Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.;” – Matthew 4:4
In unity, verbs arise
Before embarking on his formal ministry, two significant events involving Jesus are recorded in the Bible. The first is his baptism by John the Baptist, and the second is his 40-day fast and prayer in the wilderness.
“At that time, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1)
This period can be considered a time of preparation for his public ministry. The above Bible verse describes a scene where the devil appears during the fasting in the wilderness and tempts Jesus by saying, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. (Matthew 4:3)” In response to this, and after a few temptations from the devil, Jesus replies, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test. (Matthew 4:7)” Eventually, the devil flees, and after overcoming the temptations in the wilderness, Jesus begins his formal ministry.
“From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ (Matthew 4:17)”
English speakers, unlike Korean speakers, tend to start with the conclusion by stating the subject and verb right away. While it’s common in Korean to omit the subject, English speakers usually do not omit the subject unless necessary. However, in English, the verb is considered the core of the sentence because without it, the sentence is incomplete.
When comparing the use of verbs in both languages, both Korean and English refine their expressions through various verb conjugations. However, there’s a difference in the way verbs change their forms. Korean allows for rich expressions through changes in the verb itself, especially the verb endings, while English minimizes changes in the verb itself. Instead, English relies on auxiliary verbs, adverbs of frequency, and prepositions to create precise expressions. This difference is due to English and Korean being different types of languages.
Yet, there are similarities. Not only in Korean but in most languages, the usage of verbs changes or auxiliary verbs are used depending on the intended meaning or nuance. This is called verb conjugation, which typically categorizes the characteristics of verb usage into seven categories:
Person – The change according to who is speaking (1st person), being spoken to (2nd person), or being spoken about (3rd person).
Number – How many people or things are involved (singular/plural).
Gender – The gender of the person or thing involved (he/she/it).
Tense – When the action of the verb takes place – past, present, or future. Aspect – How the action of the verb occurs – at once, continuously, or over a period.
Mood – Whether the verb expresses a fact (indicative); command (imperative); or hypothesis (subjunctive).
Voice – Whether the grammatical subject (person or thing) is performing the action (active) or is the recipient of the action (passive).
English is not much different. As shown in the diagram below, English grammar divides the circumstances that require changes in verb conjugation into five main categories, known as “The 5 Properties of Verbs.”
The 5 Properties of Verbs.
In English, verbs change according to tense, person, and number. For singular third-person verbs, an -s is added, and for past events, a -d is added. There are also changes between active and passive voice, referred to as “voice” in English. Additionally, there’s another change in the mood of verbs, including the subjunctive mood, which involves a category of verb usage.
Despite there being five categories of verb conjugation, fortunately, the verbs themselves don’t change as much as in Korean. The changes are mainly adding suffixes like ~s and ~d. While irregular verbs exist, most verbs follow this rule. To summarize:
I am first-person, you are second-person, and everything else is third-person. Verbs only add ~s when the subject is third-person singular, indicating present action. Verb tense changes apply to all persons and numbers, requiring the appropriate verb form.
The form for third-person singular present is to add ~s to the base verb, similar to forming plurals in nouns. The difference is adding s for plurals in nouns and for singular in verbs. Typically, for verbs, you simply add s to the base form, like stop – stops, laugh – laughs, read – reads, run – runs, come – comes.
There are exceptions, but they also have a rationale, much like turning adjectives into adverbs. If simply adding s would make pronunciation difficult, exceptions are made. Consider the Bible verse:
Know this love that surpasses knowledge – Ephesians 3:19)
“Surpass” means to exceed, so the sentence says love surpasses knowledge. In this case, surpass becomes surpasses with ~es added instead of just ~s, to ease pronunciation when the verb ends in [s, z, ∫, t∫].
pass – passes, surpass – surpasses, push – pushes, catch – catches
Let’s look at a few more exceptions. When the base form ends in <-o>, add <-es>.
do – does, go – goes, undergo – undergoes
The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. – 1 Corinthians 8:2)
This implies that the more someone thinks they know, the less they understand the essentials, advising against arrogance. When ending in <vowel + y>, add <-s>; when <consonant + y>, change <y → i> and add <-es>.
play – plays, stay – stays, say – says
study – studies, cry – cries, fly – flies, try – tries
“Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.” – Isaiah 56:12)
It’s unclear if beer existed then, but in the English Bible, “Beer” is translated as “strong drink” in the Korean Revised Version. The King James Version translates the corresponding word as “Strong Drink”.
Determining whether to use singular or plural is straightforward when the subject is singular. The challenge is with subjects connected by a conjunction, where common sense applies. If the subject is “A and B”, it’s treated as plural.
You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. – Leviticus 10:9)
Expressions showing numerical calculation are usually singular because they produce one result.
Two and two is four. = Two and two makes four. (2+2=4)
For subjects like no one, none, either, and every, they’re generally singular, though conversational usage may vary. These should be understood rather than memorized; no one is singular, and every indicates each individual, hence singular.
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. – Mark 2:22)
Everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 2:21)
However, words like some, most, half, determine singular or plural based on the following word.
Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. – Philippians 1:14)
“Most of the brothers” uses a plural verb because “most” is followed by a plural noun. In contrast, “any” typically uses singular, but if the noun after “of” is countable and plural in intent, a plural verb is used, depending on the meaning.
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him – James 1:5)
It refers to any person who lacks wisdom, indicating an unspecified individual. Therefore, the word ‘he’ is used as the subject after ‘if’, as in ‘he should ask God’.
If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. – Zechariah 14:17)
Since ‘any of the peoples of the earth’ clearly implies plurality, the plural form of the verb ‘do’ is used, and ‘they’, a plural pronoun, is used as the subject of the following sentence.
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