ENDORSEMENTS I struggled memorizing paradigms when I learned Greek. Now as a lecturer I struggle motivating my students to engage in the tedious and mindnumbing work of memorizing paradigm after paradigm. Well, the good news is that thanks to Danny Zacharias there is now another option. Zacharias has put together a bunch of multimedia clips that are visually aesthetic and aurally memorable to help students learn those paradigms. The fetching graphics and catchy tunes engage more of the senses so that the Greek paradigms sticks in the student's mind more easily and completely. The study of Greek just got a lot easier and a lot more fun. Michael F. Bird, Crossway College, Brisbane, Australia.
THE SINGING GRAMMARIAN Please don't steal, it makes me sad H. Daniel Zacharias with the assistance of Michael Fredericks These Greek music videos came out of my crazed mind as I tried to think of ways to best help my students remember all of those paradigms. They evolved from simple scratchy recordings over midi files to well polished and catchy songs with video presentations to aid both visual and audio learners. We too often underestimate the power of song to help in the learning process, but song has been an integral part of human culture from the beginning. For Students and Professors I hope both the video and audio are helpful for aiding in memorization and learning of Greek. Please remember that these videos are primarily a learning tool for paradigms they ARE NOT a substitute for a first year grammar. Rely on the textbook for the finer points and explanations of the morphology and grammar. Often times my word choices were to aid in rhyming and aiding memorization, not always for precisely describing the finer points of grammar. Also, not every first year grammar is identical, but I did my best to create songs to work alongside any introductory text. Many Thanks I want to thank my students at Acadia Divinity College for encouraging me to distribute these to the many other students struggling through Greek. It was your encouragement, laughs, voices, and good test marks that encouraged me to put the time and energy into them. Thanks also to the staff and faculty at ADC for all of their support in this endeavor. My final thanks goes to Michael Fredericks, a student in my first ever Greek class. Mike, you are a wonderful musician and this project would have taken me another few years had I not had you helping me out. Whatever crazy Greek lyrics I threw at you, you created an even better musical track for it On top of this fun collaborative effort, it is great to have a student turn into a friend.
The Greek Alphabet song Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ α alpha β beta γ gamma δ delta ε epsilon ζ zeta η eta θ theta ι iota κ kappa λ lambda Ν ν nu Ξ ξ xi Ο ο omicron Π π pi Ρ ρ rho Σ σ (ς) sigma Τ τ tau Υ υ upsilon Φ φ phi Χ χ chi Ψ ψ psi Μ μ mu Ω ω omega
Second Declension Song Second declension you re a cinch I will learn you in a pinch Most are masculine or neuter nouns Masculine (and sometimes feminine) Singular Plural Nominative ος οι Hey declension, second one I wish they all could be so fun You take mostly neuter and masculine nouns And now here we go with the neuter ending forms Genitive and dative are just like before Genitive ου ων Dative ῳ οις Accusative ον ους Neuter Singular Plural Nominative ον α Genitive ου ων Dative ῳ οις Accusative ον α Hey declension, second one I wish they all could be so fun You take mostly neuter and masculine nouns Nominative and accusative try to trip you up a bit Those neuter forms can be kind of rough Second declension you re a cinch I will learn you in a pinch Most are masculine or neuter nouns
