VERBS
As in many other languages, Greek verbs have different forms for each person and number. Here is the present tense indicative of a typical verb:
| singular | plural | |||||
| first person | γράφω | “I write” | γράφομεν | “we write” | ||
| second person | γράφεις | “you write” | γράφετε | “you write” | ||
| third person | γράφει | “he, she, it writes” | γράφουσι[ν] | “they write” | ||
The ν is added to γράφουσι when a vowel follows, or at the end of a sentence.
See if you can translate these sentences. The verbs φέρω, “carry,” and πέμπω, “send,” are declined the same way. καί means “and.”
1. γράφεις λόγον φίλῳ.
2. φέρομεν τὸν ταῦρον τῷ ὠκεανῷ.
3. ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὁ ἀδελφὸς πέμπουσι φίλον τῷ Νείλῳ.
1. You write a word to a friend. (Notice that this only took three words in Greek.)
2. We carry the bull to the ocean.
3. The man and the brother send a friend to the Nile.