Introduction to Greek Verbs
Greek verbs have tense, voice, and mood.
Tense
The tense of the verb describes the time the action occurred and the kind of action that occurred. Time isn’t all that much different from English. “Type of action will be continuous, completed (with a result), or simple (an affirmation of action without regard to its duration or completion).”1 While, in English, tense places an emphasis on the time of the action, Greek places an emphasis on the kind of action which occurred.
Voice
Voice indicates how the subject is related to the action of the verb. In the active voice, the subject will perform the action of the verb and there will often be a direct object on which the action is performed. In the passive voice, the subject will be the recipient of the action of the verb. In the middle voice, the subject will perform the action and receive the action. Middle voice can be thought of as reflexive, (I wash myself).
Mood or Mode
The mood indicates how the action of the verb is perceived by the speaker. In the indicative mood, the speaker is asserting a fact. In the imperative mood, the speaker is issuing a command. In the optative mood, the action is expressing hope. In the subjunctive mood the author is expressing a hypothetical or probable action.
Person
Verbs other than infinitives or participles will also have a person attribute. The person attribute of a Greek verb tells what the person of the subject is. For example, a third singular without a specified subject would be translated as “he/she/it did something.” Whereas if there was a third masculine singular nominative near the verb, the nominative would be used as the specified subject of the verb. For example, if there was a third singular verb and the name Matthew in the nominative case, it would then be translated “Matthew did something” over against “he/she/it did something.” This happens because Greek carries the subject of the verb inherently within the verb and unless explicitly stated in the grammar, as described above, the embedded subject will be what is assumed for the verb.
Present
Present can denote either ongoing or completed action. In order to understand how to properly translate this verb, as Dr. David Briones would say, “always let the context be your guide.”
Perfect
TBD
Imperfect
TBD
Aorist/2nd Aorist
TBD
Infinitives
TBD
Participles
TBD
References
- Croy, N. Clayton. A Primer of Biblical Greek. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999, 8. ↩︎