εἰμὶ (eimi) in John 1:20: Verb First Person Singular Present Active Indicative

Verb: the form names an action, state, or relation, here the verb 'to be' in speech.

Present: often views the action as in progress, customary, or presently in view. Context decides the exact force.

Active: presents the subject as doing or carrying the action.

Indicative: presents the verbal idea as an assertion or statement in the clause.

First person: the speaker or speakers are grammatically involved in the verbal form.

Not applicable: this verb form is not using noun case to mark its sentence role.

Singular: the form is grammatically singular and refers to a single speaker in this confession.

Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.

οὐκ ... ἐγὼ ὁ Χριστός

The verb is part of the quoted confession introduced by ὅτι, and it is negated by οὐκ to state what John denied about himself.

It supplies the predicate of the confession, making the speaker's identity the issue in view: 'I am not the Christ.'

It does not, by itself, identify a different person, and it does not turn the negation into a claim about Christ's identity.

High: The verb carries John's explicit denial that he is the Christ.

Present active indicative negative copula. links the speaker to the negated predicate. Attached to the denial 'I am not the Christ'. Governed by John's confession and denial. The negation and predicate define the claim; the verb supplies the link.

What does John deny about himself? He denies that he is the Christ.

Direct: The first-person present form directly supports 'I am.'

The verb does not identify who the Christ is; it only participates in John's denial about himself.

Copula alone settles identity theology: The verb links subject and predicate; the negated predicate and context define the claim.

The Textus Receptus reading in John 1:20 has εἰμὶ within the statement, 'οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ὁ Χριστός.'

The lemma εἰμί is the common Greek verb 'to be' or 'to exist', and here it serves as a linking or predicating verb in confession.

The present first person singular form fits John's spoken reply and supports a direct, current denial: he says he is not the Christ.

The grammar helps the reader hear the force of John's confession as a clear self-identification by denial, not as a description of someone else.

In this Gospel, such a form regularly serves plain disclosure of identity or status, and here it supports John's refusal of a messianic claim.

For teaching or reading aloud, the form underscores the immediacy and personal force of the denial without adding more than the context says.

Do not derive a theological claim from person or tense alone, and do not treat this form as changing the meaning of the surrounding sentence.