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Croy Index: Vocabulary - Prosody - Verbs - Nouns - Adjectives - Nominals - Other Topics - Syntax List


21.145 Introduction to Contract Verbs

Many of the most commonly used verbs in Biblical Greek are called "contract verbs," which is the topic of Croy section 145. Make sure you read this section carefully. Even more importantly, you should probaby make a xerox for yourself of charts #350, #351 and #352 in the back of the book. This is where Croy provides detailed information about the forms of the contract verbs. You will probably find it much easier to simply use these charts, rather than trying to apply the contraction rules which Croy has listed in the table in section 146.

It is absolutely important to understand that contract verbs are simply a matter of spelling. There is no difference in meaning or function for contract verbs. All that it means is that in the present system (present tense, imperfect past tense, present participles), the endings of the contract verbs use different vowels than what you are used to. This is because the present stem of the contract verb ends in a vowel, which causes changes to the vowels in the personal endings added to the verb.

When you look up a contract verb in the dictionary, it will show the uncontracted form. This is also true for the vocabulary list in Croy. So, for example, the word ποιέω is given in the vocabulary list and this is the dictionary form of the verb, but you will never actually see this form used. The epsilon and the omega "contract" resulting in ποιῶ. As you can see, this contraction also has an effect on the accentuation of the ending as well. The unusual accentuation is usually your best clue that you are dealing with a contract verb.

In order to help you get familiar with the contract verbs, here is a chart showing a comparison of the verb forms you have learned, along with an example of each of the three different kinds of contract verbs - epsilon-omega, alpha-omega and omicron-omega. The epsilon-omega contract verbs completely outnumber the other types. You should devote your attention to memorizing the forms of the epsilon-omega contract verbs, since you will see far more examples of these than of the other two kinds.

Present Tense: Active
λύω
ω
ποιῶ

ἀγαπῶ πληρῶ
λύεις
εις
ποιεῖς εῖς ἀγαπᾷς ᾷς πληροῖς οῖς
λύει
ει
ποιεῖ εῖ ἀγαπᾷ πληροῖ οῖ
λύομεν
ομεν
ποιοῦμεν οῦμεν ἀγαπῶμεν ῶμεν πληροῦμεν οῦμεν
λύετε
ετε
ποιεῖτε εῖτε ἀγαπᾶτε ᾶτε πληροῦτε οῦτε
λύουσι
ουσι
ποιοῦσι οῦσι ἀγαπῶσι ῶσι πληροῦσι οῦσι
Present Tense: Middle-Passive
λύομαι
ομαι ποιοῦμαι
οῦμαι
ἀγαπῶμαι ῶμαι πληροῦμαι
οῦμαι
λύῃ
ποιῇ ἀγαπᾷ πληροῖ οῖ
λύεται εται ποιεῖται εῖται ἀγαπᾶται ᾶται πληροῦται οῦται
λυόμεθα όμεθα ποιούμεθα ούμεθα ἀγαπώμεθα ώμεθα πληρούμεθα ούμεθα
λύεσθε εσθε ποιεῖσθε εῖσθε ἀγαπᾶσθε ᾶσθε πληροῦσθε οῦσθε
λύονται ονται ποιοῦνται οῦνται ἀγαπῶνται ῶνται πληροῦνται οῦνται
Present Infinitive: Active
λύειν ειν ποιεῖν εῖν ἀγαπᾶν ᾶν πληροῦν οῦν
Present Infinitive: Middle-Passive
λύεσθαι εσθαι ποιεῖσθαι εῖσθαι ἀγαπᾶσθαι ᾶσθαι πληροῦσθαι οῦσθαι
Present Participle: Active
λύων
ων ποιῶν ῶν ἀγαπῶν ῶν πληρῶν ῶν
λύουσα ουσα ποιοῦσα οῦσα ἀγαπῶσα ῶσα πληροῦσα οῦσα
Present Participle: Middle-Passive
λυόμενος όμενος ποιούμενος ούμενος ἀγαπώμενος ώμενος πληρούμενος ούμενος
Imperfect Past Tense: Active
ἔλυον ον
ἐποίουν ουν
ἠγάπων ων ἐπλήρουν
ουν
ἔλυες ες ἐποίεις εις ἠγάπας ας ἐπλήρους ους
ἔλυε ε ἐποίει ει ἠγάπα α ἐπλήρου ου
ἐλύομεν ομεν ἐποιοῦμεν οῦμεν ἠγαπῶμεν ῶμεν ἐπληροῦμεν
οῦμεν
ἐλύετε ετε ἐποιεῖτε εῖτε ἠγαπᾶτε ᾶτε ἐπληροῦτε οῦτε
ἔλυον ον ἐποίουν
ουν ἠγάπων ων ἐπλήρουν ουν
Imperfect Past Tense: Middle-Passive
ἐλυόμην όμην ἐποιούμην ούμην ἠγαπώμην ώμην ἐπληρούμην
ούμην
ἐλύου
ου ἐποιοῦ οῦ ἠγαπῶ ἐπληροῦ οῦ
ἐλύετο ετο ἐποιεῖτο εῖτο ἠγαπᾶτο ᾶτο ἐπληροῦτο
οῦτο
ἐλυόμεθα όμεθα ἐποιούμεθα ούμεθα ἠγαπώμεθα ώμεθα ἐπληρούμεθα ούμεθα
ἐλύεσθε εσθε ἐποιεῖσθε
εῖσθε ἠγαπᾶσθε ᾶσθε ἐπληροῦσθε οῦσθε
ἐλύοντο οντο ἐποιοῦντο οῦντο ἠγαπῶντο ῶντο ἐπληροῦντο οῦντο

 

 

 


Biblical Greek Online. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. Page last updated: April 9, 2005 8:06 PM


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