Command Form (Imperative)

Contract Verbs

Verbs with stem ending in -ε

Remember:
έ ει    becomes  εῖ       δειπνέ-ει   becomes  δειπνεῖ  He has lunch/dinner
ε ε     becomes  ει       δειπνε-ε   becomes  δείπνει  Have lunch/dinner!

The same applies to

βοήθει	help!
φίλει	love!
πόνει	work!
προσχώρει	approach!
μὴ  φλυάρει	don't talk nonsense!
κάλει	call!

 
Get used hearing the difference:
καλεῖ          feels like he calls or she is calling
κάλει          sounds like an order given, i.e. call!, short and sharp
φλυαρεῖ     sounds like SoandSo really does talk rubbish,
so you say to him/her
μὴ  φλυάρει   please don't talk such utter nonsense

You can only "hear" the difference in meaning if you practice aloud, putting the stress where it belongs. Otherwise it just becomes one of those meaningless, boring little grammar exercises of theoretical accentuation. And misses the point totally: the spoken stress (or pitch) makes all the difference. The accent is written to show us how to pronounce the word. But pronunciation and meaning came first, so would you please put it first and say loudest the syllable carrying the written accent. And when you write, to show others which part of the word to stress so as to convey your meaning, mark it: use diacritical marks to make clear both pronunciation and meaning.

So click for sound and listen to the following:

order given		fact, action
βοήθει	help!	βοηθεῖ	he helps
φίλει	love!	φιλεῖ	she loves
πόνει	work!	πονεῖ	he works
προσχώρει	approach!	προσχωρεῖ	she approaches
μὴ  φλυάρει	don't talk nonsense!	οὐ  φλυαρεῖ	he doesn't talk nonsense
κάλει	call!	καλεῖ	she calls
δείπνει	eat! dine!	δειπνεῖ	she eats, dines