1Β: είμαι and Group A Verbs

Just like in Ancient Greek, one of the most important verbs to know in Modern Greek is είμαι, “to be.” Take a look at its conjugation in the table below, and compare the modern forms to their Ancient Greek equivalents in parentheses. You may notice that the 3rd singular and the 3rd plural are similar to the Ancient Greek infinitive εἶναι, but είμαι does not conjugate in exactly the same way as εἶναι.

But how are all other verbs conjugated? In Modern Greek, just like in Ancient Greek, verbs are split into different conjugation groups based on their endings. In the active voice, there are four conjugation groups, called group Α, group Β, group Γ, and group Δ.

Group A: verbs like γράφω; end in -ω without an accent
Group B: verbs like αγαπάω/αγαπώ, which end in accented -ώ
Group Γ: verbs like θεωρώ, which end in accented -ώ, but in -άω as well
Group Δ: only 7 verbs; they conjugate like group A verbs, but with some differences 

This lesson discusses just group A. One group A verb is the verb λύνω (“untie, release”), which is conjugated in the table below. Compare it with the conjugation of λύω, its equivalent in Ancient Greek. Do you see any similarities?

You might have noticed that in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular, as well as the 2nd person plural, modern λύνω and ancient λύω have the same endings: -ω, -εις, -ει and -ετε. While the other endings, like -ουμε and -ομεν, might look similar, they are not identical. Other verbs in group A, like κάνω (“do, make”), μένω (“stay, remain”), and θέλω (“want”), conjugate just like λύνω. You can see their conjugations below:

What does the -ε in the parentheses for the 3rd person plural mean? Adding it to the end of a verb makes is a bit more informal and colloquial. All together, the endings of group A verbs in Modern Greek, are as follows: -ω, -εις, -ει, -ουμε, -ετε, -ουν(ε).