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- "The boy sleeps."
"The boy sleeps."
Translation:Το αγόρι κοιμάται.
7 Comments
Is this word related to our English word 'coma'? (If not, it's still a good mnemonic.)
Yeah, I think it is. κῶμα in Ancient Greek means "deep sleep" and is thought to be derived from κοιμάω, to put to sleep, to lull. κοιμάμαι is a passive form descendant of that verb.
- εγώ κοιμάμαι
- εσύ κοιμάσαι
- αυτός/αυτή/αυτό κοιμάται
- εμείς κοιμόμαστε/κοιμούμαστε
- εσείς κοιμάστε
- αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά κοιμούνται
"the boy" = "he", so you need κοιμάται
Thank you! I thought the root was κοιμάμ- and the ending -αι. (Which means I also thought "I sleep" is κοιμάμω not κοιμάμαι). It conjugates differently from other verbs I have seen.
No, the root is κοιμ- followed by a thematic vowel -ά- and an ending -μαι.
The verb has passive endings even though it has an active meaning.
The passive endings in general are -μαι, -σαι, -ται, -μαστε, -στε, -νται.
The conjugation -άμαι etc. in particular, with -ά- before some endings, is comparatively rare, but four common verbs use it, all with active meanings: κοιμάμαι "sleep", λυπάμαι "be sorry", θυμάμαι "remember", φοβάμαι "be afraid of".
The most common passive conjugations are -ομαι, -ιέμαι, -ούμαι which correspond to the three main active conjugations -ω, -άω, -ώ. (For example, γράφομαι, αγαπιέμαι, θεωρούμαι "be written, be loved, be considered" which correspond to γράφω, αγαπάω, θεωρώ "write, love, consider".)
You may recognise the passive endings from most of the forms of the verb "to be" (είμαι, είσαι, είναι, είμαστε, είστε, είναι).
This is very helpful, especially pointing out the thematic vowel and the similarity in conjugation to λυπάμαι and είμαι. Thanks!
