26.182 Introduction to the Imperative

Make sure you read Croy's introductory notes to the imperative in section 182.

The imperative, like the subjunctive, does not have tense, but it has aspect: present aspect or aorist aspect. Review these notes about Greek verb aspect to make sure you understand this distinction. You will find both present imperatives and aorist imperatives used frequently in Greek, but there is no easy way to translate this difference between the present and aorist aspect into English.

For negative commands, which Croy refers to as prohibitions, the negating word is μή, which should come as no surprise. The word οὐ is used only with indicative verbs (present tense, future tense, imperfect past tense, aorist past tense). All other verb forms - infinitives, participles, subjunctives - use μή for negation.