 | II. form of a verb (infinitive) |
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I wonder if there is any "easy" way to identify a word by its II. form -> if a read sth. and there is an irregular form of a verb (like δω for βλεπω), how am I supposed to ever find it in my dictionary without scanning the table of irregular verbs? Thanks in advance, Christian |
| Re: II. form of a verb (infinitive) |
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Unless you are familiar with the base verb, I frankly don't know that you CAN find an irregular verb form without scanning some list of irregular verbs. By definition, an irregular verb is, well, ... irregular, and unless you assimilate them unconsciously as Greek children do, you will probably need to refer to a listing such as that found at http://modern-greek-verbs.tripod.com/contents.html. However, the situation is not really so bleak. Most irregulars have some stem vowel alternation or mutation which makes the verb pretty recognizable. There are really only a few verbs that are VERY irregular in their simple past/future form (of which δω is one) and they are so common that you should very shortly become familiar with them and their related composed (prefixed) cousins. The VERY irregulars are (in active voice): βλέπω, είδα, θα/να δω λέω/λέγω, είπα, θα/να πω τρώω/τρώγω, έφαγα, θα/να φάω The remaining important, common irregulars are probably: κάνω, έκανα, θα/να κάνω πηγαίνω/πάω, πήγα, θα/να πάω μένω, έμεινα, θα/να μείνω παίρνω, πήρα, θα/να πάρω δίνω, έδωσα, θα/να δώσω (passive: δόθηκα, θα/να δοθώ) φεύγω, έφυγα, θα/να φύγω πίνω, ήπια, θα/να πιω έρχομαι, ήρθα, θα/να έρθω φέρνω/φέρω, έφερα, θα/να φέρω (passive: φέρθηκα, θα/να φερθώ) στέλνω/στέλλω, έστειλα, θα/να στείλω (passive: στάλθηκα, θα/να σταλθώ) βρίσκω, βρήκα, θα/να βρω (passive: βρέθηκα, θα/να βρεθώ) μπαίνω, μπήκα, θα/να μπω βγαίνω, βγήκα, θα/να βγω βγάζω, έβγαλα, θα/να βγάλω as well as these irregulars, which are the basis for a large number of prefixed verbs: βάλλω, έβαλα, θα/να βάλω (passive: βλήθηκα, θα/να βληθώ) λαμβάνω/λαβαίνω, έλαβα, θα/να λάβω (passive: λήφθηκα, θα/να ληφθώ) and a few that LGO does not use or introduce, which are pretty common as the base for prefixed verbs: κρίνω, έκρινα, θα/να κρίνω (passive: κρίθηκα, θα/να κριθώ) τείνω, έτεινα, θα/να τείνω All these basic verbs, which LGO introduces in active voice, will cover the overwhelming majority of irregular verbs that you will find in normal use. Regards, Greg Brush |
