Modern Greek/LegacyLesson 4b

Verbs

First conjugation

The subject pronouns are usually omitted, because the form of the verb indicates the subject. For example:

There is no infinitive in modern Greek. For naming a verb, the first-person singular of the present tense is used as a generic term. For example, we refer to the verb γράφω, to write.

To summarize the conjugation of a verb, we write it in a table like this:

Audio recording: Modern_greek_1i.ogg
NOTE: This recording was made by a non-native speaker of Greek.
We would be grateful to any native speaker who could redo it.

Γράφω is an example of a verb belonging to the first conjugation. Verbs in this conjugation can be recognized because their accent falls before the final ω.

The following verbs belong to the first conjugation:

Vocabulary: Audio recording: Modern_greek_1i2.ogg
NOTE: This recording was made by a non-native speaker of Greek.
We would be grateful to any native speaker who could redo it.

Conjugations of some of these verbs: Audio recording: Modern_greek_1i3.ogg
NOTE: This recording was made by a non-native speaker of Greek.
We would be grateful to any native speaker who could redo it.

The verbs έχω, to have, and είμαι, to be

Two important verbs are έχω, to have, and είμαι, to be. The first-conjugation verb έχω is regular in the present tense, so it has the same endings as γράφω.

Audio recording: Modern_greek_1j.ogg
NOTE: This recording was made by a non-native speaker of Greek.
We would be grateful to any native speaker who could redo it.

To be in English is expressed in the active voice, but the Greek είμαι is passive, and doesn't have an active form. The ending -μαι is a typical, regular ending for passive verbs. Although we won't be concerned with passive constructions until later, είμαι is so important that you need to get it under your belt right away.

Audio recording: Modern_greek_1k.ogg
NOTE: This recording was made by a non-native speaker of Greek.
We would be grateful to any native speaker who could redo it.