εἶ (ei) in John 1:25: Verb Second Person Singular Present Active Indicative

Verb: the form names an act of being or existing, here in a clause that asks about identity.

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.

Second person: the hearer or hearers are grammatically addressed by 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 addresses one person directly in this verse.

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

σὺ and the predicate phrase οὐκ εἶ ὁ Χριστός.

The verb is shaped by the direct address to one person and by the negative identification in the question, so it serves the clause that asks whether John is not the Christ.

It functions as the finite verb of the identity claim, supplying the present assertion or denial within the question.

It does not by itself define John's office, add new titles, or settle the larger messianic issue apart from the sentence's question.

High: The verb participates in the question about John's identity and authority to baptize.

Present active indicative identity question. links the addressed person to the negated identity claim. Attached to the negative identity clause addressed to John. Governed by the question about why John baptizes. The form serves the question; the messianic categories come from the predicates around it.

What identity issue is raised in the question? The question asks why John baptizes if he is not the Christ or the expected figures named nearby.

Direct: The second-person singular form directly supports English wording such as 'you are.'

The verb is part of a question and should not be treated as an independent identity statement apart from the question.

Present tense of to be proves the whole theological claim by itself: The present form links subject and predicate; the predicate words, clause, and context carry the full theological claim.

The witnessed form is εἶ in John 1:25, within the question εἰ σὺ οὐκ εἶ ὁ Χριστός, οὔτε Ἠλίας, οὔτε ὁ προφήτης;

The lemma εἰμί is the common verb of being or existence, and here it carries the simple sense of are you, are you not, within the inquiry.

The second person singular form matches the singular addressee and supports a direct question about whether John is not the Christ, while the present indicative presents the claim as current and immediate.

The grammar contributes to a straightforward identity test: the speakers ask John to clarify who he is not, before asking why he baptizes.

Within John's Gospel, such identity questions commonly move the conversation toward witness, denial, and true recognition without requiring the verb itself to bear the theology.

For readers and translators, the form helps the sentence sound direct and personal, with the focus on present identity rather than on an abstract concept of being.

Do not derive a hidden title, a special metaphysical claim, or a different lexical meaning from the verbal form alone.