Introductory Ancient Greek Language/Lesson 5
< Introductory Ancient Greek LanguagePresent, Active
The suffixes are:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st Person | -ω | -ομεν |
| 2nd Person | -εις | -ετε |
| 3rd Person | -ει | -ουσι(ν) |
One of the simplest verbs in Ancient Greek, and maybe the simplest, will be used for almost all tenses: the verb λύω, which means solve/ release(meaning set free).
| Greek | Pronunciation |
| λύω | lewoh |
| λύεις | leways |
| λύει | leway |
| λύομεν | lewomen |
| λύετε | lewete |
| λύουσι(ν) | lewoosi(n) |
The syllabs in bold indicate that, when speaking, the voice is raised and in A.Greek this voice raise is expressed with a mark above the vowel, the tone. You may notice that at the third person plural the letter "ν" is added in parentheses. You say λύουσιν, etc when the verb is followed by a word that begins with a vowel or when it is the last word of a sentence.
TRANSLATION
In English we have a number of ways that we express actions in the present. Eg. I run, I am running. Greek does not make that distinction, so a perfectly acceptable translation for λύω can be either "I release" or "I am releasing"
Another simple verb is γράφω (=write)
γράφω
γράφεις
γράφει
γράφομεν
γράφετε
γράφουσι(ν)