Learning Greek Verbs

[Bill Yates]

Is there any easy (or what is the least difficult) way of learning Greek verbs? I have "All the Greek Verbs" by Marinone which is useful but not for learning verb forms. I assume the reason there is no Greek equivalent of, say, Barron's "501 Latin Verbs", "501 Hebrew Verbs", etc. is because there are so many irregular verbs in Greek?

I can only think it's a matter of memorization/rote learning - reinforced with as much reading as possible.

[Barry Hofstetter]

Is there any easy (or what is the least difficult) way of learning Greek verbs? I have "All the Greek Verbs" by Marinone which is useful but not for learning verb forms. I assume the reason there is no Greek equivalent of, say, Barron's "501 Latin Verbs", "501 Hebrew Verbs", etc. is because there are so many irregular verbs in Greek?

I can only think it's a matter of memorization/rote learning - reinforced with as much reading as possible.

I mentioned this recently in another forum. My students often ask me this same question, "Is there a trick to learning these?" I say, "I have an infallible trick. Say them over and over again until you can repeat them, and write them over and over until you can write them without looking."

They respond, "That doesn't sound like a trick, it sounds like hard work."

"Ah, now you begin to understand, young padawan..."

However, I can't emphasize enough the "as much reading as possible" part of the equation. Practicing the language is integral to learning the language. This includes not only reading, but writing as well, and if you are in a context where you can practice speaking it, even better. This helps you internalize what you are learning as you memorize.

N.E. Barry Hofstetter

[Jonathan Robie]

I'm not good at learning from tables without seeing lots of examples.

laparola.net makes it easy to see every instance of a verb in the Greek New Testament, in each form that is used.

Go here:

http://www.laparola.net/greco/

Look for this:

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Search by first letter: α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω

Find a verb that interests you. Scroll down the page until you see something like this:

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In the New Testament

NA/UBS (also Westcott and Hort; Tischendorf; Byzantine)

ἀγαπᾷ	verb: 3rd person present active indicative singular	9
ἀγαπᾷ	verb: 3rd person present active subjunctive singular	3
ἀγαπᾶν	verb: present active infinitive	8
ἀγαπᾷς	verb: 2nd person present active indicative singular	2
ἀγαπᾶτε	verb: 2nd person present active imperative plural	7
ἀγαπᾶτε	verb: 2nd person present active indicative plural	3
ἀγαπᾶτε	verb: 2nd person present active subjunctive plural	4
ἀγαπᾶτέ	verb: 2nd person present active subjunctive plural	1
ἀγαπάτω	verb: 3rd person present active imperative singular	1
ἀγαπηθήσεται	verb: 3rd person future passive indicative singular	1
ἀγαπήσαντος	verb: aorist active participle genitive singular masculine	1
ἀγαπήσαντός	verb: aorist active participle genitive singular masculine	1
ἀγαπήσας	verb: aorist active participle nominative singular masculine	3
ἀγαπήσατε	verb: 2nd person aorist active imperative plural	1
ἀγαπήσει	verb: 3rd person future active indicative singular	4
ἀγαπήσεις	verb: 2nd person future active indicative singular	10
ἀγαπήσητε	verb: 2nd person aorist active subjunctive plural	1
ἀγαπήσω	verb: 1st person future active indicative singular	1
ἀγαπῶ	verb: 1st person present active indicative singular	5
ἀγαπῶμαι	verb: 1st person present passive indicative singular	1
ἀγαπῶμεν	verb: 1st person present active subjunctive plural	7
ἀγαπῶμεν	verb: 1st person present active indicative plural	3
ἀγαπῶν	verb: present active participle nominative singular masculine	14
ἀγαπῶντας	verb: present active participle accusative plural masculine	3
ἀγαπῶντι	verb: present active participle dative singular masculine	1
ἀγαπώντων	verb: present active participle genitive plural masculine	1
ἀγαπῶσιν	verb: 3rd person present active indicative plural	1
ἀγαπῶσιν	verb: present active participle dative plural masculine	4
ἠγάπα	verb: 3rd person imperfect active indicative singular	5
ἠγαπᾶτε	verb: 2nd person imperfect active indicative plural	1
ἠγαπᾶτέ	verb: 2nd person imperfect active indicative plural	1
ἠγαπήκαμεν	verb: 1st person perfect active indicative plural	1
ἠγαπηκόσι	verb: perfect active participle dative plural masculine	1
ἠγαπημένην	verb: perfect passive participle accusative singular feminine	3
ἠγαπημένοι	verb: perfect passive participle nominative plural masculine	1
ἠγαπημένοι	verb: perfect passive participle vocative plural masculine	2
ἠγαπημένοις	verb: perfect passive participle dative plural masculine	1
ἠγαπημένῳ	verb: perfect passive participle dative singular masculine	1
ἠγάπησα	verb: 1st person aorist active indicative singular	4
ἠγάπησά	verb: 1st person aorist active indicative singular	1
ἠγάπησαν	verb: 3rd person aorist active indicative plural	3
ἠγάπησας	verb: 2nd person aorist active indicative singular	3
ἠγάπησάς	verb: 2nd person aorist active indicative singular	2
ἠγάπησεν	verb: 3rd person aorist active indicative singular	11
ἠγάπησέν	verb: 3rd person aorist active indicative singular	1

Click on one of the numbers, it will show you where the verb occurs in that form.