THE FIRST DECLENSION SONG First declension, it s not always fun, but a few rules will help you parse those nouns alpha s and eta s characterize these words, there s only diversity in the singular forms nothing, sigma, iota subscript, nu. Coming after α/η in the singular Remembering this will go a long way for you, nothing, sigma, iota subscript, nu Now of course, there s an exception to the rule, some nominatives actually end in ης (like μαθητης and προφητης) These same words change in the genitive form too, instead of a sigma they just say ου Finally the plural forms, αι ῶν αις ας are what you need to know Iota is there in the dative again, genitive looks like second declension plural ι, ε, ρ καρδία η ἀγάπη σ, ξ, ζ δόξα ης μαθητής η (ε+α) γῆ καρδία α η α ης ῆ αι nominative ας ης ης ου ῆς ων genitive ᾳ ῃ ῃ ῃ ῇ αις dative αν ην αν ην ῆν ας accusative
The Definite Article Song Masculine and neuter articles Look a lot like second declension Plus all have tau s in front of them But masculine nominative has rough breathing instead Masculine singular... In the nominative the sigma is gone Masculine plural... In every gender τῶν is reused Neuter singular... The nominative and accusative is the same you know Neuter plural... Nominative and accusative is the same again Feminine articles Look like first declension Plus all have tau s in front of them But nominatives have rough breathing instead Feminine singular... The vowel is an eta it doesn t change Feminine plural... Memorizing all these forms are gonna help you pass One thing that s really great about articles Is that they give away the parsing masculine Feminine Neuter nom ὁ ἡ τό gen τοῦ τῆς τοῦ τῇ καρδίᾳ ὁ δὲ λέγει αὐτοῖς sing. dat τῷ τῇ τῷ acc τόν τήν τό Dative Feminine Singular But he says to them Pl. nom οἱ αἱ τά gen τῶν τῶν τῶν dat τοῖς ταῖς τοῖς ὁ ναὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ acc τούς τάς τά The temple of God which is in heaven
3rd Declension Song There was a student had a friend and Sosia was her name-o ς, ος, ι, α (x3) 3rd declension masculine (and feminine) singular Sosia has a last name too and it is Eswnsias ες, ων, σι, ας (x3) 3rd declension feminine (and masculine) plural Now Sosia has a cousin too and his name is Osi --, ος, ι, -- 3rd declension neuter singular Now osi has a last name too and it is Awnsia α, ων, σι, α 3rd declension neuter plural masculine/feminine neuter sing pl sing pl nom [ς, --] χάρις σάρξ [ες] χάριτες σάρκες [--] σῶμα [α] σώματα gen [ος] χάριτος σαρκός [ων] χαρίτων σαρκῶν [ος] σώματος [ων] σωμάτων dat [ι] χάριτι σαρκί [σι] χάρισι(ν) σαρξί [ι] σώματι [σι] σώμασι(ν) acc [α, ν] χάριτα σάρκα [ας] χάριτας σάρκας [--] σῶμα [α] σώματα
The Present Active Indicative Song singular plural 1st ω ομεν 2nd εις ετε 3rd ει ουσι(ν) Sing. 1 λύω ἔχω γράφω 2 λύεις ἔχεις γράφεις 3 λύει ἔχει γράφει Pl. 1 λύομεν ἔχομεν γράφομεν 2 λύετε ἔχετε γράφετε 3 λύουσι(ν) ἔχουσι(ν) γράφουσι(ν)
Present Middle/Passive Indicative Song singular plural 1st μαι μεθα 2nd σαι (ῃ) σθε 3rd ται νται Each of these receives a connecting vowel, omnicron or epsilon Present middle passive indicative Come on everybody let s sing it again singular plural 1st λύομαι λυόμεθα 2nd λύῃ (σαι) λύεσθε 3rd λύεται λύονται Now you ought to be able to sing Present middle passive indicative endings
The Aorist Song Active and Middle (not Passive) Take the secondary endings you ve known all along Put a σα in front of them before you stick them on Take an epsilon, stick it to the front of the word And that s how you get the aorist active and middle verb Exceptions to this rule are in the active voice Sticking to the rules would give you too much choice So first person singular doesn t use the ν And third person singular uses se instead of σα Active Middle Singular 1 ἔλυσα ἐλυσάμην 2 ἔλυσας ἐλύσω 3 ἔλυσα (ν) ἐλύσατο Plural 1 ἐλύσαμεν ἐλυσάμεθα 2 ἐλύσατε ἐλύσασθε 3 ἔλυσαν ἐλύσαντο
