Greek Imperfect Of είμαι

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JimD Friday 20th of January 2006 03:31:50 AM
Imperfect of είμαι - Now that the forum seems to be working again, I have a question!

My Oxford Greek/English dictionary gives the imperfect of είμαι (1st and 2nd person plural) as:

ήμαστε, ήσαστε.

Is this correct? Apart from the fact that it sounds exactly the same as the present tense, I've seen it conjugated as follows on a web site:

ήμασταν, ήσασταν.

Could anyone clear this up for me? Ευχαριστώ.

luludya738 Friday 20th of January 2006 05:13:39 AM
- Well, the first option is the correct one, given by the greek books of grammar, but many greeks use the other form which is far more popular. This is what a Greek teacher told us. Untill then, we also used to speak making use of the 2nd form.

I wouldn't say it's totally wrong but it's rejected by the "prestigious" books of grammar. And this way of forming the imperfect goes for all verbs. (Sorry, but I don't have greek letters) Ex: from "vriskomai": vriskomoun, vriskosoun, vriskotan, vriskomaste (not vriskomastan), vriskosaste (not vriskosastan), vriskotan.

That would be it! :)

manoula Friday 20th of January 2006 05:17:51 AM
-

ήμασταν, ήσασταν. This is plural, past tense we were, you were.

Third person is ήταν for singular and plural past tense.

luludya738 Friday 20th of January 2006 05:31:57 AM
- ...just like I said earlier... :) most greeks use the second form... but the correct one is the first, even if I could't get an explanation not even from our Greek teacher, who graduated Greek Philology.

JimD Friday 20th of January 2006 11:55:46 PM
- Thanks for those replies; that explains it, luludya.

I'm just learning greek so I can talk to people, so I guess I'll use the popular one!

manoula Saturday 21st of January 2006 01:12:47 AM
-

It really depends on if you want to say
"we are" or "we were".

luludya738 Saturday 21st of January 2006 03:03:36 AM
- Manoula, he refered to the imperfect (paratatikos)...
But just as he said, sometimes there are 2 versions for the first and second person plural. But the correct ending for the 1st and 2nd persons plural, seems to be "-maste" and "-saste" and not "-mastan" and "-sastan". That means that it is correct to say "briskomaste" and "briskosaste" not "briskomastan" and "briskosastan", even if the imperfect for the first person is just like the present....now... of course I'm not teaching you Greek... I'm just repeating what our Greek teacher told us. (She is Greek, of course). She is a Greek lector who teaches Greek at the Uiversity of Bucharest. So...we found it strange too...but she told us that specialised books (not just any book) say that the correct endings are the ones I told you abt. It would be interesting if you asked your Greek teacher to see what he/she says... And ask why are there 2 differet versions... maybe,(just maybe) the one they consider correct is closer to ka8arebousa... and the other one is more.."dimotikh"..

manoula Saturday 21st of January 2006 07:49:57 AM
- I'm sorry, I can't seem to make myself clear.

You either want to express the present or the past.

ήμαστε is present tense.

ήμασταν is past tense.

JimD Saturday 21st of January 2006 02:58:26 PM
- Manoula, yes I understand about the present tense and past tense and that the imperfect tense expresses the past.

The problem for me was that there seemed to be two different forms of the past tense for "we were" and "you were" (plural) and I didn't know which one was right. It seems they are both right, though, so that's OK! ;)

I'll still ask my teacher about it when I go for my first class next week, though (she's greek) to see if she says the same as luludya's teacher.

Edit:- Manoula, I don't think that ήμαστε is present tense; that would be είμαστε surely (same sound, different spelling)?

manoula Tuesday 24th of January 2006 12:15:35 AM
- Edit:- Manoula, I don't think that ήμαστε is present tense; that would be είμαστε surely (same sound, different spelling)?

For goodness sake! I was so focused in it's meaning that I didn't notice ήμαστε is misspelled. I'm very sorry!

JimD Tuesday 24th of January 2006 01:01:44 AM
- Παρακαλώ, είναι εντάξεί. ;)

squeak Saturday 27th of May 2006 07:02:53 AM
- What is \"I was\" and \"you were\" (singular)?

