-μι Verbs: δίδωμι; πολύς and μέγας

A different present ending, the same grammatical jobs

Some common verbs have dictionary forms in -μι rather than -ω. In their present system the endings attach directly to the stem, without the ordinary ο/ε connecting vowel. They often show present reduplication: δίδωμι, 'I give', has δι- at the front. This is present reduplication, not proof of a perfect tense.

Learn the present active δίδωμι, δίδως, δίδωσιν, δίδομεν, δίδοτε, διδόασιν. The singular uses a long stem vowel ω and the plural a short ο. The endings still express the same persons and numbers you already know.

The present middle/passive is δίδομαι, δίδοσαι, δίδοται, διδόμεθα, δίδοσθε, δίδονται. The present infinitive is διδόναι, and the participle διδούς, διδοῦσα, διδόν. Do not search for -ειν or -ων in every present verb form.

• δίδωσι τὸν ἄρτον τῷ μαθητῇ. — He gives the bread to the disciple.
• θέλω διδόναι ζωήν. — I want to give life.

The other stems of δίδωμι

The principal parts are δίδωμι, δώσω, ἔδωκα, δέδωκα, δέδομαι, ἐδόθην. The future follows a familiar σ pattern. The aorist active singular is ἔδωκα, ἔδωκας, ἔδωκεν. Biblical Greek commonly extends κ into the plural: ἐδώκαμεν, ἐδώκατε, ἔδωκαν. Older short-stem plurals ἔδομεν, ἔδοτε, ἔδοσαν also occur in Greek. κ here does not automatically mean perfect.

Aorist infinitive δοῦναι and participle δούς, δοῦσα, δόν belong to the same verb. The common command δός means 'give'. Recognize the core δο-/δω- across these forms rather than expecting the present δι- in every tense.

The passive ἐδόθη means 'it was given', and δοθήσεται means 'it will be given'. The aorist subjunctive is δῶ, δῷς, δῷ and so on, used in clauses such as ἵνα δῷ, 'so that he may give'. Build your recognition around principal parts and construction together.

• ἔδωκεν τὸ βιβλίον τῷ μαθητῇ. — He gave the book to the disciple.
• δὸς ἡμῖν ἄρτον. — Give us bread.

Much, many, and great

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ means 'much' in the singular and often 'many' in the plural. Masculine/neuter nominative and accusative singular use the short πολυ- shape; most other forms use πολλ- with familiar endings: πολλοῦ, πολλῷ, πολλοί, πολλά. Feminine forms follow πολλή throughout.

μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγα means 'great / large'. Masculine nominative μέγας, accusative μέγαν, and neuter μέγα have short forms; the remaining forms use μεγαλ-: μεγάλου, μεγάλῳ, μεγάλοι. The feminine μεγάλη is regular.

Both adjectives agree normally, despite irregular stems. πολλοὶ μαθηταί is 'many disciples', and μεγάλη πόλις is 'a large city'. Do not infer a new word whenever a dictionary form and an inflected stem look different.

• πολλοὶ μαθηταὶ ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ πόλει μένουσιν. — Many disciples remain in the large city.
• πολὺ ὕδωρ — much water

Vocabulary (6)

δίδωμι

I give

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ

much; many

μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγα

great, large

παραδίδωμι

I hand over, deliver, betray

ἀποδίδωμι

I give back, repay

δωρεά, -ᾶς, ἡ

gift, present