Elementary New Testament Greek, 2014a

2: Introduction to Verbs in the Present Active Indicative
Anatomy of the Forms of the Present Active Indicative of
23
“Base” and “Endings”
Look again at the forms of in the Present Active Indicative:
Tense Voice Mood Person Number
1s) Present Active Indicative 1st Singular “I am destroying (something)”
2s) Present Active Indicative 2nd Singular “You (singular) are destroying (something)”
3s) Present Active Indicative 3rd Singular “He/She/It is destroying (something)”
1p) μ Present Active Indicative 1st Plural “We are destroying (something)”
2p) Present Active Indicative 2nd Plural “You (plural) are destroying (something)”
3p) () Present Active Indicative 3rd Plural “They are destroying (something)”
You have probably guessed by now that these forms of are comprised of a
stable “base” to which are added various “endings.” Even without deciding to do
so, your mind’s eye probably deconstructed these forms into components as follow:
“base”
“ending”
1s) = +
2s) = +
3s) = +
And since the translations of these forms differ only in person and number (I, you, he,
he/she/it, we, you, they), you likely guessed that these endings are telling us person
and number. And so it is! And if you master these endings ( μ
), you will be well on your way to recognizing and translating the great majority
of Greek verbs whenever they appear in the Present Active Indicative.
1p) μ = + μ
2p) = +
3p) () = + ()