Chapter 19 The Imperfect Tense
The Use of the Imperfect Tense There are three tenses in the Greek that are used for the past tense. –Aorist –Perfect –Imperfect The imperfect tense describes continuing action in the past –“Dwells on the course of an event instead of merely stating its occurrence” (Goodwin) –Can also refer to a customary activity
Present Tense lu,w lu,eij lu,ei Sg lu,ome n lu,ete lu,ousi n Pl lu,oma i lu,h| lu,etai luo,me qa lu,esq e lu,onta i Active Pass/Mid lu,sw lu,seij lu,sei lu,some n lusete lu,sousi n Future Active e;luon e;luej e;lue (n) e;luome n e;luete e;luon Imper Active
Present Tense lu,w lu,eij lu,ei Sg lu,ome n lu,ete lu,ousi n Pl lu,oma i lu,h| lu,etai luo,me qa lu,esq e lu,onta i Active Pass/Mid e;luon e;luej e;lue (n) e;luome n e;luete e;luon Imper Active
Imperfect Present Tense lu,w lu,eij lu,ei Sg lu,ome n lu,ete lu,ousi n Pl lu,oma i lu,h| lu,etai luo,me qa lu,esq e lu,onta i Active Pass/Mid e;luon e;luej e;lue(n ) e;luom en e;luete e;luon Active evluo,m hn evlu,ou evlu,eto evluo,m eqa evlu,esq e evlu,ont o Pass/Mid
What about if the verb begins with a vowel? The vowel lengthens
What about if the verb begins with a vowel? The vowel lengthens a becomes h e becomes h o becomes w
Imperfect Present Tense Sn Pl avgapw/ mai avgapa/| avgapa/ta i avgapw, meqa avgapa/s qe avgapw/n tai avgapa w/ avgapa/| j avgapa/| avgapw/ men avgapa/t e avgapw/ sin ActivePass/Middle hvga,pa w hvga,paj hvga,pa hvgapw/ men hvgapa/t e hvga,pw n Active hvgapw,m hn hvgapw/ hvgapa/to hvgapw,m eqa hvgapa/s qe hvgapw/n to Pass/M
Present Sg Pl eivmi ei= evstin evsmen evste eivsi,n e;somai e;sh| e;stai evso,m eqa e;sesqe e;sontai Future h;mhn h=j h=n h=men h=te h=san Imperf “I AM” forms