[B-Greek] How to avoid an Imperfective aspect in the Present Tense

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Sat Apr 28 04:57:27 EDT 2007


Hi, Mitch,

In my experience with various languages, aspect takes priority over time. A perfective verb form 
would usually refer to past action, but can sometimes refer to present or future when the aspect of 
completedness is more important than the time reference.

It also depends on the semantics of the verb. Some verbs commonly go with a perfective aspect others 
with an imperfective aspect.

In the two examples below, one can be somewhat misled by English translations that use a present 
tense. I would not call your examples timeless action, although the second can be considered a 
timeless rule.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mitch Larramore" <mitchlarramore at yahoo.com>


> Dr. Porter has a section on Aorist for timeless
> action, and includes these two examples:
>
> Mk 1.11
> SU EI hO hUIOS MOU hO AGAPHTOS, EN SOI EUDOKHSA

What about: You are my beloved son. I have put my stamp of approval on you.
(The verb EUDOKEW may indicate a feeling of contentedness in the present tense, but in aorist it is 
a verb that indicates that a decision has been reached based on an evaluation.)

> Lk 7.35
> EDIKAIWQH hH SOFIA APO PANTWN TWN TEKNWN AUTHS

Wisdom has been vindicated from all its children.
That is, those who accept and act on words of wisdom have always in the past proved such words to be 
right, and based on that experience, this is a general rule. One has to act on claimed words of 
wisdom in order to know whether they are truly words of wisdom.
The parallel statement in Mat 11:18 has APO TWN ERGWN AUTHS.

Iver Larsen 




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