# BBG Chapter 21 — Imperfect Indicative

## Files

### Exercises

Exercise | Description
--- | ---
exercises/ch21-imperfect-parsing/ | Imperfect Parsing Drill — 20 forms to parse

### Flashcards

File | Description
--- | ---
ch21-vocab-deck.md | Human-readable card list — 9 vocabulary words
ch21-vocab-deck.txt | Anki import file (File → Import)
ch21-vocab-deck-fd.txt | Flashcards Deluxe import file

### Notebooks

Notebook | What it shows
--- | ---
GNT Verb Morphology | Imperfect tense profile; narrative vs. discourse
Genre Comparison | Imperfect tense distribution in narrative vs epistolary genres

Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, Mounce, 4th Edition
Data: MACULA Greek TAGNT (~6,900 imperfect indicative tokens NT-wide)

## 1. The Imperfect Tense — Overview

The imperfect indicative is built on the present tense stem and expresses imperfective aspect (ongoing or repeated action) located in past time. The combination of imperfective aspect + past time reference = action that was in progress, habitual, or repeated in the past.

Feature | Value
--- | ---
Tense | Imperfect
Aspect | Imperfective (ongoing/repeated)
Time | Past
Stem | Present tense stem
Augment | Yes — ε- prefix (consonant stems) or vowel lengthening (vowel stems)
Endings | Secondary (not primary)

> Key Insight: The imperfect has no independent tense stem in Greek — it is the present stem carried back in time by the augment. This is why the imperfect and present paradigms look nearly identical except for the augment and the secondary endings.

## 2. The Augment

The augment signals past time in the indicative mood. It appears on the imperfect, aorist, and pluperfect.

### 2.1 Syllabic Augment (Consonant-Initial Stems)

Verbs beginning with a consonant prefix ε- before the stem:

Present | Imperfect | Notes
--- | --- | ---
λύω | ἔλυον | ε + λ-
γράφω | ἔγραφον | ε + γ-
πιστεύω | ἐπίστευον | ε + π-
βλέπω | ἔβλεπον | ε + β-

### 2.2 Temporal Augment (Vowel-Initial Stems)

Verbs beginning with a vowel lengthen the initial vowel:

Initial Vowel | Augmented Form | Rule
--- | --- | ---
α | η | ἀκούω → ἤκουον
ε | η | ἐλπίζω → ἤλπιζον
ο | ω | ὁράω → ἑώρων (irregular)
αυ | ηυ | αὐξάνω → ηὔξανον
ι | ι (long) | (lengthened, same grapheme)
υ | υ (long) | (lengthened, same grapheme)

> Note: Compound verbs (with a prepositional prefix) augment after the preposition, not before the whole compound. ἐκβάλλω → ἐξέβαλλον (ἐκ + ἔβαλλον; κ → ξ before ε).

## 3. Secondary Active Endings

The imperfect active uses secondary active endings (same endings used in the aorist active):

Person/Number | Secondary Active | With Connecting Vowel
--- | --- | ---
1sg | -ν | -ον
2sg | -ς | -ες
3sg | — (null) | -ε(ν)
1pl | -μεν | -ομεν
2pl | -τε | -ετε
3pl | -ν | -ον

> Note: The 1sg and 3pl both end in -ον. Context usually disambiguates them, but the 3pl ending is the same because both originally ended in -ν (the 1sg ending) — they differ only in context.

## 4. Secondary Middle/Passive Endings

The imperfect middle/passive uses secondary middle/passive endings:

Person/Number | Secondary M/P | With Connecting Vowel
--- | --- | ---
1sg | -μην | -ομην
2sg | -ου | -ου (ε + σο → ου)
3sg | -ετο | -ετο
1pl | -ομεθα | -ομεθα
2pl | -εσθε | -εσθε
3pl | -οντο | -οντο

## 5. Full Paradigm — Imperfect Active Indicative (λύω)

Person/Number | Imperfect Active | Translation
--- | --- | ---
1sg | ἔλυον | I was loosing / I used to loose
2sg | ἔλυες | You were loosing
3sg | ἔλυε(ν) | He/she/it was loosing
1pl | ἐλύομεν | We were loosing
2pl | ἐλύετε | You (pl) were loosing
3pl | ἔλυον | They were loosing

## 6. Full Paradigm — Imperfect Middle/Passive Indicative (λύω)

Person/Number | Imperfect Middle/Passive | Translation
--- | --- | ---
1sg | ἐλυόμην | I was loosing (for myself) / I was being loosed
2sg | ἐλύου | You were loosing (for yourself)
3sg | ἐλύετο | He/she was loosing (for himself/herself)
1pl | ἐλυόμεθα | We were loosing (for ourselves)
2pl | ἐλύεσθε | You (pl) were loosing (for yourselves)
3pl | ἐλύοντο | They were loosing (for themselves)

> Note on Voice: The imperfect middle and passive are identical in form. Context (or a lexicon note on deponents) determines which voice is meant in any given passage.

## 7. The Imperfect of εἰμί

The verb εἰμί ("I am") has an irregular imperfect:

Person/Number | Imperfect of εἰμί | Translation
--- | --- | ---
1sg | ἤμην | I was
2sg | ἦς | You were
3sg | ἦν | He/she/it was
1pl | ἦμεν | We were
2pl | ἦτε | You (pl) were
3pl | ἦσαν | They were

> Note: The imperfect of εἰμί has no connecting vowel and uses a mix of secondary and other endings. Memorize these forms as a unit.

## 8. Aspect: Imperfect vs. Aorist

Both the imperfect and the aorist are past time tenses, but their aspect differs fundamentally:

Tense | Aspect | Meaning | Greek Term (approx.)
--- | --- | --- | ---
Imperfect | Imperfective | Action in progress, ongoing, repeated | "was doing" / "used to do"
Aorist | Perfective | Action viewed as a whole, undefined | "did" / "did once"

Translators often mark the imperfect with:
- "was -ing" (progressive)
- "used to " (habitual/iterative)
- "began to " (inceptive imperfect)
- "tried to " (conative imperfect)

> Example comparison:
> - ἔλεγεν (imperfect) — "He was saying" (ongoing discourse)
> - εἶπεν (aorist) — "He said" (single act, completed)

## 9. Imperfect in the GNT — Theological Frequency

The imperfect is especially common in narrative discourse to describe background action, repeated speech, and ongoing states.

Reference | Greek | Translation | Aspect Note
--- | --- | --- | ---
Mark 1:21 | ἐδίδασκεν | "He was teaching" | Repeated/ongoing
Luke 8:29 | ἔλεγεν | "He was saying" | Ongoing speech
John 11:36 | ἐφίλει | "He loved (habitually)" | Habitual
Acts 2:45 | διεμέριζον | "They were distributing" | Ongoing practice
Rom 9:3 | ηὐχόμην | "I could wish (I was wishing)" | Conative