Contract Verbs, Reflexives, and πᾶς

When two vowels become one

Contract verbs have a present stem ending in α, ε, or ο. When a connecting vowel follows, the two vowels combine: ποιέω becomes ποιῶ, 'I do'; ἀγαπάω becomes ἀγαπῶ, 'I love'; πληρόω becomes πληρῶ, 'I fill'. Dictionaries normally show the uncontracted form so you can recognize the verb family.

The person endings have not changed their jobs. Learn the whole present patterns and compare them with λύω: ποιῶ, ποιεῖς, ποιεῖ, ποιοῦμεν, ποιεῖτε, ποιοῦσιν. The contracted vowel frequently carries a circumflex. ποιεῖ is one singular verb, not an infinitive merely because ει appears.

Contraction also occurs in the imperfect and present middle/passive. The infinitives are ἀγαπᾶν, ποιεῖν, πληροῦν. Before a future or aorist σ the stem vowel normally lengthens: ἀγαπήσω, ποιήσω, πληρώσω. Learn the principal parts, since individual verbs may depart from this pattern.

• ἀγαπῶμεν τὸν θεόν. — We love God (present indicative).
• ποιεῖτε τὸ ἔργον. — You do the work (present indicative; context can also make this an imperative).

Recognizing contraction beyond the active present

A few vowel combinations explain many familiar forms: α + ε gives long α, α + ο gives ω, ε + ε gives ει, ε + ο gives ου, and ο + ε or ο + ο gives ου. With ει, notice α + ει → ᾳ and ο + ει → οι: ἀγαπᾷς and πληροῖς. These are useful recognition patterns, not a claim that every pair of adjacent vowels contracts. The active infinitives ἀγαπᾶν and πληροῦν have their own established contractions.

The imperfect keeps its augment and past endings while the stem vowel still contracts: ἐποίεε becomes ἐποίει, 'he was doing'. In ἐποιοῦμεν, 'we were doing', ε + ο gives ου. Compare present ποιοῦμεν: the augment ἐ- distinguishes the imperfect. With ἀγαπάω, the initial α lengthens as part of the augment, giving ἠγάπα, 'he was loving'.

Middle/passive endings also meet the stem vowel: ποιέομαι → ποιοῦμαι, 'I do for myself / am made', according to context; πληρόεται → πληροῦται, 'it is filled'. The same process operates in imperfect middle/passive ἐποιεῖτο, 'he/she was being made' in a passive context. Keep the ending's person and voice separate from the vowel change.

To recover a dictionary form, first identify the ending, then test the known contract families. ποιοῦντες has participle ending -οντες with ε + ο → ου; it belongs to ποιέω, not a new verb ποιοῦω. A contracted ω alone is insufficient: both ἀγαπάω and ποιέω give a first singular in -ῶ. Use the vocabulary and other forms to choose the stem. ζάω, 'live', is a common special case: recognize ζῶ, ζῇς, ζῇ, ζῶμεν, ζῆτε, ζῶσιν, and infinitive ζῆν, with η where an ordinary -άω pattern would have α.

• ὁ μαθητὴς ἐποίει τὸ ἔργον. — The disciple was doing the work.
• ὁ οἶκος πληροῦται. — The house is being filled (present passive).

Reflexive pronouns

A reflexive points back to the subject of its own clause: 'I see myself', 'she speaks about herself'. Greek uses ἐμαυτοῦ for the first singular, σεαυτοῦ for the second singular, and ἑαυτοῦ for the third person. Their endings show genitive, dative, or accusative; there is no ordinary reflexive nominative.

The third-person masculine forms are ἑαυτοῦ, ἑαυτῷ, ἑαυτόν; feminine ἑαυτῆς, ἑαυτῇ, ἑαυτήν; neuter accusative ἑαυτό. The plural ἑαυτῶν can also refer back to first- or second-person plural subjects in biblical Greek.

Do not confuse a reflexive with intensive αὐτός. αὐτὸς ὁ μαθητής is 'the disciple himself' emphasizing the subject; ὁ μαθητὴς βλέπει ἑαυτόν is 'the disciple sees himself', where the object refers back to the subject.

• ὁ μαθητὴς λέγει περὶ ἑαυτοῦ. — The disciple speaks about himself.
• βλέπω ἐμαυτόν. — I see myself.

πᾶς: every, all, the whole

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν agrees like an adjective. Its masculine/neuter stem is παντ-, visible in παντός, παντί, πάντα. The feminine follows first-declension endings: πάσης, πάσῃ, πᾶσαν. Learn the dative plural πᾶσι(ν), where ντ disappears before σ.

With an anarthrous singular noun, πᾶς often means 'every': πᾶς μαθητής, 'every disciple'. With an article-noun phrase it often means 'all' or 'the whole': πᾶς ὁ λαός, 'all the people'. Plural πάντες οἱ μαθηταί is 'all the disciples'. Context can affect these translations.

Without a noun, πάντες means 'everyone' or 'all [people]', and πάντα means 'everything' or 'all things'. Position and number matter more than choosing one English gloss and using it everywhere.

• πᾶς μαθητὴς ἀκούει. — Every disciple listens.
• πάντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἀκούουσιν. — All the disciples listen.

Vocabulary (18)

γῆ, ἡ

earth, land

ἀκολουθέω

I follow, accompany

ἀγαπάω

I love

ζητέω

I seek, search for

λαλέω

I speak, talk

ποιέω

I do, make

καλέω

I call, summon, name

τηρέω

I keep, guard, observe

πληρόω

I fill, fulfill

πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν

all, every

ἐμαυτοῦ, -ῆς

of myself; reflexive singular

σεαυτοῦ, -ῆς

of yourself; reflexive singular

ἑαυτοῦ, -ῆς, -οῦ

of oneself; reflexive

ἀδικέω

I do wrong, injure

οἰκέω

I dwell, live

μετανοέω

I change my mind, repent

τιμάω

I honor, revere

ζάω

I live