Koine Greek recognizes a traditional set of parts of speech, each defined by form and function rather than by loose semantics. The article marks specificity and definiteness and agrees with its noun in case, number, and gender; for instance, ὁ in John 1:1 (“Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος”) signals a specific subject, ho (“the”) logos (“Word”), “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). Nouns name entities and inflect for case, number, and gender; ἄνθρωπος functions as a nominative subject in “ἄνθρωπος ἀπεσταλμένος παρὰ θεοῦ” — anthrōpos apostalmenos para theou — “a man sent from God” (John 1:6). Adjectives attribute qualities and agree with the nouns they modify; ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος, ho agathos anthrōpos, “the good man,” appears in principle in Luke 6:45: “ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος… ἐκ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ… προφέρει τὸ ἀγαθόν” — “the good person… brings forth what is good” (Luke 6:45). Pronouns substitute for nouns and inflect for case; οὗτος in “οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου” — houtos estin ho huios mou — “This is my Son” (Matt 3:17) identifies and deictically points. Verbs encode tense-form (aspect), voice, mood, person, and number; λέγει in “λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς” — legei autois ho Iēsous — “Jesus says to them” (John 21:5) is present active indicative, third singular. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs without inflection; εὐθέως in “εὐθέως δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς” — eutheōs de ho Iēsous — “and immediately Jesus…” (Matt 14:31) marks rapid sequence. Prepositions govern cases and define relations; ἐν with the dative denotes location in “ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ” — en tō oikō — “in the house” (Mark 2:1). Conjunctions coordinate or subordinate units; καί joins words and clauses in John 1:1–2, while ἀλλά introduces contrast in “ἀλλὰ λέγω ὑμῖν” — alla legō hymin — “but I say to you” (Matt 5:22). Particles nuance force or contingency; ἄν marks conditional or potential force as in “ὃ ἐὰν αἰτήσητε” — ho ean aitēsēte — “whatever you might ask” (John 14:13). Interjections express exclamation; ἰδού in “ἰδοὺ ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ” — idou ho amnos tou theou — “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29) summons attention. Numerals quantify; δύο in “δύο ἢ τρεῖς” — dyo ē treis — “two or three” (Matt 18:20) enumerates participants.

Parsing

Parsing in Greek proceeds by fixed categories to secure precise interpretation. For verbs, identify the lexical form (first person singular present active indicative), then the tense-form (which encodes aspect), voice, mood, person, and number; finally, note any irregular principal part implications. Thus in “πᾶς γὰρ ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει” — pas gar ho aitōn lambanei — “for everyone who asks receives” (Matt 7:8), λαμβάνει parses as lexical λαμβάνω, present tense-form (imperfective aspect), active voice, indicative mood, third singular, agreeing with the substantival participle ὁ αἰτῶν. In “σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου” — sy ei ho huios mou — “you are my Son” (Mark 1:11), εἶ parses as εἰμί, present active indicative, second singular.

For nominals (nouns, adjectives, pronouns, article), identify case, number, gender, and syntactic role. In “ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο” — ho logos sarx egeneto — “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14), ὁ λόγος is nominative masculine singular subject; σάρξ is nominative feminine singular predicate nominative. For adjectives, confirm agreement: “ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος… προφέρει τὸ ἀγαθόν” (Luke 6:45) shows attributive and substantival functions.

Prepositions require the governed case for sense: “πρὸς τὸν θεόν” — pros ton theon — “with God/ toward God” (John 1:1) takes the accusative, signaling personal orientation. Particles and conjunctions must be parsed by function within the clause linkage: “καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν” (John 1:1) is simple coordination, while “ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων… μὴ ἀπόληται” — hina pas ho pisteuōn… mē apolētai — “so that everyone believing… may not perish” (John 3:16) parses ἵνα as a subordinating conjunction introducing a purpose/result clause with the subjunctive.

As a complete worked example for a finite verb: λύετε parses as lexical λύω, present tense-form, active voice, indicative mood, second plural; hence “you (pl.) are loosing.” Although λύω is not frequent in the New Testament, the form and analysis are paradigmatic and apply identically to common verbs like λέγω (λέγετε) or γράφω (γράφετε), as in “γράφω ὑμῖν” — graphō hymin — “I write to you” (1 John 2:12), where γράφω is present active indicative first singular.

