3.8 Present Tense: The First Pattern — Epoché
What you will be able to do Conjugate a verb of the first pattern through six persons: γράφω , γράφεις , γράφει , γράφουμε , γράφετε , γράφουν . Take any new verb of this pattern, cut off the ending you are given in a dictionary, and build the other five forms. Use one Greek present where English has three: Διαβάζω πολύ. is I read , I am reading and I do read . Negate a verb with one word in front of it: Δεν διαβάζω. . Read a Greek sentence that has no subject in it and say who is doing the action: Γράφω ένα βιβλίο. , Διαβάζουμε Γαλλικά. . Prerequisites : 3.7 — adjectives and agreement. Read 3.7 Grammar first. This is the first lesson of the volume that is not about nouns, and the first in which you will build forms rather than recognise them. Greek verbs fall into two patterns in the present tense, and the difference between them is where the stress sits. The first pattern, which this lesson gives, has the stress inside the word and away from the ending. The second, which lesson 3.9 gives, has it on the ending itself. Almost every verb in the language is one or the other, and once you have heard which, the six forms follow without further choices. A Greek dictionary gives a verb in the first person singular, not in an infinitive, because Greek has no infinitive to give. That is worth absorbing early. When you look up to write , what you get back is the word meaning I write , and it is that form you learn and that form you cut down to build the rest. The pattern Six endings on a stem that never moves. Person To write To read To want I γράφω διαβάζω θέλω you, one person γράφεις διαβάζεις θέλεις he, she, it γράφει διαβάζει θέλει we γράφουμε διαβάζουμε θέλουμε you, more than one, or one politely γράφετε διαβάζετε θέλετε they γράφουν διαβάζουν θέλουν Read down any column. The part of the word that does not change is the stem, and the part that changes is the ending. All three verbs take the same six endings, and so does every other verb of this pattern in the language. There are several thousand of them. Two of the six endings are worth a second look because they are the ones an English ear will confuse. The third person singular and the second person plural differ in one syllable, and the first person plural and the third person plural differ in one letter. In fast speech those are small differences carrying large distinctions, and the stress does not help, because it stays in the same place throughout the paradigm. This is the one respect in which the first pattern is harder than the second. The stress is the other half of the definition. In this pattern it falls on the syllable before the ending in every one of the six forms, so learning one form gives you the stress of all six. Compare the second pattern in the next lesson, where the stress sits on the ending and the endings therefore sound completely different. Negation works exactly as it did with the verb to be : one word in front, and nothing else moves. Δεν διαβάζω. and Δεν διαβάζουν όταν τρώνε. are the corpus's examples, and neither has anything corresponding to the English do . How English says it English has three present tenses and Greek has one. I read , I am reading and I do read are three different things in English: a habit, an action going on now, and an emphatic denial of the suggestion that one does not. Greek says all three with the same word, and the corpus translations below show it: the same Greek form comes out as I write in one sentence and as I'm writing in another, and the difference is in the situation, not in the verb. That is a simplification, and English speakers are usually pleased by it for a week and then troubled by it, because they want to know how to force the distinction when it matters. The answer is that Greek marks it elsewhere: with adverbs for habit, and with the aspect system for everything else. Aspect is the subject of the whole fourth volume in the second phase, and it is the real answer to the question. For now, the useful discipline is to stop asking which English tense a Greek present corresponds to and to ask instead what the sentence is about. The second English habit to drop is the auxiliary. English builds its questions and its negatives with do : do you read , I do not read . Greek does neither. A question is the statement with a question mark and a rising voice, as lesson 1.5 showed; a negative is the statement with one word in front. Πότε διαβάζεις; and Τι διαβάζεις; are questions with no auxiliary and no inversion, and the only thing that makes them questions is the question word and the punctuation. Finally, the subject. Greek leaves it out, as it did with the verb to be , and the six endings are what make that possible. Γράφω ένα βιβλίο. is two words and means I am writing a book ; the I is inside the verb. When a subject does appear, as in Η γυναίκα διαβάζει. , it is because the speaker needs to name who, not because the grammar requires a word in that slot. Real sentences Eighteen lines from the public corpus, arranged by person. Read the Greek aloud, say who is doing the action, and only then look across. Greek English The person, and what the ending does Γράφω ένα βιβλίο. [1] I'm writing a book. first singular; the subject is inside the verb Διαβάζω πολύ. [2] I read a lot. first singular; one Greek present, three possible English ones Γράφω και μετά διαβάζω. [3] I write and then I read. first singular twice, two verbs of the same pattern Δεν διαβάζω. [4] I do not read. first singular negated by one word in front Τι διαβάζεις; [5] What are you studying? second singular in a question, with no auxiliary Πότε διαβάζεις; [6] When do you study? second singular again; the question word carries the question Γράφει βιβλία. [7] He writes books. third singular with a bare plural object Ο αδερφός γράφει. [8] The brother writes. third singular with the subject named Η γυναίκα διαβάζει. [9] The woman is reading. third singular; the subject is a feminine noun Αυτός διαβάζει ένα βιβλίο. [10] H