Secondary Endings(Imperfect) Song Secondary tenses take different endings than primary verbs So listen up close cause I m gonna show you, how to end secondary tense verbs They all take, ooooooooooh secondary endings Singular Plural 1 ν μεν 2 ς τε 3 -- (εν) ν, σαν Endings for active man they re so attractive Now let s try middle/passive secondary endings Singular Plural 1 μην μεθα 2 ου, σο σθε 3 το ντο Endings for middle/passive, also very attractive Now let s go back to active secondary endings Ooooooooo secondary endings You need to know one more thing, baby, put an epsilon before the stem Add these endings after a connecting vowel and you ve made imperfect indicative Ooooooooh Imperfect indicative Singular Active Middle/Passive 1 ἔλυον ἐλύο/εν 2 ἔλυες ἐλύετε 3 ἔλυε(ν) ἔλυον Plural 1 ἐλύο/ην ἐλυό/εθα 2 ἐλύου ἐλύεσθε 3 ἐλύετο ἐλύοντο
THE FUTURE ACTIVE AND MIDDLE SONG When I m looking at the future what do I see? I see a sigma there looking right back at me A sigma right before the endings I already know For future active and middle, but not for passive, Here s how it goes Now I have to tell you that it s not as easy as that Future stems may be quite different, So knowing principal parts is really, really good And I ll teach you some rules, here s how they go That troublesome sigma, interacting with the stops May change the letters, or drop them out Labials + sigma results in ψ, And palatals + sigma results in ξ And what about those dentals, they tend to lose their teeth A dental + sigma, and the sigma s all you ll see Now there are some stems that look a little different If they end with theta or a double consonant They used to be a dental or a palatal, so apply the rules...and you can tell When I m looking at the future what do I see? I see a sigma there looking right back at me Active Middle singular plural singular plural 1st σω σομεν σομαι σομεθα 2nd σεις σετε σῃ σεσθε 3rd σει σουσι(ν) σεται σονται labials π, β, φ + σ = ψ palatals κ, γ, χ + σ = ξ dentals τ, δ, θ + σ = σ
The Liquid Verb Song Now a liquid verb is a stem that ends in μ, ν, λ, or ρ And then a sigma attaches to make it an Aorist or Future form Lo and behold, that sigma slipped on that liquid, yeah It disappeared, and sometimes the only trace that is found Is a circumflex Cause it s a liquid, liquid verb It should be right there, but the sigma disappeared Cause it s a liquid, liquid verb That liquid consonant scared away the sigma, sigma So how can you tell what that verb is if the sigma suffix disappeared It s kind of tricky, but the aorist will likely still have the epsilon And the aorist suffix will still have the alpha plus secondary endings And future verbs will usually have that circumflex at the end And maybe a stem change
The Passive Forms Song You are a theta, you are an eta. You alert me to a passive form Only aorist and future tenses have unique passive forms Now aorist passive is like other aorists. It takes an epsilon before the stem And its endings are secondary, but theta eta comes right before them Now future passive is like other futures with primary endings and sigma before But before you attach that to the stem that theta eta will sit right before Now there are some passives that are bewild rin, because some theta s don t stick around It is confusing, but don t you worry eta s and sigma s may still be found You are a theta, you are an eta, you alert me to a passive form Only aorist and future tenses have unique passive forms Aorist Future singular plural singular plural 1st ἐλύθην ἐγράφην ἐλύθημεν ἐγράφημεν λυθήσομαι λυθησόμεθα 2nd ἐλύθης ἐγράφης ἐλύθητε ἐγράφητε λυθήσῃ λυθήσεσθε 3rd ἐλύθη ἐγράφη ἐλύθησαν ἐγράφησαν λυθήσεται λυθήσονται