Jani Saturday 27th of May 2006 02:27:22 PM
- [quote][i]Originally posted by squeak[/i]
What is \\\"I was\\\" and \\\"you were\\\" (singular)?[/quote]

These are the Imperfect Indicative forms that [url=http://modern-greek-verbs.tripod.com/]The Modern Geek Verbs Page[/url] gives for \'to be\':

ήμουν[α]
ήσουν[α]
ήταν[ε]
ήμαστε, ήμασταν
ήσαστε, ήσασταν
ήταν[ε], ήσαν[ε]

squeak Saturday 27th of May 2006 08:42:09 PM
- Thanks. :D

Phrasebase Archive
	JimD	Friday 20th of January 2006 03:31:50 AM
	Imperfect of είμαι - Now that the forum seems to be working again, I have a question! My Oxford Greek/English dictionary gives the imperfect of είμαι (1st and 2nd person plural) as: ήμαστε, ήσαστε. Is this correct? Apart from the fact that it sounds exactly the same as the present tense, I've seen it conjugated as follows on a web site: ήμασταν, ήσασταν. Could anyone clear this up for me? Ευχαριστώ.
	luludya738	Friday 20th of January 2006 05:13:39 AM
	- Well, the first option is the correct one, given by the greek books of grammar, but many greeks use the other form which is far more popular. This is what a Greek teacher told us. Untill then, we also used to speak making use of the 2nd form. I wouldn't say it's totally wrong but it's rejected by the "prestigious" books of grammar. And this way of forming the imperfect goes for all verbs. (Sorry, but I don't have greek letters) Ex: from "vriskomai": vriskomoun, vriskosoun, vriskotan, vriskomaste (not vriskomastan), vriskosaste (not vriskosastan), vriskotan. That would be it! :)
	manoula	Friday 20th of January 2006 05:17:51 AM
	- ήμασταν, ήσασταν. This is plural, past tense we were, you were. Third person is ήταν for singular and plural past tense.
	luludya738	Friday 20th of January 2006 05:31:57 AM
	- ...just like I said earlier... :) most greeks use the second form... but the correct one is the first, even if I could't get an explanation not even from our Greek teacher, who graduated Greek Philology.
	JimD	Friday 20th of January 2006 11:55:46 PM
	- Thanks for those replies; that explains it, luludya. I'm just learning greek so I can talk to people, so I guess I'll use the popular one!
	manoula	Saturday 21st of January 2006 01:12:47 AM
	- It really depends on if you want to say "we are" or "we were".
	luludya738	Saturday 21st of January 2006 03:03:36 AM
	- Manoula, he refered to the imperfect (paratatikos)... But just as he said, sometimes there are 2 versions for the first and second person plural. But the correct ending for the 1st and 2nd persons plural, seems to be "-maste" and "-saste" and not "-mastan" and "-sastan". That means that it is correct to say "briskomaste" and "briskosaste" not "briskomastan" and "briskosastan", even if the imperfect for the first person is just like the present....now... of course I'm not teaching you Greek... I'm just repeating what our Greek teacher told us. (She is Greek, of course). She is a Greek lector who teaches Greek at the Uiversity of Bucharest. So...we found it strange too...but she told us that specialised books (not just any book) say that the correct endings are the ones I told you abt. It would be interesting if you asked your Greek teacher to see what he/she says... And ask why are there 2 differet versions... maybe,(just maybe) the one they consider correct is closer to ka8arebousa... and the other one is more.."dimotikh"..
	manoula	Saturday 21st of January 2006 07:49:57 AM
	- I'm sorry, I can't seem to make myself clear. You either want to express the present or the past. ήμαστε is present tense. ήμασταν is past tense.
	JimD	Saturday 21st of January 2006 02:58:26 PM
	- Manoula, yes I understand about the present tense and past tense and that the imperfect tense expresses the past. The problem for me was that there seemed to be two different forms of the past tense for "we were" and "you were" (plural) and I didn't know which one was right. It seems they are both right, though, so that's OK! ;) I'll still ask my teacher about it when I go for my first class next week, though (she's greek) to see if she says the same as luludya's teacher. Edit:- Manoula, I don't think that ήμαστε is present tense; that would be είμαστε surely (same sound, different spelling)?
	manoula	Tuesday 24th of January 2006 12:15:35 AM
	- Edit:- Manoula, I don't think that ήμαστε is present tense; that would be είμαστε surely (same sound, different spelling)? For goodness sake! I was so focused in it's meaning that I didn't notice ήμαστε is misspelled. I'm very sorry!
	JimD	Tuesday 24th of January 2006 01:01:44 AM
	- Παρακαλώ, είναι εντάξεί. ;)
	squeak	Saturday 27th of May 2006 07:02:53 AM
	- What is \"I was\" and \"you were\" (singular)?
	Jani	Saturday 27th of May 2006 02:27:22 PM
	- [quote][i]Originally posted by squeak[/i] What is \\\"I was\\\" and \\\"you were\\\" (singular)?[/quote] These are the Imperfect Indicative forms that [url=http://modern-greek-verbs.tripod.com/]The Modern Geek Verbs Page[/url] gives for \'to be\': ήμουν[α] ήσουν[α] ήταν[ε] ήμαστε, ήμασταν ήσαστε, ήσασταν ήταν[ε], ήσαν[ε]
	squeak	Saturday 27th of May 2006 08:42:09 PM
	- Thanks. :D