Principal parts of verbs
All verb forms in these many combinations of tense, voice, mood, person and number (as well as forms we will learn later, such as infinitives and participles), are formed using the verb’s principal parts.
English verbs have a system of principal parts, too, although native speakers may not think about them that way. In English, the principal parts can include the present tense, the past tense, and the past participle: for example, play, played, played; swim, swam, swum; go, went, gone; do, did, done.
The standard number of principal parts for ancient Greek verbs is six, although for some verbs fewer principal parts, even only one or two, may exist. Some verbs may have alternative forms for one or more principal parts so that its principal parts are represented by more than six forms.
Learning the principal parts of verbs is important so that you will be able to create correct verb forms and so that you will be able to recognize verb forms in a text, both for what tense, voice, mood, person and number they are and also what verb they come from. In a glossary or a lexicon Greek verbs are listed according to the first principal part, and so if you are looking a verb up you will need to be able to move from a verb form made from any principal part to its first principal part in order to find it in the lexicon.
Forms of prinicipal parts
All principal parts of an Ancient Greek verb are finite verb forms in the first person singular.
| Principal part | Form |
|---|---|
| first | first person singular present active indicative OR 1st person singular present middle indicative if active forms do not exist |
| second | first person singular future active indicative OR 1st person singular future middle indicative if active forms do not exist |
| third | first person singular aorist active indicative OR 1st person singular aorist middle indicative if active forms do not exist |
| fourth | first person singular perfect active indicative |
| fifth | first person singular perfect middle or passive indicative. (Middle and passive forms are identical in the perfect system.) |
| sixth | first person singular aorist passive indicative |
Verb conjugations
Greek verbs are organized into two “conjugations,” a grouping where they share common endings. Thematic verbs include a vowel in their endings; athematic verbs do not. Thematic verbs are also called -ω verbs and athematic verbs may be called -μι verbs after the ending of the first principal part in the active voice.
Examples of principal parts
Principal parts are listed in order, 1–6. If a verb does not have a particular principal part, that absence is marked by —. Note that more than one form may exist for a principal part: those are indicated with “or”.
βαίνω, βήσομαι, ἔβην, βέβηκα, βέβαμαι, ἐβάθην go, walk, step
βάλλω, βαλέω, ἔβαλον, βέβληκα, βέβλημαι, ἐβλήθην throw, hit (by throwing), strike (by throwing), pelt
γίγνομαι, γενήσομαι, ἐγενόμην, γέγονα, γεγένημαι, — become, come to be, be born, be
δείκνυμι, δείξω, ἔδειξα δέδειχα, δέδειγμαι, ἐδείχθην show, demonstrate
δύναμαι, δυνήσομαι, —, —, δεδύναμαι, ἐδυνήθην be able, can, be capable, have the power
εἰμί, ἔσομαι, —, —, —, — be, exist
ἔρχομαι, ἐλεύσομαι, ἦλθον, ἐλήλυθα, —, — go, come
ἔχω, ἕξω or σχήσω, ἔσχον, ἔσχηκα, -έσχημαι, ἐσχέθην have, hold, possess; be able; be (in a particular state)
ἡγέομαι, ἡγήσομαι, ἡγησάμην, —, ἥγημαι, ἡγήθην lead; think, consider, believe
κελεύω, κελεύσω, ἐκέλευσα, κεκέλευκα, κεκέλευσμαι, ἐκελεύσθην bid, order, command, exhort
λαμβάνω, λήψομαι, ἔλαβον, εἴληφα, εἴλημμαι, ἐλήφθην take, receive, catch, grasp
λέγω, λέξω, ἔλεξα or εἶπον, εἴρηκα, εἴρηκα, λέλεγμαι, ἐλέχθην say, speak, tell
ὁράω, ὄψομαι, εἶδον, ἑώρακα or ἑόρακα, ἑώραμαι or ὦμμαι, ὤφθην see, look, understand
ποιέω, ποιήσω, ἐποίησα, πεποίηκα, πεποίημαι, ἐποιήθην do, make, create, compose
πράττω, πράξω, ἔπραξα, πέπραχα or πέπραγα, πέπραγμαι, ἐπράχθην do, accomplish, make, act
τυγχάνω, τεύξομαι, ἔτυχον, τετύχηκα, —, — happen (happen to be, happen upon), obtain, get
Looking for patterns
As you learn principal parts, you should practice noticing patterns and then using those patterns to help you recognize, retrieve, use, and even take an educated guess at, a principal part. Here are some general patterns to start noticing, but you should work at discovering others that help you memorize, recall, and work with principal parts.
Endings
Since all the forms are first person singular, the ending reflects that person and number. The ending will indicate which conjugation the verb belongs to. In the first principal part, the endings -ω and -ομαι indicate the thematic conjugation, while the endings -μι and -μαι (with some letter other than omicron before it) indicate the athematic conjugation.
For those principal parts that could be either active or middle (that is, the first, second, thirrd prinicpal parts), the ending will also indicate the voice: -ω or -μι (first and second principal parts), and -ον or -α (third principal part) are active, while -μαι (first and second) and -μην (third) are middle.
The fourth principal part is always active; you can expect the ending -α. The fifth principal part is always middle or passive; its ending is -μαι. The sixth principal part is always passive, and will end in -ην.
Prefixes
For the third and sixth principal parts, which are aorist (a secondary tense) you will see an augment prefixed to the verbal stem. The augment is an indication of a secondary tense in the indicative mood (all principal parts are in the indicative mood). The augment may appear as the addition of an ἐ- before a stem that begins with a consonant, or it may appear as the lengthening of the initial vowel if the stem begins with a vowel. (You’ll learn more about the augment in the following section when you learn how to form the imperfect, another secondary tense.)
For the fourth and fifth principal parts, which are in the perfect tense, the stem will show reduplication as a sign of the perfect tense. The reduplication may appear as a repetition of the initial consonant of the verb stem. If the initial consonant is aspirated (θ, φ, χ), the reduplication is the corresponding non-aspirated consonant (τ, π, κ, respectively). If the stem starts with multiple consonants, the reduplication will be simply ἐ-. If the stem starts with a vowel, the reduplication will appear as a lengthened vowel.
Stem changes
As in English, very common verbs show more variety or irregularity in the verb stems of different principal parts. Compare ἔρχομαι (present) and ἦλθον (aorist) with “go” (present) and “went” (past) in English.
Some changes to verb stems appear with many more regular verbs:
- The future and/or aorist active stem (second and third principal parts) are often equivalent to adding a sigma to the first principal part stem, e.g., κελεύω, κελεύσω, ἐκέλευσα.
- A kappa is often part of the stem in the perfect active (fourth principal part), e.g., κεκέλευκα.
- The sixth principal part may have a theta at the end of its stem, e.g. ἐδυνήθην.