Imperfect Indicative

This verb tense exists only in the indicative mood and is one of the specific tenses in the Greek language used to express past actions. The imperfect indicative is used especially to refer to:
• Continuous action in the past (incomplete, habitual, or repetitive): αὐτὸς δὲ ἐκάθευδεν (Mt 8.24) – “But he was sleeping”.
• Beginning of an action (inchoative): καὶ ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς λέγων· (Mt 5.2) – “and opening his mouth, he began to teach them, saying...”.
• Attempted action (conative): ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης διεκώλυεν αὐτὸν λέγων· (Mt 3.14) – “But John tried to hinder him, saying...”.

The Imperfect Indicative of the Active Voice

An important characteristic of verb tenses that express past action in the indicative mood is the presence of the “augmentation”:
• Verbs starting with a consonant: addition of the vowel ἐ- at the beginning (πιστεύω → ἐπίστευον; λαμβάνω → ἐλάμβανον).
• Verbs starting with a vowel (α, ε, ο): replacement by the corresponding long vowel (ἀγαπάω → ἠγάπων; ἐσθίω → ἤσθιον; ὁμολογέω → ὡμολόγουν).
• Compound verbs (starting with a preposition): the augmentation is placed between the preposition and the main root (ἐπιστρέφω → ἐπέστρεφον; παρακαλέω → παρεκάλει; περιπατέω → περιεπάτουν; διακονέω → διηκόνει).

Imperfect Indicative of the Verb εἰμί

Imperfect Indicative of the Middle and Passive Voices

Vocabulary

Vocabulário do Capítulo

• ἀποστέλλω: I send
• βάλλω: I throw, I cast
• βλέπω: I see
• γίνομαι: I am, I become [3rd pers.: it happens]
• ζητέω: I seek, I look for
• ἐγείρω: I raise, I wake
• ἐσθίω: I eat
• εὑρίσκω: I find
• ἀγαθός, ἀγαθή, ἀγαθόν: good
• ἅγιος, ἁγία, ἅγιον: holy
• ἄλλος, ἄλλη, ἄλλο: other, another
• πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν: all, every
• εἷς, μία, ἕν: one [number 1]
• ἀνήρ (ἀνδρός), ὁ: man, husband
• πατήρ (πατρός), ὁ: father