Modern Greek/Lesson 04.3

Lesson 4.2: Second Conjugation Verbs

Class II verbs have the accent on the final syllable. They are divided into two subcategories, IIA which end in άω or class IIB which end in ώ. First conjugation verbs were covered in the previous lesson.

Class IIA -άω

These end in άω, though sometimes the α is omitted. In this case the first person singular looks like a class IIB verb. [I'm not sure how you tell it's not in this case, other than learning. Thankfully dropping the α is fairly rare apparently, and every ending except first person singular is different so it should be easy to spot].

The endings for a class IIA verb are -άω, -άς, -άει, -άμε, -άτε, -άν. Using the summary notation introduced in the previous lesson and the example verb μιλάω - to speak:

Verb μιλάω · To speak / to talk
-	Sing.	Plu.
1st	μιλάω	μιλάμε
2nd	μιλάς	μιλάτε
3rd	μιλάει	μιλούν

There are a number of useful verbs that are of this form, given here in the 1st person:

Verbs
μιλάω	to speak
πάω	to go
ξυπνάω	to wake up
σταματάω	to stop
πεινάω	to be hungry
διψάω	to be thirsty

Class IIB -ώ

Class IIB verbs look a lot like class I verbs, the endings are the same letters in all cases except 2nd person plural, and the accent remains on the final syllable. So the endings are -ώ, -είς, -εί, -ούμε, -είτε, -ούν.

[Class IIB verbs ended with -έω previously, hence they are historically more similar to class IIA even if at first glance they look more like class I. The key is whether the accent is on the stem or the final syllable.]

An example using the summary notation again, μπορώ - to be able (can):

Verb μπορώ · To be able / can
-	Sing.	Plu.
1st	μπορώ	μπορούμε
2nd	μπορείς	μπορείτε
3rd	μπορεί	μπορούν

Summary

• We have TBC

Exercises

Now try the exercise found here.

Modern Greek

Contents
Lesson 1 • Lesson 2 • Lesson 3 • Lesson 4 • Lesson 5 • Lesson 6 • Lesson 7 • Lesson 8 • Lesson 9 • Lesson 10
Vocab 1 • Vocab 2 • Vocab 3 • Vocab 4 • Vocab 5 • Vocab 6 • Vocab 7 • Vocab 8 • Vocab 9
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