these verbs were given and learned in the first-person singular forms, which won’t always be suitable for describing what is being done.  Just as English, French, and other languages adjust the end of a word to accommodate the differences between first, second, and third person, this is also done in Greek.  Only, Greek is more particular than English.  For example, in English we would adjust word endings to distinguish “he runs” from “I run”; but we would use the same “run” for “you run,” “we run,” and “they run.”  In that regard, French tends to provide more variations in form than English, Greek slightly more than French, and Hebrew a little more beside, (by varying verbs when applied to masculine and feminine nouns.)  Even when we use our older English verb forms like, “thou runnest” and “he runneth,” we are still getting by with an easy verb grammar in English.

So what are the endings we need to speak or understand Greek?  In the present tense, and also in the future tense, we usually find the following endings used: For singular subjects, —ω, —εις, and —ει will be the endings for first-person (I), second-person (thou), and third-person (he/she/it.)  For plural subjects, —ομεν, —ετε, and —ουσιν will be the endings for first-person (we), second-person (ye), and third-person (they.)  So, taking examples from the verbs of our previous lesson, to say “we see,” one would use a single word in Greek: βλέπομεν.  Or, to say “they run,” one would use the word τρέχουσιν — probably with a subject to say who “they” are, but perhaps not.

Here is a chart to help you get the idea, and do some practice:

Now, take a look at the order of the pattern above, one more time, because as we practice our verbs, we will keep to the same pattern, but we don’t want to always see our Greek terms and English meanings together.  In the following charts, we are going to use some pictures to learn the meaning of the Greek verbs.  The idea is that we want to learn the language in a more natural way, without learning one language through another language.  Inevitably we will be using English in these lessons, but when we can avoid it, we will try to do so.

The pattern we follow is to have two columns, with three words in each column.  The first column is for verb forms applied to a singular subject, and the second column is for verb forms applied to a plural subject.  That is, the left column is for I, thou, and he/she/it; while the right column is for we/ye/they.  With that pattern in mind, you’ll hopefully find the following charts with their pictures, sufficient to get the meanings of these 24 word forms.

In the pictures that follow, you’ll see... [Audio explanation of pictures... how to distinguish 1st / 2nd / 3rd person.]

In our Vocabulary Jumpstart lesson, we learned twelve different verbs.  All of these verbs are capable of being used in the same six ways above, and eleven of the verbs follow the exact pattern you just learned.  So at this point, that gives you sixty-six verb forms at your command, beside the verb εἰμί.  This last verb, the “being verb,” will require a special lesson of its own, because it has a unique pattern.

If you need to practice these verb forms with the endings some more, be sure to do so.  If you think you know them well, then Congratulations! — you are well on your way to understanding the conjugation of Greek verbs.  We still need to learn how to make verbs passive.  For example, it is one thing to say “it eats,” and another thing to say “it is eaten”; one thing to say, “he hears the song,” and another thing to say, “the song is heard.”  We’ll also need to learn different tenses, and how to make verbs subjunctive or conditional.  But the lesson above is where we begin, and the most important step to understanding Greek verbs.

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