Verb – Present: all parts

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Present tense (1 – Present progressive; 2 – Simple present)

Greek has a number of verbal forms, and we will present their forms and uses gradually. Summaries of each of the forms and all their uses can be found in Appendix 1. To begin our discussion of the Greek present tense, it can be equivalent to either the simple present (e.g. Rhoda plays soccer) or the present progressive (e.g. Rhoda is playing soccer). The former is a state or a habit that Rhoda has, and the latter is an action that Rhoda is currently doing. Some languages, like English, distinguish between different verbs in the present like this, but other languages, like Greek, do not. What the form means in Greek will depend on the context and the specific verb used, but some verbs like κράζει can have either interpretation:

In Matt 15:23, the Canaanite woman is in the midst of shouting when the disciples are speaking, and the typical English translation ‘she is shouting’ reflects this. In Luke 9:39, a boy’s father describes what happens to him repeatedly, though it may not be happening at the moment, and the typical English translation ‘he shouts’ correctly interprets it as a habitual. In both cases, the form of the Greek verb is the same.

fromLesson 1.4: Verb – Present tense 3rd person singular

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Present Tense (1 – Present Progressive cont.)

When we describe an event as “in progress” as we did in 1.4.4.2, it means that the event has not finished yet relative to whatever time we are talking about. Essentially, this means that the present tense relates two time intervals. By way of illustration, suppose Joseph traveled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on one Passover, and he was traveling from 3:00–5:00. If we ask the question What is Joseph doing now at 4:20, one could respond He is traveling to Bethlehem meaning that the event of him traveling is still taking place at the time that we are discussing. This basic temporal relationship holds for both the present progressive use of the present and the simple present use (see 1.4.4.2).

fromLesson 2.1: Verb – Present tense (1s, 2s)

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Present Tense (3 – Present habit; 4 – Present State)

Some languages, like English, use a different form for states and events in the present tense, so we would normally say Rhoda loves soccer rather than * Rhoda is loving soccer, since the word love is a state (but the event Rhoda is playing soccer uses the be + - ing form). In Greek, there is no distinction in the verb form between actions that are in progress and states that hold in the present tense:

fromLesson 6.3: Verb – εἰμί plural

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Present (4 – Culminating Interpretation)

We characterized the present progressive use of the present as referring to that part of an event that did not include its endpoint, i.e. the event is in the midst of occurring. The culminating interpretation is essentially the opposite of the progressive use, since it specifies that the endpoint has been reached:

fromLesson 9.4: Verb – μι singular

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Present (5 – Historical Present)

The historical present is so called because even though the present tense form is used, the event being referred to occurs in the past. This use of the Greek present is not uncommon, and in fact, we have already seen an example in a previous lesson, which is repeated here:

fromLesson 10.4: Verb – μι plural