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Guide

Greek verbs in the present tense

Greek verbs change their ending to show who is doing something. The good news: once you know the ending, you rarely need "I" or "you". Θέλω already means "I want".

Who's doing it

These are the pronouns. You'll use them mostly for emphasis or contrast, because the ending already tells you who.

The four patterns

Almost every verb follows one of these. The ending is in bold.

The most common pattern: -ω

Most Greek verbs work like this. Take off the -ω and add the endings.

Stressed on the end: -άω

Verbs like μιλάω keep the stress on the ending. You’ll also see these written with -ώ: μιλώ.

The other stressed kind: -ώ

A smaller group, with -εί- in most forms.

Verbs in -ομαι

These look passive but usually have an ordinary meaning: έρχομαι is simply "I come". Note the stress moves in the "we" form.

Everyday irregular verbs

A few of the most common verbs don't quite follow the patterns. They're worth learning by heart.

είμαι

έχω

πάω

λέω

τρώω

ακούω

Tips

• "Not" is δεν, before the verb: Δεν καταλαβαίνω (I don't understand).
• Questions keep the same order. Only your voice and the question mark change, and the Greek question mark looks like an English semicolon: Μιλάς αγγλικά;
• Use εσείς forms to be polite with someone you don't know: Μιλάτε αγγλικά;
• The "they" form has a longer spoken version: θέλουν and θέλουνε mean the same thing.
• "I like" works backwards. Μου αρέσει ο καφές is literally "the coffee pleases me", so the verb agrees with the thing you like: μου αρέσουν τα βιβλία.

Common verbs to start with

The most common pattern: -ω

• κάνω to do, to make
• θέλω to want
• πίνω to drink
• ξέρω to know
• βλέπω to see, to watch
• καταλαβαίνω to understand
• δουλεύω to work
• παραγγέλνω to order
• παίρνω to take, to get
• δίνω to give
• μένω to stay, to live (somewhere)
• βρίσκω to find
• φεύγω to leave, to depart
• περιμένω to wait, to expect
• αγοράζω to buy
• πληρώνω to pay
• διαβάζω to read, to study
• γράφω to write
• νομίζω to think (an opinion)
• στρίβω to turn
• συνεχίζω to continue, to carry on
• μαθαίνω to learn
• γνωρίζω to know, to meet

Stressed on the end: -άω

• μιλάω to speak
• αγαπάω to love
• ρωτάω to ask

The other stressed kind: -ώ

• μπορώ to be able to, can

Verbs in -ομαι

• έρχομαι to come
• κάθομαι to sit
• χρειάζομαι to need

Irregular

• είμαι to be
• έχω to have
• πάω to go
• τρώω to eat
• λέω to say, to tell
• ακούω to hear, to listen

Nouns change too. Here's how Greek cases work.