LESSON 13
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Unit III — The Verb System
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~40 minutes + drilling
By the End of This Lesson
- Memorize the six present forms of εἰμί
- Recognize predicate nominatives (the form following εἰμί is nominative, not accusative)
- Understand the impersonal "there is/are" construction
- Read the famous "I am" statements in John in Greek
- Recognize a few other irregular verbs
- Memorize the 13 vocabulary words
The Six Forms of εἰμί
No regular pattern — just memorize. These forms occur 2,460+ times in the NT, more than any other verb.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|
| 1st |
εἰμί — I am |
ἐσμέν — we are |
| 2nd |
εἶ — you are |
ἐστέ — you (pl) are |
| 3rd |
ἐστί(ν) — he/she/it is |
εἰσί(ν) — they are |
Memorization tip
Recite as a chant: εἰμί, εἶ, ἐστί(ν); ἐσμέν, ἐστέ, εἰσί(ν).
Notice: 1st sg εἰμί = also the lexical form (dictionary headword). 2nd sg εἶ is the shortest form — just a diphthong. The plurals all start with ἐ-/εἰ-.
The (ν) on 3rd sg and 3rd pl is movable nu — added before vowels or sentence end.
Predicate Nominative
The case of the noun after εἰμί is a critical detail.
In English we say "I see him" — accusative for the object. But "I am he" — not him. The noun after "be" is in the SUBJECTIVE case, not the objective.
Greek does the same. After εἰμί, the predicate noun is in the nominative, not the accusative. εἰμί doesn't take an object — it links the subject to a description.
ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ κύριος.
— ho Iēsous estin ho kyrios.
"Jesus is the lord." Both ὁ Ἰησοῦς and ὁ κύριος are nominative. εἰμί links them — they refer to the same person.
ἀγάπη ἐστὶν ὁ θεός.
— agapē estin ho theos.
"God is love" (literally "love is God"). Both nouns nominative. The article on θεός tells you it's the subject; ἀγάπη without article is the predicate. This is 1 John 4:8.
⚠ Subject vs predicate noun
When you have two nominatives with εἰμί, how do you tell which is the subject? Two rules:
1. The articulated noun (with article) is the subject. "ὁ θεός" with article = subject. "ἀγάπη" without article = predicate.
2. If both have articles, word order or context decides. Pronouns, proper names, and definite expressions tend to be subject.
So ἀγάπη ἐστὶν ὁ θεός = "God is love," not "Love is God." The articulated ὁ θεός is the subject.
"There is" / "There are"
εἰμί can be used impersonally — meaning "there exists."
ἔστιν θεός.
— estin theos.
"There is a God." The 3rd singular ἔστιν (with retracted accent on the first syllable) used impersonally.
οὐκ ἔστιν δίκαιος, οὐδὲ εἷς.
— ouk estin dikaios, oude heis.
"There is no righteous person, not even one." Romans 3:10. Impersonal use of εἰμί + negation.
Distinguishing the uses
With a subject + predicate, εἰμί links them ("X is Y"). Without a clear subject, εἰμί asserts existence ("there is X"). Word order helps: when the verb comes FIRST and is followed by the noun, the existential reading is more likely.
The Famous "I Am" Statements
In John's gospel, Jesus repeatedly says ἐγώ εἰμι ("I am") — sometimes with a predicate, sometimes alone in a way that echoes Exodus 3:14.
ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς.
— egō eimi ho artos tēs zōēs.
"I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). Note the explicit ἐγώ — emphatic.
ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου.
— egō eimi to phōs tou kosmou.
"I am the light of the world" (John 8:12).
ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή.
— egō eimi hē hodos kai hē alētheia kai hē zōē.
"I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι, ἐγὼ εἰμί.
— prin Abraam genesthai, egō eimi.
"Before Abraham came to be, I AM" (John 8:58). The standalone ἐγώ εἰμι (without predicate) deliberately echoes the Septuagint's translation of God's self-naming in Exodus 3:14 (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν — "I am the one who is").
Other Irregular Verbs
A few high-frequency verbs have irregularities you should recognize when you see them.
| Greek | Translation | Note |
|---|
| ἐσθίω | I eat | Stem alternation; aorist is ἔφαγον (different stem) |
| πίνω | I drink | Aorist is ἔπιον (2nd aorist) |
| πίπτω | I fall | Aorist is ἔπεσον |
| ἀπέρχομαι | I depart | Compound of ἔρχομαι; same deponent pattern |
| εἰσέρχομαι | I enter, go in | Compound (εἰς + ἔρχομαι) |
| ἐξέρχομαι | I go out | Compound (ἐξ + ἔρχομαι) |
For these verbs, the present-tense forms are mostly regular (use the standard endings on the present stem); but when you reach the past tenses, the aorist often comes from a completely different stem. We'll meet those in Lessons 15–16.
Translation Exercises
Translate
- ὁ θεὸς πατήρ ἐστιν.
- ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου.
- ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός. [ποιμήν = "shepherd"]
- οὐκ ἔστιν δοῦλος ὑπὲρ τὸν κύριον αὐτοῦ.
- εἰμὶ ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν.
- οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐσθίουσιν μετὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ.
- οὐκ εἰσὶν δίκαιοι ἐν τῇ γῇ.
Answers
1. God is father.
2. You (pl) are the light of the world. (Matt 5:14.)
3. I am the good shepherd. (John 10:11.)
4. A slave is not above his master.
5. I am your brother.
6. The sinners eat with Jesus.
7. There are no righteous people on the earth. (Existential use of εἰσίν.)
Practice — drill the concepts
Five drill sets for εἰμί and irregular verbs — the six εἰμί forms, predicate-nominative grammar, the impersonal "there is/are" use, common irregular verbs (ἐσθίω, πίνω, πίπτω, compound deponents), and translation (including the famous "I am" sayings of John).
Vocabulary — Lesson 13
13 words including εἰμί and select irregulars
| Greek | Translit. | Meaning |
|---|
| εἰμί | eimi | I am |
| ἀπέρχομαι | aperchomai | I depart, go away |
| εἰσέρχομαι | eiserchomai | I enter, go in |
| ἐξέρχομαι | exerchomai | I go out, come out |
| ἐσθίω | esthiō | I eat |
| πίνω | pinō | I drink |
| πίπτω | piptō | I fall |
| ὑπάγω | hypagō | I go away, depart |
| ὑποστρέφω | hypostrephō | I return |
| προσφέρω | prospherō | I bring to, offer |
| ἀπολύω | apolyō | I release, send away |
| ὑπακούω | hypakouō | I obey (+ dat) |
| ὑποτάσσω | hypotassō | I subject, subordinate |
End of Unit III
With Lesson 13 you've completed the present-tense indicative — active, middle, passive, contracts, and εἰμί. You can now read most simple NT sentences in real time. Unit IV next moves into past tenses (imperfect, aorist) and Unit V handles future and perfect. The verb system has many more forms to learn, but every one builds on what you now know about person, number, voice, and the personal endings.