Modern Greek/Lesson 04.3

= Lesson 4.2: Second Conjugation Verbs =

Class II verbs have the accent on the final syllable. They are divided into two subcategories, IIA which end in άω or class IIB which end in ώ. First conjugation verbs were covered in the previous lesson.

Class IIA -άω
These end in άω, though sometimes the α is omitted. In this case the first person singular looks like a class IIB verb. [I'm not sure how you tell it's not in this case, other than learning. Thankfully dropping the α is fairly rare apparently, and every ending except first person singular is different so it should be easy to spot].

The endings for a class IIA verb are -άω, -άς, -άει, -άμε, -άτε, -άν. Using the summary notation introduced in the previous lesson and the example verb μιλάω - to speak:

There are a number of useful verbs that are of this form, given here in the 1st person:

Class IIB -ώ
Class IIB verbs look a lot like class I verbs, the endings are the same letters in all cases except 2nd person plural, and the accent remains on the final syllable. So the endings are -ώ, -είς, -εί, -ούμε, -είτε, -ούν.

[Class IIB verbs ended with -έω previously, hence they are historically more similar to class IIA even if at first glance they look more like class I. The key is whether the accent is on the stem or the final syllable.]

An example using the summary notation again, μπορώ - to be able (can):

Summary

 * We have TBC

Exercises
Now try the exercise found here.