LESSON X
The other Past Tenses
The imperfect, with the augment prefixed as the sign of the past, is as follows; from κόπτω—
| ἔκοπτ-ον, | -ες, | -ε, | I, thou, he was | cutting. | |
| ἐκόπτ-ομεν, | -ετε, | -ον, | we, you, they were |
Pure verbs contract
| αον | into | ων |
| αες | ” | ας |
| αε | ” | α |
| άομεν | ” | ῶμεν |
| άετε | ” | ᾶτε |
| αον | ” | ων |
| as in— | |||
| ἐτίμων | ἐτίμας | ἐτίμα | |
| ἐτιμῶμεν | ἐτιμᾶτε | ἐτίμων | |
| εον | into | ουν |
| εες | ” | εις |
| εε | ” | ει |
| έομεν | ” | οῦμεν |
| έετε | ” | εῖτε |
| εον | ” | ουν |
| as in— | |||
| ἐφίλουν | ἐφίλεις | ἐφίλει | |
| ἐφιλοῦμεν | ἐφιλεῖτε | ἐφίλουν | |
The present perfect, or the immediately past perfect, in addition to the augment, reduplicates the initial consonant of the root, and its terminations are—
| -α, | -ας, | -ε, | I, thou, he has ... |
| -αμεν, | -ατε, | -ᾱσι, | we, you, they have ... |
It changes also the σ of the future into a κ—
| τιμήσω— | τετίμηκα | τετίμηκας | τετίμηκε |
| τετιμήκαμεν | τετιμήκατε | τετιμήκāσι |
but this κ, when the root ends in γ or κ, appears as χ; thus—
| πλέκω | πλέξω | πέπλεχα |
| πράσσω | πράξω | πέπρᾱχα |
and in the same way the final π of the root appears as φ; thus—
| τύπτω | τύψω | τέτυφα |
| γράφω | γράψω | γέγραφα |
In the pluperfect, which is not often used, the same reduplication takes place, and the terminations are—
| -ειν | -εις | -ει |
| -ειμεν | -ειτε | -εισαν or -εσαν |
| as in— | |||
| ἐτετύφειν | ἐτετύφεις | ἐτετύφει | |
| ἐτετύφειμεν | ἐτετύφειτε | ἐτετύφεισαν | |
ἔτυπτον ἐγὼ τὸ παιδάριον, ὅτε εἰσελθὼν ὁ ἀστυνόμος
ἥρπασέ με εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον,
I was beating the boy, when the policeman
entering took me to prison.
γέγραφα ἐπιστολὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα σου
λέγων παῖδά σε εἶναι κόσμιον τοὺς τρόπους,
I have written a letter to your father saying
that you are a well-behaved young man.
ἐτύγχανον ὕπτιος κείμενος ἐν τῇ κοίτῃ ὅτε μέγας τις μῦς
ὑπερπηδήσας τὰ στρώματα δεινόν μοι ἐνεποίησε φόβον,
I happened to be lying on my back in the bed when a rat,
leaping over the bedcover, gave me a great fright.
δικαίως γε, and with good reason.
τὰ νῦν δὲ ποῦστι τὸ ἀναιδὲς θρέμμα;
and now, where is the shameless creature?
κέκαφεν αὐτὸ τὸ κυνάριόν μου τὸ ἐκ τῆς Ὀρεινῆς,
my little Skye terrier has just snapped it up.
δίκαια ἔπαθεν, served it right!
ποῦστι τὸ μελανοδοχεῖόν μου;
where is my inkstand?
εὕρηκα, εὕρηκα, ἐν τῷ λουτρῶνι,
I have found it, I have found it, in the bathroom.
παράδοξον τοῦτο· οὐκ ἔγραφον ἔγωγε ἐν τῷ λουτρῶνι,
strange; I was not writing in the bathroom.
οὐχ ὁρῶ τὸν κάλαμον,
I do not see my pen.
ἰδοῦ· εὗρον ἐν τῷ δειπνητηρίῳ,
here it is; I found it in the dining-room.
ἔπαιζεν ὁ αἴλουρος τῷ καλάμῳ σου καὶ τῷ πετάσῳ,
καὶ τῇ χλαμύδι, καὶ ταῖς κρηπῖσι, καὶ δεινόν τινα ἐποίει θόρυβον,
the cat was playing with your pen, and with your hat,
and your plaid, and your boots, and making a terrible row.
σφάξον τὸ θρέμμα, kill the brute!
οὐδαμῶς· αὐτὸς σὺ αἴτιος, ὃς δὴ ἔλιπες τὸ οἴκημα ἐν
πάσῃ ἀκοσμίᾳ, ὁ δὲ αἴλουρος πεπλήρωκε τὸ ἔργον σου,
not at all; you yourself are to blame, who left the room
in great disorder, and the cat has finished your work.
δίκαια λέγεις, you are right.
καὶ ἐγὼ μεγάλην ὤφληκα μωρίαν,
and I have committed an act of great folly.
μετανοῶ ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι,
I repent of the business.
ἔρρωσο, farewell.
English Affinities
Harpy. Graphic. Epistle. Tropic. The Cosmos. Cosmetic. Big. Melancholy. Paradox. Autonomy. Pragmatic.