Module 10

The Verbs ἔχω, ποιέω, ἔρχομαι, φημί

The Verb

In Greek and in English, verbs have the same definition and functions. Verbs are words that represent actions (throw) and states of being (be or exist). They differ in the same fundamental way that Greek nouns differ from their English counterparts: they use endings to create meaning in a way that English does not. The Greek verb (ῥῆμα) in its finite form has an ending that indicates what person and number the subject is. The Greek infinitive has an ending that indicates that it is unmarked for person and number.

In this module you will see how endings create meaning in the omega- or ω-verb ἔχω, the contract ω-verb ποιέω, the deponent ω-verb ἔρχομαι, and the μι-verb φημί.

Present Tense Stems

To obtain the present tense stem, remove the ending –ω or –ομαι. What remains is the present tense stem, the base of the word the ending is joined to. To this stem, add the present tense endings.

Present Tense Endings

Add to the correct tense stem.

The ω-Verb ἔχω

ἔχω is referred to as an ω-verb because it ends in omega in the first person singular, present indicative active of the first principal part. ω-verbs differ from μι-verbs in stems and in endings in some tenses. All ω-verbs form their present indicative active just as ἔχω does. In the readings that follow, use your knowledge of ἔχω to recognize and translate the forms of other ω-verbs.

Practice Translating ἔχω. Translate the sentences below, adapted from a variety of ancient Greek authors. Remember the meanings and functions of the cases presented in Module 7. Nominative case endings are bolded, dative endings are highlighted, and accusative endings are underlined. Check your understanding with the translations in the Answer Key. Now go back and read each sentence two or three times, noticing with each rereading how much better your understanding of the sentence becomes. Make this a habit and you will improve quickly.

1. αὐτὴ μητρὶ διαφορὰν ἔχει.
2. ἔργον γὰρ ἔχει τέρψιν αὐτῇ.
3. ἔμψυχοί ἐσμεν καὶ γνώμην ἔχομεν.
4. οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει γυναικί.
5. καὶ νῦν ἔχομεν καλῶς ἔχειν.
6. καὶ φόβος αὐτὸν ἔχει καὶ διὰ ταῦτα φεύγει.
7. νύμφῃ γὰρ ἔστι γῆν καὶ δόμους ἔχειν.
8. πολλὰ γὰρ αὐτῷ εἰπεῖν ἔχω.
9. εἶ σοφὴ καὶ δόξαν ἔχεις.
10. ἀλλ᾽ ἔχεις ἥσυχος καὶ οὐ πολλὰ λέγεις.

Verbs

*εἰμί be, be possible

*εἰπεῖν to say

*ἔστι it is possible

*ἔχω have, hold; be able + inf.; καλῶς ἔχειν to be well

*λέγω say, tell, speak

*φεύγω flee

Adjectives, Nouns, Pronouns

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

The Contract ω-Verb ποιέω

ποιέω is referred to as a contract ω-verb because its stem ends in epsilon in the first person singular, present indicative active of the first principal part. When the stem of principal part I or II ends in epsilon, the epsilon may contract with the endings in accordance with the chart below. In the readings that follow, use your knowledge of ποιέω to recognize and translate the forms of other epsilon contract ω-verbs. A second type of contract verb with its stem ending in alpha is introduced in Modules 17 and 19. Module 24 presents contract verbs in alpha, epsilon, and omega.

1. Uncontracted forms are in parentheses. In order to produce an accurate form, accent before you contract.
2. The accent on a contracted ultima is a circumflex. The accent on contracted penults and antepenults is determined by the rules for the possibilities of accents.

Practice Translating ποιέω. Translate the sentences below, adapted from a variety of ancient Greek authors. Remember the meanings and functions of the cases presented in Module 7. Nominative case endings are bolded; genitive endings are italicized; dative endings are highlighted; and accusative endings are underlined. Also in the sentences the definite article, which will be learned systematically in Modules 11 and 12, is present in these forms: ὁ, τάς, τήν, τῆς, τό, τοῖς, τοῦ. Translate each one as the. Check your understanding with the translations in the Answer Key. Now go back and read each sentence two or three times, noticing with each rereading how much better your understanding of the sentence becomes. Make this a habit and you will improve quickly.