The Perfect Song Do you know your perfect verbs? Well if not just calm your nerves Easy to spot your perfect verbs, reduplication SCREAMS OUT LOUD Another thing that you should know about perfect middle and passive forms kappa alpha isn t used at all, nor the connecting vowel Reduplication sits at the front of the word, for Perfect Active and Middle/Passive verbs Except when a vowel begins the word, then contraction will appear Pluperfect active is like the Perfect, but with an epsilon at the beginning of the word And instead of the kappa alpha suffix, it s kappa epsilon iota kappa alpha comes right after the stem, after the stem, after the stem But a few verbs don t like the kappa, so it just drops out And the endings you already know. Way to go You re a pro Active takes secondary endings, Middle/Passive takes primary Pluperfect middle/passive forms, add an epsilon before the word There s no suffix or vowel, and use secondary endings The perfect system now you know. Way to go You re a pro The perfect system now you know, now go and parse those verbs Perfect Sing. Pl. Pluperfect active middle/passive active middle/passive 1 λέλυκα λέλυμαι ἐλελύκειν ἐλελύμην 2 λέλυκας λέλυσαι ἐλελύκεις ἐλέλυσο 3 λέλυκε (ν) λέλυται ἐλέλυκει (ν) ἐλέλυτο 1 λελύκαμεν λελύμεθα ἐλελύκειμεν ἐλελύμεθα 2 λελύκατε λέλυσθε ἐλελύκειτε ἐλέλυσθε
The Subjunctive Song Subjunctive, Subjunctive A mood of contingency, prohibitions wishes or questions When translating to English, should could would or might are best Mainly in present and aorist Subjunctive The sign of subjunctive is a lengthened thematic vowel ω, ῃς, ῃ, ωμεν, ητε, ωσι(ν) ωμαι, ῃ, ηται, ώμεθα, ησθε, ωνται Lengthened vowels with primary endings...subjunctive Now aorist subjunctive has no epsilon augment And the active and middle suffix is just a sigma Aorist passive suffix is theta, but some words reject that theta And the passive takes the active endings...subjunctive Present Subjunctive Active middle/passive Sing. 1 λύω λύωμαι 2 λύῃς λύῃ 3 λύῃ λύηται Pl. 1 λύωμεν λυώμεθα 2 λύητε λύησθε 3 λύωσι(ν) λύωνται Now some things you need to know, there are some tricky forms 2nd aorist subjunctive, recognized by their stem forms Also contract verbs, often look the same in form present indicative and subjunctive Look identical... only context will tell There are little clue words for upcoming dependent clauses ὅπως ὡς, negative too All may tell you... subjunctive is coming soon Aorist Subjunctive Active middle Passive Sing. 1 λύσω λύσωμαι λυθῶ 2 λύσῃς λύσῃ λυθῇς 3 λύσῃ λύσηται λυθῇ Pl. 1 λύσωμεν λυσώμεθα λυθῶμεν 2 λύσητε λύσησθε λυθῆτε 3 λύσωσι(ν) λύσωνται λυθῶσι(ν)
THE IMPERATIVE SONG It s time to learn the Imperative, the highest mood of contingency For commands, requests, or prohibitions, or to ask permission you see With a unique set of endings, but no first person forms, it appears mostly in the present and aorist tenses Aorist active has a sigma before the endings, same with aorist middle Aorist passive has theta eta before its endings, and second aorists are known by their stems Active Middle Passive present aorist present aorist aorist Sing. 2 λῦσον βάλε λῦσαι βάλοῦ λύθητι 3 λυσάτω βαλέτω λυσάσθω βαλέσθω λυθήτω Plural 2 λύσατε βάλετε λύσάσθε βάλεσθε λύθητε 3 λυσάτωσαν βαλέτωσαν λυσάσθωσαν βαλέσθωσαν λυθήτωσαν ε, ς, θι/τι or ον all can be active second singular τω is third singular, τε and τωσαν are the second and third plural active forms σο, ου or αι, second singular σθω, third singular σθε and σθωσαν are the plural middle/passive imperative forms *Aorist forms* Singular 2 (-ε) -ς, -θι/τι *-ον* -σο -ου *-αι* 3 τω σθω Plural 2 τε σθε 3 τωσαν σθωσαν
The Infinitives Song Always Active Always Middle/ Passive Active or Passive ειν, σαι σθαι ναι Present LET S TAKE A LOOK AT λύω FORMS 2Aorist (λαμβάνω) Aorist Perfect Active λύειν λαβεῖν λῦσαι λελυκέναι Middle λύεσθαι λαβέσθαι λύσασθαι λελύσθαι Passive λύεσθαι ληφθῆναι λυθῆναι γραφῆναι λελύσθαι λύειν is the present active form, λύεσθαι is present middle, and just like indicative before, present passive is like the middle λῦσαι is the aorist active form, λύσασθαι is aorist middle. They got those sigma alpha s there like other aorist forms λυθῆναι is the aorist passive form, see the passive theta eta, and just like passive indicative, some words reject that theta λελυκέναι is the perfect active, λελύσθαι is middle passive. You can know for sure when it s a perfect form, it s got reduplication How about second aorists, they re tricky now and again They look of course a lot like present forms, except with altered stems Now translating the infinitives as a noun or adverbial, there s no doubt we re thinkin about the act of the verb
