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In Ancient Greek, a general truth may be expressed in the present, future, or aorist tenses. This usage of these three tenses is called the gnomic (gnomic present, etc.).

A gnomic present states that something does happen or that something is true. A gnomic future (the rarest of the three usages) similarly states that certain events often occur, without being concerned with any specific impending event. A gnomic aorist (the most common of the three usages) likewise expresses the tendency for certain events to occur under given circumstances and is used to express general maxims (a rare English example of the gnomic expressed in a past tense is the phrase, "Curiosity killed the cat"). The gnomic aorist is thought to derive (as the English example does) from the summation of a common story (such as the moral of a fable).

See also

• Grammatical mood