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ἠγαπήκαμεν/ἀγαπάω##V-FXAI-P--
...
1 verses were found.

1John 4:10 (Manuscript Comparator) (Audio: WH 1 WH 2 Byz)

ἐν τούτῳ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠγαπήκαμεν τὸν θεόν ἀλλ' ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἱλασμὸν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν.

I like to put the table in a text editor, followed by examples that I pull up this way.

[RobertStump]

I can only think it's a matter of memorization/rote learning - reinforced with as much reading as possible.

Yes, but if you go about it logically you can more easily facilitate that memorization. I am in the process of vocabulary acquisition myself. I have been working through a list a verbs that is ordered by frequency of use. I don't know anything about the book you mentioned, and couldn't find a preview of it online, but I know from looking at other vocabularies that there are a number grouped semantically or alphabetically.

Here is the list I'm working with:
http://books.google.com/books?id=snFiAA ... &q&f=false

Each night I try to learn an additional 25 or so word, sometimes more. First covering up all the definitions and reading aloud through the list. For any word that I don't immediately know the definition I write it out. I do the same thing then writing the words. I write every word out, quickly, stopping whenever the definition doesn't come to mind to write that with the word and then keep going. Once I get to the next 25 I write out the word and definition the first time, even for those that I know already from other lessons or from reading. Then I finish going back through the list.

I think working through this way in order of frequency help, not only in that one learns the most used words, but also in the greater likelihood of actually seeing them in your reading. How can you reinforce vocabulary through reading that only appears in one or two spots in the NT?

Another thing that I have found helpful, is for words that I can't seem to get to stick, for instance, αποκτεινω (APOKTEINW) was eluding my mind for a number of days. Look the word up in the lexicon and copy out the verses that they are in, even if you don't perfectly understand what is being said. This is similar to Jonathan's suggestion but I've found having the paper in my hand and working the verse in pen helps internalize.

[Barry Hofstetter]

Yes, but if you go about it logically you can more easily facilitate that memorization. I am in the process of vocabulary acquisition myself. I have been working through a list a verbs that is ordered by frequency of use. I don't know anything about the book you mentioned, and couldn't find a preview of it online, but I know from looking at other vocabularies that there are a number grouped semantically or alphabetically.

Here is the list I'm working with:
http://books.google.com/books?id=snFiAA ... &q&f=false

Real quickly, are you learning principal parts of verbs, and so forth?

N.E. Barry Hofstetter

[Jonathan Robie]

Here's a post from Carl Conrad that I lost while reorganizing the forum:

While there is a certain amount of rote memorization involved in acquiring instant recognition of the morphological paradigms of verbs, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns and also of the tense-stems of the major irregular verbs, I have always structured my own teaching of beginning Greek around understanding of the standard phonetic rules governing interaction of vowels and consonants with each other and discernment of how verb-roots combine with formative elements and personal endings in each inflected form of a word. My own handout compiled list of irregular verbs indicates the root(s) of each verb and suggests that memorization of each verb's principal parts should involve recognition of how the verb-root interacts with the formative element(s) to produce the six tense-stems. My handout materials were compiled for Classical Attic Greek to accompany the JACT Reading Greek course and are formulated for Attic rather than for Koine forms. My charts were originally part of my "RG Supplement" (accessible at: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/d ... lement.pdf) but I have made accessible as separate documents the sections on
(a) Phonology
(http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/docs/CompPhon.pdf),
(b) Ancient Greek Verb formation
(http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/d ... ekVerb.pdf), and
(c) List of Roots and Principal Parts of Irregular verbs
(http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/d ... ement3.pdf)

My comparable charts for Koine irregular verbs are accessible at:
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/d ... rbsGNT.pdf

[Jonathan Robie]

Here's another post on this topic that I lost in the same reorganization:

I am sometimes asked by students, "Are there any tricks for learning paradigms or principal parts?" (by tricks they mean shortcuts, of course). I tell them I have the absolute infallible way to learn them:

The trick is this: practice saying it over and over again until you can say it without looking. Then write it over and over again until you can write it without looking. Then review it once a day for at least 6 weeks, all in the context of your regular homework and exercises.

They then inform me that this doesn't sound like a trick, just hard work.

Ah, now you begin to understand, young padawan...

N.E. Barry Hofstetter

[Bill Yates]

Thank you for some wonderful feedback and advice.

Robert, here's a link to the Marinone book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Greek-Verbs ... 309&sr=8-1

Most of the Table Headings are in Italian but it is easy to work out what they are. There is also an explanation of the abbreviations used, for example, ott = optative, msch = masculine,
cong = subjunctive and so on.

[JBarach-Sr]

My list of the principle parts of Greek verbs can be found here:
http://www.motorera.com/greek/lessons/appendix1.html
Cheers,
John Barach

[Jeff Oien]

However, I can't emphasize enough the "as much reading as possible" part of the equation. Practicing the language is integral to learning the language. This includes not only reading, but writing as well, and if you are in a context where you can practice speaking it, even better. This helps you internalize what you are learning as you memorize.

N.E. Barry Hofstetter

Hi, I'm new here.

What would you suggest reading? I'm 3/4 of the way through Black's beginner book. I also have the workbook but haven't used it much, as it's a little... much. I have a Greek NT. I'm not all that bright.
Jeff