The most-used irregular verb. Six forms, ~2,460 NT occurrences. Predicate nominatives, the existential "there is," John's seven predicated εγω ειμι sayings, the absolute "I AM" of John 8:58, and οιδα — the verb that looks past but means present.
ειμι ("to be") is irregular in nearly every language, and Greek is no exception.
Just six present-tense forms, but they appear in some of the NT's densest theological statements: "I am the way," "God is love," "before Abraham was, I am."
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ειμι — I am | εσμεν — we are |
| 2nd | ει — you are | εστε — you (pl) are |
| 3rd | εστι(ν) — he/she/it is | εισι(ν) — they are |
Recite as a chant: ειμι, ει, εστι(ν); εσμεν, εστε, εισι(ν).
Rhythm: EE-mee, AY, ESS-tee — ESS-men, ESS-teh, EE-see.
Most forms of ειμι are enclitic — they lean on the preceding word for their accent. They often appear without their own accent mark in printed texts.
Movable nu: the (ν) on 3sg εστι(ν) and 3pl εισι(ν) appears before vowels (or sentence end) and disappears before consonants.
English does the same: "I am he" — not "I am him." The noun after "be" is in the SUBJECTIVE case.
1 John 4:8: ο θεος αγαπη εστιν. Both θεος and αγαπη are nominative. εστιν links them.
When ειμι links two nominatives, which is subject and which is predicate? The one with the article is typically the subject.
If both have articles, word order or context decides. Pronouns, proper names, and definite expressions tend to be subject.
ειμι can be used impersonally — meaning "there exists." The 3sg form (often εστιν with retracted accent on the first syllable) is most common.
Distinguishing the uses: when the verb comes first and is followed by the noun, the existential reading is more likely. With clear subject + predicate, ειμι links them.
Greek often omits ειμι when meaning is clear from context — especially in greetings, summaries, and declarative pairings.
"Blessed [are] the poor." No verb — translators supply "are." This is called a nominal sentence or verbless clause.
When ειμι is written, it's often for emphasis or rhythm. Reading Greek means learning to supply the implied verb mentally.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ημην | ημεν / ημεθα |
| 2nd | ης / ησθα | ητε |
| 3rd | ην | ησαν |
~470 NT occurrences. The 3sg ην alone occurs over 250 times.
John's Gospel opens with this imperfect: εν αρχη ην ο λογος — "In the beginning was the Word."
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | εσομαι | εσομεθα |
| 2nd | εση | εσεσθε |
| 3rd | εσται | εσονται |
~191 NT occurrences. Built on a different stem (εσ-) from the present (ειμ-). Note: future endings look middle.
Heavily used in eschatological promise. Luke 23:43: εση μετ εμου εν τω παραδεισω — "you will be with me in paradise."
When you encounter εγω ειμι in John's Gospel, your interpretive antenna should rise. Greek doesn't need εγω — the verb already means "I am." Adding the pronoun is deliberately emphatic.
John records seven famous predicated εγω ειμι sayings. Each layers Jesus's identity over an OT image:
"Before Abraham came to be, I AM."
Echoes Exodus 3:14 LXX: εγω ειμι ο ων — God's self-name to Moses.
"He said to them, 'I AM.' They drew back and fell to the ground."
At Jesus's arrest. The soldiers' physical reaction — falling backward — points beyond a mere "yes, that's me" to a divine self-disclosure.
The translation is grammatically defensible as "I am he," but the soldiers' reaction suggests the absolute reading.
οιδα's form is perfect tense (reduplication, stative formation). But its meaning is plain present: "I know."
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | οιδα | οιδαμεν |
| 2nd | οιδας | οιδατε |
| 3rd | οιδεν | οιδασιν |
The practical rule: always translate as plain present "know" — never as "have known" or "knew." Form is perfect; meaning is present.
Historically, οιδα is the perfect of an ancient verb meaning "to see." Originally: "I have seen [and so I now know]." The past-action component dropped away; only the present "I know" survived.
In John they're often used in deliberate contrast. Elsewhere they overlap heavily.
Present-tense forms are mostly regular; the aorist often comes from a completely different stem.
| Greek | Translation | Aorist quirk |
|---|---|---|
| εσθιω | I eat | aor. εφαγον (different stem) |
| πινω | I drink | aor. επιον (2nd aorist) |
| πιπτω | I fall | aor. επεσον |
| εισερχομαι | I enter | compound of ερχομαι |
| εξερχομαι | I go out | compound of ερχομαι |
| απερχομαι | I depart | compound of ερχομαι |
The present-active participle of ειμι:
| Masc | Fem | Neut | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ων | ουσα | ον | "being" |
Crucial for John's opening of Revelation:
"The one being, and the one who was, and the one coming" (Rev 1:4) — three participles describing God's eternity. Same verb, three temporal aspects, all in articular form.
Note: this echoes Exodus 3:14 LXX εγω ειμι ο ων — "I am the one being."
When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, he gave a name. In Hebrew: ehyeh asher ehyeh ("I am that I am"). The LXX rendered it εγω ειμι ο ων — "I am the one being."
The first two words, εγω ειμι, became a recognizable signature for divine self-identification.
When John has Jesus say εγω ειμι in absolute terms — without a predicate, just two words alone — he's reaching for that signature. The crowd in John 8:58 picks up stones to kill Jesus for blasphemy. They heard the divine name claim that English-only readers can easily miss.
Two words become a doorway. The grammar is simple — the most basic verb in the language. The theology is not. This is one place where reading the Greek changes how you see the English.
Six present forms, the predicate-nominative rule, Colwell's article-marks-the-subject heuristic, the existential "there is," nominal sentences, the imperfect (ην), the future, the participle ων, and οιδα's perfect-form/present-meaning quirk.
You've completed the present-tense indicative — active, middle, passive, contracts, and ει&mi;ι. You can read most simple NT sentences in real time.