-μι Verbs

1. The present and aorist stems have long vowels in the singular, short vowels in the plural.

2. The present stem is reduplicated; the aorist stem is unreduplicated.

3. Τhe future tense is formed as usual, adding -σ- to the unreduplicated stem plus primary (present) endings (δώσω, θήσω, στήσω, ἥσω, δείξω).

4. In the imperfect, add secondary (past) endings directly to the stem vowel.

Present Indicative

“I give”

δίδωμι
δίδως
δίδωσι
δίδομεν
δίδοτε
διδόασι

 

“I put, place”

τίθημι
τίθης
τίθησι
τίθεμεν
τίθετε
τιθέασι

 

“I make X stand”

ἵστημι
ἵστης
ἵστησι
ἵσταμεν
ἵστατε
ἵστᾶσι

 

“I show”

δείκνῡμι
δείκνῡς
δείκνῡσι
δείκνυμεν
δείκνυτε
δεικνύασι

Imperfect Indicative

“I was giving”

ἐδίδουν
ἐδίδους
ἐδίδου
ἐδίδομεν
ἐδίδοτε
ἐδίδοσαν

 

“I was putting”

ἐτίθην
ἐτίθεις
ἐτίθει
ἐτίθεμεν
ἐτίθετε
ἐτίθεσαν

 

“I was making X stand”

ἵστην
ἱστης
ἵστη
ἵσταμεν
ἵστατε
ἵστασαν

 

“I was showing”

ἐδείκνῡν
ἐδείκνῡς
ἐδείκνῡ
ἐδείκνυμεν
ἐδείκνυτε
ἐδείκνυσαν

Aorist Indicative

“I gave”

ἔδωκα
ἔδωκας
ἔδωκε
ἔδομεν
ἔδοτε
ἔδοσαν

 

“I put, placed”

ἔθηκα
ἔθηκας
ἔθηκε
ἔθεμεν
ἔθετε
ἔθεσαν

 

“I made X stand”

ἔστησα
ἔστησας
ἔστησε
ἐστήσαμεν
ἐστήσατε
ἔστησαν

 

“I showed”

ἔδειξα
ἔδειξας
ἔδειξε
ἐδείξαμεν
ἐδείξατε
ἔδειξαν

Present Imperative, Infinitive, and Participle

δίδου  δίδοτε

“give!”

διδόναι

“to give”

διδούς διδοῦσα διδόν

“giving”

 

 

τίθει  τίθετε

 

τιθέναι

 

τιθείς τιθεῖσα τιθέν

 

 

ἵστη  ἵστατε

 

ἱστάναι

 

ἱστάς ἱστᾶσα ἱσταν

 

 

δείκνῡ  δείκνυτε

 

δεινύναι

 

δεικνύς δεικνῦσα δεικνύν

Aorist Imperative, Infinitive, and Participle

δός δότε

“give!”

δοῦναι

“to give”

δούς δοῦσα δόν

“having given”

 

 

θές  θέτε

 

θεῖναι

 

θείς θεῖσα θέν

 

 

στῆθι  στῆτε

 

στῆναι

 

στάς  στᾶσα στάν

 

 

δείξον  δείξατε

 

δεῖξαι

 

δείξας δείξασα δεῖξαν

Before moving on, please practice –μι verbs at James Johnson’s Supplementary Exercises for Athenaze, Chapters 18-19.

Comparing ἵημι “I let go, send,” εἰμί “I am,”and εἶμι “I will go”

Don’t look at this section until you know the four verbs above!

  1. ἵημι “I let go, send, throw” is inflected like τίθημι; it always has a rough breathing; the stem has  -ι except in the aorist singular and future.  It usually appears in compounds (see below).
  2. εἰμί “I am” always has smooth breathing.  Learn this verb.  It is your friend!
  3. εἶμι “I will go” always has smooth breathing, the stem always has –ι.  In Attic Greek, it is used for the future and imperfect of ἔρχομαι “I go.”

Present Tense

“I let go, send”

ἵημι
ἵης       infin. ἱέναι
ἵησι     partic. ἱείς ἱεῖσα ἱέν
ἵεμεν
ἵετε
ἱᾶσι

 

“I am”

εἰμί
εἶ        infin. εἶναι
ἐστί    partic. ὤν οὖσα ὄν
ἐσμέν
ἐστέ
εἰσί

 

“I go”

ἔρχομαι
ἔρχει       infin. ἰέναι
ἔρχεται   partic. ἰών ἰοῦσα
ἔρχομεθα          ἰόν
ἔρχεσθε
ἔρχονται

Future Tense

“I will let go, send”

ἥσω
ἥσεις
ἥσει
ἥσομεν
ἥσετε
ἥσουσι

 

“I will be”

ἔσομαι
ἔσει
ἔσεται
ἐσόμεθα
ἔσεσθε
ἔσονται

 

“I will go”

εἶμι
εἶ
εἶσι
ἴμεν
ἴτε
ἴασι

Imperfect Tense

“I was letting go, sending”

ἵην
ἵεις
ἵει
ἵεμεν
ἵετε
ἵεσαν

 

 

“I was”

ἦν or ἦ
ἦσθα
ἦν
ἦμεν
ἦτε
ἦσαν

 

 

“I was going”

ᾖα
ᾔεις
ᾔει
ᾖμεν
ᾖτε
ᾖσαν

Aorist Tense

“I let go, sent”

ἧκα
ἧκας     infin. εἷναι
ἧκε      partic. εἵς εἷσα ἕν
εἷμεν
εἷτε
εἷσαν

 

No aorist

 

“I went”

ἦλθον
ἦλθες      infin. ἐλθεῖν
ἦλθε        partic. ἐλθών
ἤλθομεν    ἐλθοῦσα  ἐλθόν
ἤλθετε
ἦλθον

μι  Verb Compounds

ἀποδίδωμι  I give back, return, pay

ἀποδίδωμαι  I sell

παραδίδωμι  I hand over, give

ἀνατίθημι  I set up, I dedicate

ἐπιτίθημι  I put X (acc.) on Y (dat.)

ἀνίστημι  I make X stand up, I raise X; when no direct object: I stand up

καθίστημι  I set X up, I establish X, I appoint X, I put X into a certain state; when no direct object: I am established, appointed, I get/fall into a certain state (cf. p. 51)

ἀφίσταμαι  I stand away from, I revolt from

ἀφίημι  I let go, release, send, throw

ἐφίημι  I throw at (ἐπί + acc.)

συνίημι  I understand

Now try the practice exercises at James Johnson’s Supplementary Exercises for Athenaze, Chapter 20.