The Verb: Present Indicative Active

The present indicative active in Koine Greek presents an action with imperfective aspect in the realm of indicative (i.e., assertion), typically located in present time. Its morphology in thematic -ω verbs is transparent and should be memorized as a paradigm using λύω. The forms are: λύω (I loose), λύεις (you sg. loose), λύει (he/she/it looses), λύομεν (we loose), λύετε (you pl. loose), λύουσι(ν) (they loose). The personal endings are primary active: -ω, -εις, -ει, -ομεν, -ετε, -ουσι(ν). Contract verbs assimilate the thematic vowel and contract (e.g., φιλέω → φιλῶ, φιλεῖς, φιλεῖ, φιλοῦμεν, φιλεῖτε, φιλοῦσι[ν]), and μι-verbs follow a distinct pattern (e.g., δίδωμι: δίδωμι, δίδως, δίδωσι(ν), δίδομεν, δίδοτε, διδόασι(ν) in older forms; in the New Testament you will most often meet 2nd plural δίδοτε and 3rd plural διδόασι/διδόασιν is rare), but the indicative force and imperfective value are the same.

In usage, the present indicative active commonly expresses durative or iterative action, a gnomic truth, or a conative attempt, all within the imperfective viewpoint. “ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν” — ho theos agapē estin — “God is love” (1 John 4:8) states a timeless reality with ἐστίν, present active indicative third singular of εἰμί. “πᾶς… ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν δοῦλός ἐστιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας” — pas… ho poiōn tēn hamartian doulos estin tēs hamartias — “everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34) presents a gnomic present. “ὁ σπείρων ἐξέρχεται” — ho speirōn exerchetai — “the sower goes out” (Mark 4:3) uses the present for vivid narration. “ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν” — amēn amēn legō hymin — “truly, truly, I say to you” (John 5:19) is the standard formula with λέγω in the present active indicative first singular. Likewise, “πᾶς… ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει” (Matt 7:8) exhibits iterative force: “the one who keeps asking receives.”

When parsing present forms, anchor aspect first (imperfective), then assign time from mood (indicative → normally present), and finally read context for special uses such as the historical present, frequent in narrative. “καὶ ἔρχεται πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς καὶ εὑρίσκει αὐτοὺς καθεύδοντας” — kai erchetai pros tous mathētas kai heuriskei autous katheudontas — “and he comes to the disciples and finds them sleeping” (Matt 26:40) showcases historical presents ἔρχεται and εὑρίσκει for narrative immediacy.

The Conjunction καί

The conjunction καί is the default coordinator in Koine Greek and functions with remarkable flexibility. At its most basic, it links syntactic equals — words, phrases, or clauses — with simple copulative force “and.” In John 1:1–2, the sequence “καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν” — kai ho logos ēn pros ton theon, kai theos ēn ho logos. houtos ēn en archē pros ton theon — shows clause-level coordination: “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1–2).

Beyond simple coordination, καί often bears adjunctive or ascensive force, accurately translated “also” or “even” depending on context. In Galatians 2:13, “ὥστε καὶ Βαρναβᾶς συναπήχθη” — hōste kai Barnabas synapēchthē — the καί is ascensive: “so that even Barnabas was carried away.” As an adjunctive particle it can attach a further coordinated element with the sense “also, likewise,” as in “καὶ ὑμεῖς μιμεῖσθε” — kai hymeis mimeisthe — “you also be imitators” (cf. 1 Cor 11:1 conceptually, though the exact wording there is γίνεσθε μιμηταί μου).

In correlative structures, καί… καί expresses “both… and,” tightly binding two coordinated members. John 2:15 reads “καὶ τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς βοῦς ἐξέβαλεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ” — kai ta probata kai tous bous exebalen ek tou hierou — “he drove out both the sheep and the oxen,” where καί marks each correlative element.

Καί frequently participates in polysyndeton, deliberately repeating the conjunction to pace and weight the discourse. Mark’s narrative style exemplifies this with successive καί introducing clauses and actions, e.g., Mark 1:32–34, producing an additive cadence.

As an enclitic-like connective before pronouns or deictics, καί can contract (crasis) to forms such as κἀγώ (καὶ ἐγώ, “and I”) and κἀκεῖνος (καὶ ἐκεῖνος, “and that one”). John 5:17 offers “ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι” — ho patēr mou heōs arti ergazetai, kagō ergazomai — “my Father is working until now, and I also am working,” where κἀγώ highlights the adjunctive “also.”

Although English sometimes renders καί as “that is” in epexegetic apposition, in Greek the function is still coordination, often resulting in hendiadys or explanatory linkage by context rather than inherent subordination. For example, Acts 1:25, “τὸν τόπον τῆς διακονίας ταύτης καὶ ἀποστολῆς” — ton topon tēs diakonias tautēs kai apostolēs — “the place of this ministry and apostleship,” coordinates near-equivalents that together define a single office.

Because καί is semantically light, interpretation rests on syntax and context. Translate minimally as “and” unless the immediate environment justifies “also” or “even,” and reserve “both… and” for explicit correlative structures marked by repeated καί.

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