εἰ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 εἰ

   ei

   if
2. sentence🔊 Ὅτε δὲ ἡμέρα ἐγένετο τὴν γῆν οὐκ ἐπεγίνωσκον κόλπον δέ τινα κατενόουν ἔχοντα αἰγιαλὸν εἰς ὃν ἐβουλεύοντο εἰ δύναιντο ἐξῶσαι τὸ πλοῖον

   HO-te de hê-ME-ra e-GE-ne-to tên gên ouk e-pe-GI-nô-skon KOL-pon DE TI-na ka-te-NO-oun E-khon-ta ai-gi-a-LON eis hon e-bou-LEU-on-to ei DY-nain-to ek-SÔ-sai to PLOI-on

   When but day came the land not they recognized bay but a certain they noticed having a beach into which they were planning if they might be able to run ashore the ship

Exegesis

This is followed by the conditional structure ei dunainto exosai {εἰ δύναιντο ἐξῶσαι | ei dý-nai-n-to ex-ṓ-sai}, where ei with the optative expresses a potential condition in reported deliberation, “if they might be able.” The aorist infinitive exosai specifies the contemplated action of running the ship aground. In English, the subordinate clauses are rearranged slightly for clarity, but the temporal progression (daybreak → non-recognition → observation → deliberation → conditional plan) and the conditional nuance are preserved by using “if they might be able” in the formal and “if possible” in the dynamic rendering.

Root and etymology

pleō🔊 πλέωpi–lambda–epsilon–omega

“to sail away”