Lesson 7

Contract Verbs

Contract verbs are verbs whose stems end in a vowel (α, ε, or ο) that "contracts" with the thematic vowel of the ending when conjugated. This contraction often alters the spelling of the verb forms. It is important to recognize these patterns of changes to parse contract verbs correctly.

Note that the vocabulary forms we are learning for contract verbs like ποιέω ("to do, make"), ἀγαπάω ("to love"), and πληρόω ("to fill") are technically artificial forms. The actual first person singular present active indicative forms that appear in the New Testament are ποιῶ, ἀγαπῶ, and πληρῶ respectively. However, these artificial forms reveal the vowel stem of the verb, which indicates how the verb conjugates.

λύω (–ω verb)

ποιέω (–εω)

ἀγαπάω (–αω)

πληρόω (–οω)