Core Four -μι Verbs - Present Tense
Table of contents
Athematic Verb Review
Verbs belong to one of two major conjugations: -ω / thematic or -μι / athematic. The former exhibits a thematic vowel, -ο- or -ε-, as part of most of its personal endings, while the latter attaches the personal endings directly to the verb’s stem without a thematic vowel. The endings for each conjugation will also sometimes look quite different, even if they indicate the same person, number, tense, and voice. Note the differences between the following:
Theme vowel:
- λύω > λύεται, ‘it is freed’ (3rd singular present passive, with the theme vowel -ε-)
- δείκνυμι > δείκνυται, ‘it is shown’ (3rd singular present passive, with no theme vowel before the -ται ending)
Different endings:
- λύω > λύουσιν, ‘they free’ (3rd plural present active, with the ending -ουσιν)
- δείκνυμι > δεικνύασιν, ‘they show’ (3rd plural present active, with the ending -ασιν)
Thematic versus athematic is a concern for verb forms built from the first principal part (i.e., present tense forms) and for some verbs built on the third principal part (about which we’ll learn in the Core Four -μι Verbs - Aorist Tense unit).
Until this point, we’ve dealt primarily with -μι verbs like δείκνυμι and μείγνυμι that exhibit seemingly regular conjugation patterns: chop off the -μι and add the appropriate ending that you need. I reproduce here the applicable -μι verb endings (with the main ones that we’ve been using in bold), as we will use them in conjugating the new -μι verbs introduced in this unit; however, as we’ll see, these new verbs will have new considerations in their conjugations and formations.
Note that primary tense indicates non-past tenses of the verb, like the present. Secondary tense indicates past tenses of the verb, like the aorist; we’ll use these in the Core Four -μι Verbs - Aorist Tense unit.
| Primary Tense Act. | Primary Tense Mid./Pass. | Secondary Tense Act. | Secondary Tense Mid./Pass. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | -μι | -μαι | -ν | -μην |
| 2nd sg. | -ς | -σαι | -ς | -σο |
| 3rd sg. | -σι(ν) | -ται | – | -το |
| 1st pl. | -μεν | -μεθα | -μεν | -μεθα |
| 2nd pl. | -τε | -σθε | -τε | -σθε |
| 3rd pl. | -ασι(ν) | -νται | -σαν | -ντο |
Core Four -μι Verbs
The most common -μι verbs are δίδωμι, τίθημι, ἵημι, and ἵστημι. Each of these verbs follows general athematic conjugation patterns, but the stem of the verb in the first principal part (and also in the third, as we’ll learn later) ends in a vowel that will change length depending on the tense, voice, and number of the verb.
Some general patterns to note:
- These verbs will use a long vowel stem in the present active singular forms; they will use a short vowel stem otherwise (including in infinitives and participles, which we’ll learn about after Exam 2).
- This unit will discuss only the present tense of these verbs; for a discussion of their aorist forms, head to the Core Four -μι Verbs - Aorist Tense unit.
ἵστημι
- Dictionary entry: ἵστημι … ἔστησα or ἔστην … ἐστάθην - (active and 1st aorist transitive) to make stand up, set up, cause to stop; (passive and 2nd aorist intransitive) to stand, be set up, stop
- Present stem: ἱστη- / ἱστα-
| Present Active | Present Mid./Pass. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | ἵστημι | ἵσταμαι |
| 2nd sg. | ἵστης | ἵστασαι |
| 3rd sg. | ἵστησι(ν) | ἵσταται |
| 1st pl. | ἵσταμεν | ἱστάμεθα |
| 2nd pl. | ἵστατε | ἵστασθε |
| 3rd pl. | ἱστᾶσι(ν)* | ἵστανται |
* In the 3rd pl. pres. act. of ἵστημι, note that the -α- of the root and the -α- of the ending contract into -ᾱ-. Thus, note that the 3rd sg. and the 3rd pl. differ by only a single letter: ἵστησιν versus ἱστᾶσιν.
- ὁ κόρος τοὺς ἵππους παρὰ τὴν οἰκίαν ἵστησιν. The boy makes the horses stand near the house.
- αἱ γυναικὲς τοὺς παῖδας παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν ἱστᾶσιν. The women make the children stand near the river.
δίδωμι
- Dictionary entry: δίδωμι … ἔδωκα … ἐδόθην - to give, grant, allow
- Stem: διδω- / διδο-
| Present Active | Present Mid./Pass. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | δίδωμι | δίδομαι |
| 2nd sg. | δίδως | δίδοσαι |
| 3rd sg. | δίδωσι(ν) | δίδοται |
| 1st pl. | δίδομεν | διδόμεθα |
| 2nd pl. | δίδοτε | δίδοσθε |
| 3rd pl. | διδόασι(ν) | δίδονται |
- ὁ μαθητὴς τὸ βιβλίον τῷ διδασκάλῳ δίδωσιν. The student gives the book to the teacher.
