Imperatives and infinitives – GCSE Classical Greek OCR Revision

Imperatives are commands or requests.
In Greek, the imperative form of the verb differs from the present indicative.
Imperative verbs do not usually have a stated subject as the “you” is understood.
There is a singular form (to one person) and a plural form (to two or more people).
For example, in the verb λύω (I release), the singular imperative in Greek is λῦσον and the plural imperative is λύετε.

The infinitive is effectively the “to” form of the verb in English. For example, “to speak” or “to eat.”
Infinitives in Greek are formed by adding a special ending to the verb stem.
Infinitives do not specifically denote a person or number—they’re not tied to a specific “I,” “you,” or “they,”
As in English, they can function as subjects, as in, “to err is human.”
There are present, aorist, and perfect infinitives in Greek to reflect different actions.
Some examples in Greek would be “λύειν” (to release), “γράφειν” (to write), “λέγειν” (to say).

Imperatives in Greek can express both commands and prohibitions.
Imperatives and infinitives function as part of indirect statement constructions.
Infinitives can also be used with verbs of motion to indicate purpose.
Greek also uses an imperative of prohibition, which is basically a negative command (e.g. “do not”).
Infinitives can appear in different tenses, changing the nuance of when the infinitive action occurs.