1. ἀναγκάζουσιν αὐτὸν ποιεῖν ὃ βούλονται (Lysias, Attic orator).
2. ποιεῖς τὸ ἐναντίον οὗ βούλομαι (Demosthenes, Attic orator).
3. ἔκδοτον σεαυτὴν ποιεῖς πόντῳ τῆς λύπης (Anna Komnene, Byzantine author).
4. ἐμέ τʼ ἄχθεσθαι ποιεῖ (Αristophanes, Lysistrata).
5. ἐμὲ ποιεῖτε κοιμᾶσθαι ψυχροῖς τοῖς παρὰ προθύροις (Kallimakhos, Alexandrian poet).
6. ταῦτα δʼ ἄξια σεαυτῆς τε ποιεῖς καὶ τέκνων (Euripides, Andromakhe).
7. πολλὴν ἐμὲ τοῖς θεοῖς ποιεῖς χάριν ὀφείλειν (Xenophon, Kyropaidia).
8. τί γὰρ Ζεὺς ποιεῖ; ἀπαιθριάζει τὰς νεφέλας ἢ συννέφει (Aristophanes, Birds);
9. ὁ πινοτήρης ὁ σμικρότατος τοῦ γένους τὴν τραγῳδίαν ποιεῖ (Aristophanes, Wasps).
10. πῶς ὃ θέλομεν οὐ ποιοῦμεν καὶ ὃ μὴ θέλομεν ποιοῦμεν (Epiktetos, Stoic Philosopher);

Verbs

Adjectives, Nouns, Pronouns

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

The Deponent Verb ἔρχομαι

Deponent verbs are similar to other verbs except that they do not have active forms. Rather they have middle and passive forms that have active meanings. All deponent ω-verbs form their present indicative just as ἔρχομαι does. In the readings that follow, use your knowledge of ἔρχομαι to recognize and translate the forms of other deponent ω-verbs.

Present Tense Stems

To obtain the present tense stem, remove the ending -ομαι. What remains, ἔρχ-, is the present tense stem.

Present Tense Endings

Remember that deponent verbs are active in meaning and middle and passive in form.

Historical Present

The present tense in Greek can be used when writing about past events. In these situations, it is referred to as a historic, or storytelling, present. The reason why authors switch to the present tense when writing about the past varies. Some possibilities include emphasis, vividness, and stating current or general truths.

Practice Translating ἔρχομαι. Translate the sentences below, adapted from a variety of ancient Greek authors. Remember the meanings and functions of the cases presented in Module 7. Nominative case endings are bolded; genitive endings are italicized; dative endings are highlighted; and accusative endings are underlined. Also in the sentences the definite article, which will be learned systematically in Modules 11 and 12, is present in these forms: τά, τῇ, τήν, τῆς, τό. Translate each one as the. As you translate, consider the frequent use of the historical present in Greek. Check your understanding with the translations in the Answer Key. Now go back and read each sentence two or three times, noticing with each rereading how much better your understanding of the sentence becomes. Make this a habit and you will improve quickly.

1. προσέρχεσθε τὴν πόλιν ὅτι κακῶς ἔχετε.
2. ἄλγος εἰς αὐτὴν ἔρχεται ὅτι κακῶς ἔχουσιν.
3. τῆς δὲ γῆς ἀπέρχονται τὰ ἄλλα ἰδεῖν καὶ μαθεῖν.
4. ὁράω γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ ἔρχῃ πρὸς καιρόν.
5. καίτοι οὐκ ἐπέρχεται τό γ᾽ αἴνιγμα διειπεῖν.
6. καὶ ἐρχόμεθα εἴσω καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ ταῦτα δίδομεν.
7. αὐτῇ συνέρχομαι καὶ τῆς δὲ γῆς ἀπερχόμεθα.
8. οὐκ ἔχω φόβον ἐπεὶ φίλος ἔρχομαι.
9. ἐγὼ δὲ προσέρχομαι καὶ κόπτω τὴν θύραν.
10. ἐγὼ δὲ παρέρχομαι εἴσω καὶ αὐτῷ τὰ γράμματα δίδωμι.