The Participles Song Participles are verbal adjectives one part verb, one part adjective. Verbal stems and declension endings are what you will learn All active forms use 3rd declension for neuter or masculine and every single feminine uses 1st declension Present active has a thematic vowel Plus ντ for masculine and neuter, but feminine takes υς and dative plurals take that too Aorist active has σ α ν τ for masculine and neuter. Feminines have σ α σ and dative plurals have that too 2Aorist active are exactly the same as present active, except for the placement of the accent and a 2nd aorist stem For all the middles think μεν cause men comes right after the stem. For Aorist middles it s σαμεν and if it s a neuter or masculine use the endings of 2nd declension Aorist passives have θ ε, plus ντ for masculine and neuter, but feminines take ι σ and the dative plurals take that too Perfects have reduplication plus κ ο τ after the stem, Feminines take κ υ ι and this time datives don t Present Perfect Active Middle/Passive masc fem neut masc fem neut λελυκώς λελυκυῖα λελυκός λελυμένος λελυμένη λελυμένον λελυκότος λελυκυίας λελυκότος λελυμένου λελυμένης λελυμένου λελυκότι λελυκυίᾳ λελυκότι λελυμένῳ λελυμένῃ λελυμένῳ λελυκότα λελυκυῖαν λελυκός λελυμένον λελυμένην λελυμένον λελυκότες λελυκυῖαι λελυκότα λελυμένοι λελυμέναι λελυμένα λελυκότων λελυκυιῶν λελυκότων λελυμένων λελυμένων λελυμένων λελυκόσι(ν) λελυκυίαις λελυκόσι(ν) λελυμένοις λελυμέναις λελυμένοις λελυκότας λελυκυίας λελυκότα λελυμένους λελυμένας λελυμένα Aorist Active Middle/Passive Active Middle Passive masc fem neut masc fem neut masc fem neut masc fem neut masc fem neut nom sg λύων λύουσα λῦον λυόμενος λυομένη λυόμενον λύσας λύσασα λῦσαν λυσάμενος λυσαμένη λυσάμενον λυθείς λυθεῖσα λυθέν gen sg λύοντος λύουσης λύοντος λυομένου λυομένης λυομένου λύσαντος λυσάσης λύσαντος λυσαμένου λυσαμένης λυσαμένου λυθέντος λυθείσης λυθέντος dat sg λύοντι λύουσῃ λύοντι λυομένῳ λυομένῃ λυομένῳ λύσαντι λυσάσῃ λύσαντι λυσαμένῳ λυσαμένῃ λυσαμένῳ λυθέντι λυθείσῃ λυθέντι acc sg λύοντα λύουσαν λῦον λυόμενον λυομένην λυόμενον λύσαντα λύσασαν λῦσαν λυσάμενον λυσαμένην λυσάμενον λυθέντα λυθεῖσαν λυθέν nom pl λύοντες λύουσαι λύοντα λυόμενοι λυόμεναι λυόμενα λύσαντες λύσασαι λύσαντα λυσάμενοι λυσάμεναι λυσάμενα λυθέντες λυθεῖσαι λυθέντα gen pl λύοντων λύουσῶν λυόντων λυομένων λυομένων λυομένων λυσάντων λυσασῶν λυσάντων λυσαμένων λυσαμένων λυσαμένων λυθέντων λυθεισῶν λυθέντων dat pl λύουσι(ν) λύουσαις λύουσιν λυομένοις λυομέναις λυομένοις λύσασι(ν) λυσάσαις λύσασι(ν) λυσαμένοις λυσαμέναις λυσαμένοις λυθεῖσι(ν) λυθείσαις λυθεῖσι(ν) acc pl λύοντας λύουσας λύοντα λυομένους λυομένας λυόμενα λύσαντας λυσάσας λύσαντα λυσαμένους λυσαμένας λυσάμενα λυθέντας λυθείσας λυθέντα
The -μι Verbs Song μιςσι μεντεασι is her name, ending primary active μι verbs is her game μι ς σι μεν τε ασι goes with μαι σαι ται μεθα σθε νται Primary verbs take these forms, but secondary μι verbs follow the norm Let s take δίδωμι as our word, if the diddle is present well it s present and if it isn t, well no it isn t Future has a sigma (no diddle), Aorist has an epsilon (no diddle) Imperfect has an epsilon (with a diddle) And if diddle is δεδ it s Perfect, it s Perfect And one final thing about Aorist μι verbs to tell ya some of them take κα not σα And μιςσι μεντεασι is her name, all non-indicative μι verbs end the same διδῶμι δώσω ἔδουν ἐδίδουν δεδῶκα Present Future Aorist Imperfect Perfect primary active endings middle / passive singular plural singular plural 1st μι μεν μαι μεθα 2nd ς τε σαι σθε 3rd σι ασι ται νται