DURATIVE

[In traditional grammars durative is mostly named "present", dur pa-ind "imperfect"]

By using a durative the user imparts the information that the subject is at the time of speaking, or was at a certain moment before the time of speaking, engaged in the action (or being subjected to it, in the case of a Passive, etc.), e.g. λέγω: I (am) say(ing); another way of putting it would be to say that the user takes the recipient into the course of the action: ἔλεγον: I was saying; there are some secondary uses:

            a) the user expresses that the subject is/was normally, as a matter of routine, engaged in the action (etc.):  Πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἀποθνῄσκει: Every human dies;

            b) the user expresses that the subject is/was frequently engaged in the action, whether or not at the time of speaking: Πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἐσθίει: Every human eats;

            c) the user stresses that the subject is/was engaged in an attempt to perform the action, disclosing no information as to whether he actually succeeds: Πείθείς με: You are (in the act of) persuading me/trying to persuade me; Ἐκώλυον αὐτόν: I was (in the act of) preventing him/trying to prevent him. (durativum de conatu)

            d) Lastly the durative is often used in order to present the action, even if past and done with, in a vivid manner (historical durative or praesens historicum).

AORIST

By using an aorist the user points out the action simply as a fact, as against the extra meanings of the other phases; this explains why there is no pr-ind in the aorist: to be so pointed out the action must have been performed.

An act can be conceived of as a process with beginning and end; “throwing” for example could be divided into “taking aim”, “actually sending off the missile” and “hitting the objective”. Often the aorist envisages the part of the action that really counts, in this case the “hitting”, while the durative forms of βάλλω mainly describe the part of “taking aim” and “sending off”. Πυνθάνομαι in the durative will mainly mean “trying to get hold of information, asking” whereas the aorist means “getting information”.

The form ἐβασίλευεν (durative) takes us back to the time that “he” was king and gives occasion to present happenings during this kingship; ἐβασίλευσεν just acquaints us with the fact that he was king, or became king, if that is what counts.

Experienced facts from which one derives a rule are sometimes formulated in the aorist: Ῥώμη μετὰ φρονήσεως ὠφέλησεν: Strength coupled to understanding (has turned out to be>) is helpful. (aoristus gnomicus)

In secondary clauses the aorist, as presenting complete facts, is often best translated with a perfect tense (whereas a durative is best translated with an imperfect tense): Διότι τοῦτο οὐκ ἐποίησας καὶ αἰτίαν οὐκ ἔχεις, ἀπογνωσθήσει: Because you have not done this, and hold no blame, you will be acquitted.

Τοῦτ΄ οὐ ποιήσας ἀπεγνώσθης: As you had not done that, you were acquitted. Πάντα τὸν χρόνον ἠρνοῦντο τοῦτο μὴ ποιήσαι: All the time they denied having done this.

FUTURE

By using a future form the user gives the information that the subject will perform the action (be subjected to it etc.) at a time after the present: θηράσω (A fu ind 1^st sg of θηράω, I hunt): I shall hunt; νικηθησόμεθα (P fu ind 1^st sg of νικάω, I vanquish): We shall be vanquished.

PERFECT

A user of a Greek perfect form acquaints the receiver that the subject is in the state that prevails after the action has been performed: ἔγνωκα (Α pf pr-ind 1^st sg of γιγνώσκω, I acquire knowledge): I know; λέλυμαι (MP pf pr-ind 1^st sg of λύω, I loosen): I am loose; πέφευγα (A pf pr-ind 1^st sg of φεύγω, to flee): I have fled, I am free.