- τὸ βιβλίον ὑπο τοῦ μαθητοῦ τῷ διδασκάλῳ δίδοται. The book is given by the student to the teacher..
τίθημι
- Dictionary entry: τίθημι … ἔθηκα … ἐτέθην - to put, place
- Stem: τιθη- / τιθε-
| Present Active | Present Mid./Pass. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | τίθημι | τίθεμαι |
| 2nd sg. | τίθης | τίθεσαι |
| 3rd sg. | τίθησι(ν) | τίθεται |
| 1st pl. | τίθεμεν | τιθέμεθα |
| 2nd pl. | τίθετε | τίθεσθε |
| 3rd pl. | τιθέασι(ν) | τίθενται |
- ὁ στρατιωτὴς τὰ ὅπλα ἐπὶ τῇ τραπέζῃ τίθησιν. The soldier is placing the weapons on the table.
- τὰ ὅπλα ἐπὶ τῇ τραπέζῃ ὑπὸ τοῦ στρατιωτοῦ τίθεται. The weapons are being placed on the table by the soldier.
ἵημι
- Dictionary entry: ἵημι … -ἧκα* … -εἵθην* - to hurl, throw, send; (middle voice) to rush, hurry
- Stem: ἱη- / ἱε-
* Note that the hyphen before each of these principal parts indicates that they are only used in compound verbs (on which, see Verb Compounds below).
| Present Active | Present Mid./Pass. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | ἵημι | ἵεμαι |
| 2nd sg. | ἵης | ἵεσαι |
| 3rd sg. | ἵησι(ν) | ἵεται |
| 1st pl. | ἵεμεν | ἱέμεθα |
| 2nd pl. | ἵετε | ἵεσθε |
| 3rd pl. | ἱᾶσι(ν)* | ἵενται |
* As in ἵστημι, in the 3rd pl. pres. act. of ἵημι, note that the -ε- of the root and the -α- of the ending contract into -ᾱ-. As with ἵστημι, one letter differentiates 3rd singular active (ἵησιν) versus 3rd plural active (ἱᾶσιν).
- τὰ βιβλία πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἵεται. The books are being sent to the students.
- οἱ διδάσκαλοι τὰ βιβλία ἱᾶσιν. The teachers are sending the books.
Verb Compounds
Almost any verb in Greek can be turned into a compound verb by adding a preposition as a prefix to the verb. The core meaning of the verb then gets compounded with the meaning or a core concept in the preposition to create verbs with new meanings. For example:
δίδωμι = “to give”
- ἀπό, “(away) from” + δίδωμι = ἀποδίδωμι, “to give away”, “to give back”, “to return”
τίθημι = “to put, place”
- ἐπί, “on, upon; to, toward, at” + τίθημι = ἐπιτίθημι, “to place upon”, “to add to”; (middle voice) “to attack” (+ dative)
Such verbs are called compound verbs or complex verbs, compared against verbs without a prefix which are called simplex verbs. In compounded verbs, the preposition will always be a prefix to the core conjugated form of the verb. This means that if the core verb has, e.g., an augment, the preposition will still be attached in front of / before the augment, with any appropriate elisions for the end of the preposition (and any appropriate aspirations of letters before a vowel with a rough breathing). In addition, the accent can not recede to any part of the preposition.
Here are some examples of compounded verbs:
- ἀποδίδωμι > ἀποδίδοται, 3rd sg. present passive: “it is being given away”
In this form, the prefix ἀπό is affixed to the front of δίδοται, which begins with a consonant, so no elision or letter change is needed. By contrast:
- ἀπό + ἵημι = ἀφίημι, “to send away”, “to release”, “to set free”
- ἀφίεται, 3rd sg. present passive: “it is being sent away”
The prefix ἀπο- gets attached to the core verb ἵημι, which begins with an aspirated ι. The vowel elides the -ο- of ἀπό and adds an aspiration to the existing π (‘p’), turning it into a φ (‘ph’). Hence: ἀφίημι > ἀφίεται.
This means that you must be aware of potential prepositional prefixes on verbs and factor them into your consideration of a verb’s constituent parts as you figure out what tense it is. For example, you will need to look to the end of a prefix rather than the beginning of the entire verb form to find an augment that indicates that a verb is in an indicative past tense.
The core meanings of compounded verbs can often be gleaned by combining the core meaning of the verb with the core meaning of the preposition, but common uses of these compound verbs, often in the middle voice, will yield translations that take that core meaning to logical conclusions. For example: κατά means “down” while ἵστημι means “to set up” or “make to stand.” When you set something down, you “establish” it; thus, καθίστημι can mean “to establish”, as a logical conclusion from “to set (ἵστημι) down (κατά).”
The Week 8 Vocabulary indicates some examples of compound verbs and translations that may not be immediately apparent from the core meanings of the verbs and their prepositions.