Chapter 9: PAI 2 (Present Active Indicative)

 

In the last lesson you were introduced to your first verb ending. This week we will look more deeply at verbs.

Day 1: The moveable nu ν

• Let's start with the PAI chart:

PAI	singular	plural
first person	κρίνωI judge	κρίνομενwe judge
second person	κρίνειςyou (singular) judge	κρίνετεyou (plural) judge
third person	κρίνειhe/she/it judges	κρίνουσιthey judge

The third person plural does have a special case: the moveable nu ν sometimes occurs at the end, especially if the next word begins with a vowel. So the chart will look like this, with the moveable nu added to the third person plural:

PAI	singular	plural
first person	κρίνωI judge	κρίνομενwe judge
second person	κρίνειςyou (singular) judge	κρίνετεyou (plural) judge
third person	κρίνειhe/she/it judges	κρίνουσι(ν)they judge

Day 2: The infinitive

• In English the infinitive is formed by adding the word "to" before the verb. For example: to walk, to run, etc.
• In biblical Greek this is shown by adding ειν. So:

PAI	singular	plural
first person	κρίνωI judge	κρίνομενwe judge
second person	κρίνειςyou (singular) judge	κρίνετεyou (plural) judge
third person	κρίνειhe/she/it judges	κρίνουσι(ν)they judge
	infinitive =>	κρίνεινto judge

• This would be pronounced kri-nin.
• "kri" like in "criminal" then "nin" with a long "i" sound like "nine."

Day 3: Koine Greek

• I have been referring to this language as biblical Greek, which it is, but it has an official title: Koine Greek. (Pronounced like "coin" followed by "ay.")
• This separates it from other forms of Greek, such as Modern Greek.

Day 4: What is Present Active Indicative?

• Each Greek verb will have five parts:
  • tense
  • voice
  • mood
  • person
  • number
• Tense refers to the time of the action and kind of action.
  • For our verb ending, "Present" means it is happening now and the action continues.
  • So κρίνω can mean "I judge" or "I am judging."
  • Not only am I judging now but I am judging now and will continue to judge.
• Voice refers to the type of action the speaker is describing.
  • "Active" means that I am doing the action.
  • So this verb ending is active because I am judging.
  • "Passive" means that the action is being done to me.
  • "Present Passive" looks like this: I am being judged.
  • So the action of the verb is happening to me.
• Mood refers to the intent of the action.
  • "Indicative" means that the action is happening.
  • So this verb ending is indicative because I intend the judging to happen.
  • A different mood is "subjunctive," which means I hope it will happen.
  • "Present Active Subjunctive" looks like this: I hope I will judge.
• Person: this means first, second, or third person.
• Number: this means singular or plural.

This may all sound confusing, but it is, but only for now. It will make much more sense as you learn new words. I will explain each new verb ending in detail and give plenty of examples.

• Parse: I will frequently ask you to parse a verb. That means to tell the tense, voice, mood, person, and number of a verb.
• For example: Parse κρίνω: Present active indicative first person singular.

Day 5: New verb: I have

• ἔχω
• Pronounced like this: ek-o
• It sounds just like "echo."

PAI	singular	plural
first person	ἔχωI have I am having	ἔχομενwe have we are having
second person	ἔχειςyou (singular) have you are having	ἔχετεyou (plural) have you are having
third person	ἔχειhe/she/it has he/she/it is having	ἔχουσι(ν)they have they are having
	infinitive =>	ἔχεινto have

Day 6: New word: and

• καί
• Pronounced like this: "ki" like in "kite."

Weekly exercises

From now on, each week you will have 10 exercises. Plus I will use capital letters.

1. Spell: και  εχω
2. Ἰχθύς καί ὁ λόγος
3. Οὐχ ὁ υἱός
4. Parse ἔχει
5. Parse κρίνομεν
6. Ἰησοῦς Χριστός καί θεός
7. Ὁ ἀδελφός καί ἄγγελος
8. Ἔχομεν ἰχθύς
9. Ἔχομεν ὁ ἰχθύς
10. θεός κρίνει ὁ ἀδελφός

Answers

1. kappa-alpha-iota    epsilon-chi-omega
2. Fish and the word
3. Not the son
4. Present active indicative third person singular from ἔχω
5. Present active indicative first person plural from κρίνω
6. Jesus Christ and God
7. The brother and an angel (or messenger)
8. We have a fish
9. We have the fish
10. God judges the brother

What you have learned so far

1. Alphabet

Greek small	Greek capital	English name	Sound
α	Α	alpha	short a
β	Β	beta	b
γ	Γ	gamma	g
δ	Δ	delta	d
ε	Ε	epsilon	short e
ζ	Ζ	zeta	z
η	Η	eta	ay
θ	Θ	theta	th
ι	Ι	iota	i/ee
κ	Κ	kappa	k
λ	Λ	lambda	l
μ	Μ	mu	m
ν	Ν	nu	n
ξ	Ξ	xi	x
ο	Ο	omicron	o
π	Π	pi	p
ρ	Ρ	rho	r
σ ς	Σ	sigma	s
τ	Τ	tau	t
υ	Υ	upsilon	u
φ	Φ	phi	ph
χ	Χ	chi	ch
ψ	Ψ	psi	ps
ω	Ω	omega	long o

2. Breathing marks and "h" sound: week 2

3. Accents: week 2

4. Diphthongs from letters we have covered so far:

• ει οι ου υι
• You can memorize them if you want. Or you can wait and I will tell you if each new word has a diphthong or not.

5. Definite article

• ὁ This is the masculine definite article and will be in front of masculine nouns.
• ἡ This is the feminine definite article and will be in front of feminine nouns.
• τό This is the neuter definite article and will be in front of neuter nouns.

6. "A"

• Greek does not have a word for "a."

7. Present Active Indicative endings

PAI	singular	plural
first person	ἔχωI have I am having	ἔχομενwe have we are having
second person	ἔχειςyou (singular) have you are having	ἔχετεyou (plural) have you are having
third person	ἔχειhe/she/it has he/she/it is having	ἔχουσι(ν)they have they are having
	infinitive =>	ἔχεινto have

Vocabulary (this will always be in alphabetical order)

ἀδελφός, ὁ	brother
ἄγγελος, ὁ	messenger, angel
ἔχω	I have
ἢ	or
θεός, ὁ	God
Ἰησοῦς	Jesus
ἰχθύς, ὁ	fish
καί	and
κρίνω	I judge
λόγος, ὁ	word
οὐ, οὐκ, οὐχ	not before a consonant, before smooth breathing, before rough breathing
σωτήρ	savior
υἱός, ὁ	son
Χριστός, ὁ	Christ