Lesson 13: Imperfect, Active, Indicative
| ἀποθνησκω - I kill | νυν - now |
| ἀποκτεινω - I kill, destroy | ἐτι - yet, still |
| δεχομαι - I receive | οὐκετι - no longer |
| ἑτοιμαζω - I prepare | τοτε - then |
| θεραπευω - I heal | σκοτια - darkness |
| πιστευω - I believe | μεν…δε - on the one hand...on the other hand |
ASSIGNMENT: Memorize the vocabulary words above.
The following is the conjugation of the imperfect, active, indicative of luw:
| ἐλυον - I was loosing | ἐλυομεν - we were loosing |
| ἐλυες - you were loosing | ἐλυετε - you (pl) were loosing |
| ἐλυε - he, she, it was loosing | ἐλυον - they were loosing |
The ε at the beginning of the word is called an augment, and it illustrates that this is a secondary tense that expresses past time. When a word begins with a vowel that vowel is lengthened thus:
α becomes η
ε becomes η
ο becomes ω
For example:
ἀκουω, becomes, in the imperfect, active, indicative, ἠκουον and ἐγειρω becomes ἠγειρον, etc.
ASSIGNMENT: Learn the endings of the imperfect, active, indicative as indicated above.
These endings are added to the stem of the verb, and ε is added as the augment (unless there is already a vowel beginning the word, in which case it is lengthened as demonstrated above).
The imperfect, active, indicative of εἰμι is as follows:
| ἠμην - I was | ἠμεν - we were |
| ἠς - you were | ἠτε - you (pl) were |
| ἠν - he, she, it was | ἠσαν - they were |
ASSIGNMENT: Memorize the imperfect of εἰμι above.
The imperfect tense is used to indicate continuous action in past time; i.e., "I am loosing" (present tense); "I was loosing" (imperfect tense).
ASSIGNMENT: Translate the sentences below:
1. πονηροι ἠτε ἀγαθοι δε ἐστε
2. ὁ μεσσιας ἀπεστελλεν (note that when a preposition is attached to an imperfect verb, the prefix of the verb itself is changed, and not the preposition) ἀγγελους προς ἡμας
3. ἑν τώ κοσμώ ἡν και ὁ κοσμος οὐκ ἐγινωσκεν αὐτον