Greek verbs are highly inflected, encoding person, number, tense, voice, and mood
in their endings. This means a single Greek word often translates to several English words.
Principal parts: Most Greek verbs have six principal parts that show the different stems:
1. Present active (λύω)
2. Future active (λύσω)
3. Aorist active (ἔλυσα)
4. Perfect active (λέλυκα)
5. Perfect middle/passive (λέλυμαι)
6. Aorist passive (ἐλύθην)
Contract verbs (-άω, -έω, -όω) have vowel contractions in the present system.
Deponent verbs have middle/passive forms but active meanings.
Examples from Texts
Here are some words showing the verb in actual Greek texts:
μεταλλεύσεις
μεταλλεύω
get by mining
verb
singular
aorist
active
subjunctive
κύναν
κυνάω
play the Cynic
verb
plural
imperfect
active
indicative
ζυγομαχεῖν
ζυγομαχέω
struggle with oneʼs yoke-fellow
verb
present
active
infinitive
βρίσωσιν
βρίθω
to be heavy
verb
plural
aorist
active
subjunctive
ἐκτίσθητε
κτίζω
people
verb
plural
aorist
passive
indicative
αὐγοῦ
αὐγέω
to shine, glitter
verb
singular
imperfect
middle/passive
indicative
προσμεταπέμπωνται
προσμεταπέμπομαι
send for
verb
plural
present
middle/passive
subjunctive
διαπλεύσειεν
διαπλέω
sail through
verb
singular
aorist
active
optative