A Verb Ending In -ω In The Present, Indicative, Active
Most Greek verbs end in ω in the first person singular of the present, indicative, active.
(1) I believe πιστευω
και ευθεως κραξας ο πατηρ του παιδιου μετα δακρυων ελεγεν πιστευω κυριε βοηθει μου τη απιστια (Mark 9:24)
and immediately the father of the child, having cried out, with tears said, `I believe, sir; be helping mine unbelief.’
(2) You believe πιστευεις
πιστευεις βασιλευ αγριππα τοις προφηταις οιδα οτι πιστευεις (Act 26:27)
You believe, king Agrippa, the prophets? I have known that you believe!’
(3) He believes πιστευει
ιησους δε εκραξεν και ειπεν ο πιστευων εις εμε ου πιστευει εις εμε αλλ εις τον πεμψαντα με (John 12:44)
And Jesus cried and said, `He who is believing in me, does not believe in me, but in Him who sent me;
(4) We believe πιστευομεν
τη τε γυναικι ελεγον οτι ουκετι δια την σην λαλιαν πιστευομεν αυτοι γαρ ακηκοαμεν και οιδαμεν οτι ουτος εστιν αληθως ο σωτηρ του κοσμου ο χριστος (John 4:42)
and said to the woman–`No more because of thy speaking do we believe; for we ourselves have heard and known that this is truly the Saviour of the world–the Christ.’
(5) You (plural) believe πιστευετε
ει τα επιγεια ειπον υμιν και ου πιστευετε πως εαν ειπω υμιν τα επουρανια πιστευσετε (John 3:12)
if the earthly things I said to you, and you do not believe, how, if I shall say to you the heavenly things, will you believe?
(6) They believe πιστευουσιν
περι αμαρτιας μεν οτι ου πιστευουσιν εις εμε (John 16:9)
concerning sin indeed, because they do not believe in me;
Four facts you should remember about the Greek verbs:
- The present tense, in all its modes, represents an action or state as continued or repeated.
- The unchangeable part of an inflected word (for example, πιστευ in the verb πιστευω) is called the stem.
- The terminations appended to the stems of verbs indicate the person and number of the subject.
- Verbs in the third person ending in σιν and εν (with a few exceptions) may drop the ν before the consonant.
