Learning Greek

Verbs

Verbs will be shown in tables like this, without the row and column labels:

Be and Have

Be and have, είμαι and έχω, are irregular.

Regular Verb Conjugation

Almost all modern Greek verbs belong to one of two regular conjugation patterns, depending on where the stress falls in the "dictionary form" of the first person singular.

First conjugation verbs' stress is not in the ending, as in γράφω or "I write", unstressed –ω

Second conjugation verbs' stress is in the ending, as in αγαπώ or "I love", or δροσίζω or "I refresh", stressed –ώ or –ίζω.

Active Voice

Passive Voice

Future and Perfect Tenses

The future tense uses the particle θα followed by the relevant verb.

Εγώ γράφω. = I write.
Εγώ θα γράφω. = I shall write.

The perfect tenses use έχω / είχα or have / had along with the "non-finite" form of the verb, the third person singular form ending in –ει.

Present:
Εγώ γράφω = I write, or I am writing.

Past imperfect:
Εγώ έγραφα = I was writing, or I used to write.

Simple past:
Εγώ έγραψα = I wrote.

Perfect:
Εγώ έχω γράψει = I have written.

Pluperfect:
Εγώ είχα γράψει = I had written.

Future perfect:
Εγώ θα έχω γράψει = I shall have written.

Examples

πληρώνω = I pay, I am paying (active present)
πληρώνομαι = I am paid, I am being paid (passive present)
πλήρωσα = I paid (simple past)
πλήρωνα = I was paying, I used to pay (imperfective past)
πληρώθηκα = I was paid (passive simple past)
πληρωνόμουν = I was being paid (passive imperfective past)