Adverbs and Verbs

Adjectives, Nouns, Pronouns

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

The μι-Verb φημί

Though not as numerous as omega- or ω-verbs, μι-verbs occur frequently. μι-verbs conjugate differently from ω-verbs in some tenses, typically the present, imperfect, aorist, and sometimes the perfect. In conjugating these verb forms, learn which stem to combine with which ending. The stem is the base of the word to which the ending is joined. Once you have the correct stem and ending, combine them to create the correct form. You may memorize the stems and endings or you may learn how to combine stems and endings so that you can recognize the forms as you encounter them.

Present Tense Stems

Use the long vowel grade stem for the singular (I, you, he, she, it) and the short vowel grade for the plural (we, you, they). Note that the stems differ even within the same tense, mood, and voice.

Present Tense Endings

Add to the correct tense stem.

Practice Translating φημί. Translate the sentences below, adapted from Euripides’ Alkestis (Ἄλκηστις). Remember the meanings and functions of the cases presented in Module 7. Nominative case endings are bolded; genitive endings are italicized; dative endings are highlighted; and accusative endings are underlined. Also in the sentences the definite article, which will be learned systematically in Modules 11 and 12, is present in this form: ὁ. Translate it as the. Check your understanding with the translations in the Answer Key. Now go back and read each sentence two or three times, noticing with each rereading how much better your understanding of the sentence becomes. Make this a habit and you will improve quickly.

1. Ἄλκηστίς φησι· Ἥλιον καὶ φάος ἡμέρας ὁράω.
2. Ἄδμητός φησι· ὁ Ἥλιος ὁράει σὲ καὶ ἐμέ.
3. Ἄλκηστίς φησι· ὁ Ἥλιος ὁράει γῆν τε καὶ πατρίαν Ἰωλκοῦ.
4. Ἄδμητός φησι· σοί φημι μὴ προδιδόναι ἐμέ.
5. Ἄλκηστίς φησι· ὁράω δίκωπον καὶ ὁράω σκάφος ἐν λίμνᾳ.
6. Ἄδμητός φησι· ἐμοὶ φὴς πικράν γε ναυκληρίαν.
7. Ἄλκηστίς φησι· ἄγει με. ὁ Ἅιδης ἄγει με. οὐχ ὁράεις;
8. Ἄδμητός φησι· καὶ οἰκτρὰν φίλοις καὶ παισὶ φῄς γε ναυκληρίαν.
9. Ἄλκηστίς φησι· δεῖ σοὶ μεθιέναι με ἤδη.
10. Ἄδμητός φησι· οἴμοι· φῇσθα ἔπος λυπρὸν ἀκούειν.

Ιnterjection and Verbs

Adjectives, Nouns, Pronouns

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Practice Parsing Greek Sentences. Parse each word of the sentences found below. For nouns and pronouns, give case and function. For verbs give person, number, tense, mood, and voice. For adverbs and conjunctions, identify them. For prepositional phrases give the preposition and the preposition’s object.

καὶ φόβος αὐτὸν ἔχει καὶ διὰ ταῦτα φεύγει.

ὁράω γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ ἔρχῃ πρὸς καιρόν.

Check your answers with those in the Answer Key.

The Greek Olympics

Our first official record of the holding of the Olympic games dates to 776 BCE. The Greeks celebrated the Olympics in the city-state of Olympia in honor of Zeus, king of the gods. They held the Olympics once every four years. At first there were two events, the 200- and 400-meter footrace. Soon added were boxing, horse racing (single horse and four-horse chariot), a long distance race, the pankration (boxing, brawling, judo, wrestling), the pentathlon (discus, javelin, long jump, 200-meter sprint, wrestling), and wrestling. Training took place in the nude at the gymnasium (γυμνός, -ή, -όν naked). Greeks revered their athletes, composing poems in their honor, dedicating statues to them, and giving them cash and free board.

Module 10 Top 250 Vocabulary to be Memorized. Like learning the alphabet and endings, memorizing vocabulary is essential to acquiring language. The better you memorize the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary words, the greater mastery of the language you will have.

Verbs