Language/Modern-greek-1453/Grammar/Verbs-Conjugation-Groups

The Greek tenses at the table below

Greek Tense	Corresponding English Tense	Usage
Ενεστώτας	Simple Present and Present Continuous	For an action that is happening in the present, either continuously or repeatedly, or just once.
Παρατατικός	Past Continuous	For an action that was happening continuously or repeatedly in the past.
Αόριστος	Simple Past	For an action that happened in the past once or momentarily.
Στιγμιαίος Μέλλοντας	Simple Future	For an action that will happen in the future just once or momentarily.
Εξακολουθητικός Μέλλοντας	Future Continuous	For an action that will be happening in the future continuously or repeatedly.
Παρακείμενος	Present Perfect	For an action that began in the past and has been completed by the present time.
Υπερσυντέλικος	Past Perfect	For an action that began in the past and was completed before a specific moment (or other action) in the past.
Συντελεσμένος Μέλλοντας	Future Perfect	For an action that will have been completed by a specific time in the future.

• All future tenses make use of the particle "θα" (tha), meaning “will“ moreover make use of the auxiliary verb "έχω" (ého), meaning “have,“ whereas Υπερσυντέλικος makes use of "είχα" (íha), meaning “had.“

The Moods

In Greek, there are five distinct verb moods, in order to show the intention of the speaker. The Greek moods and their usage are demonstrated in the table below.

Greek Moods	Modes	Usage
Οριστική (indicative) e.g. Εγώ παίζω.	Indicative e.g. “I play.”	Indicates that the action is something certain, real, a fact.
Υποτακτική (subjunctive) e.g. Εσύ πρέπει να κοιμηθείς.	Subjunctive e.g. “You must sleep.”	Indicates that the action is something wanted or expected, such as a wish, a desire, or an intention.
Προστακτική (imperative) e.g. Πήγαινε τώρα!	Imperative E.g. “Go now!”	Indicates a command, an order, or a request.
Μετοχή (participate) α) e.g. Παίζοντας πέρασε γρήγορα η ώρα. β) e.g. Τα πιάτα είναι πλυμένα.	Participle α) e.g. “By playing, the time passed quickly.”(active voice) β) e.g. “The dishes are washed.” (passive voice)	A) An uninflected verb form commonly used as an adverb to indicate time, manner, cause, condition, etc. B) An inflected verb form commonly used as an adjective, giving a noun, pronoun, or name a certain attribute.
Απαρέμφατο e.g. Έχω διαβάσει αυτό το βιβλίο.	Infinitive e.g. “I have read this book.”	An uninflected verb form used as a verb formation element in the present perfect, past perfect, and the future perfect tense.

Verb Conjugation Groups

For conjugation in Greek, there are two major conjugation groups: Conjugation α’ and Conjugation β’.

Conjugation α’ includes verbs ending in:

• -ω | Active Voice
• -ομαι | Passive Voice
• For example: λύν-ω / λύν-ομαι (líno / línome) — “to solve” / “to be solved”

Conjugation β’ includes verbs ending in:

• -ώ | Active Voice
• -ιέμαι [first class] / -ούμαι, -άμαι, or -ώμαι [second class] | Passive Voice

For example:

• Conjugation β’ (first class): αγαπ-ώ / αγαπ-ιέμαι (agapó / agapiéme) — “to love” / “to be loved”
• Conjugation β’ (second class): θεωρ-ώ / θεωρ-ούμαι (theoró / theorúme) — “to think” / “to be thought” κοιμ-άμαι (kimáme) — “to sleep” (in the passive voice only) διερωτ-ώμαι (dierotóme) — “to ask myself” (in the passive voice only)

As you saw above, Conjugation β’ verbs are divided into two classes: those conjugating like αγαπώ (first class) and those like θεωρώ (second class).Indeed, these two major conjugation groups act as a rule for the majority of regular verbs. When it comes to determining to which category each verb belongs, a rule of thumb is to notice whether the -ω at the end of the verb in the active voice is accentuated. If there’s no accent mark, then the verb follows the Conjugation α’ model. Otherwise, if the -ώ is accentuated, it follows the Conjugation β’ model. Greek verb conjugation is not that easy. There are many irregular verbs and many verb forms, some of which were integrated into modern Greek from ancient Greek. Therefore, in practice, learning how to conjugate verbs according to the two conjugation groups only won’t cover all cases. It’s really necessary to study Greek verb conjugation rules for irregular verbs as well.

Conjugation  α'	Conjugation β'
λύνω, γράφω, ντύνω, ξέρω, αφήνω solve, write, dress, know, leave	μιλάω-μιλώ, γελάω-γελώ, αδικώ (Contracted Verbs) speak, laugh, wrong
λύνομαι, γράφομαι, ντύνομαι loosen-solve, register, get dressed	μιλιέμαι, γελιέμαι, αδικιέμαι-αδικούμαι, φοβάμαι be spoken, fool yourself, wrongdoing, be afraid

Οι φωνές (The voices)

ενεργητική φωνή (active voice)	παθητική φωνή (passive voice)
γράφω, γελώ, θεωρώ write, laugh, consider,	γράφομαι, γελιέμαι, θεωρούμαι register , fool yourself, I am considered
those that end in  -ω belong to the first person of the present tense	all verbs ending in  -μαι belong to the first singular of the present tense

Οι συζυγίες (Conjugations)

α' συζυγία – Conjugation α'	β' συζυγία – Conjugation β’
γράφω – γράφομαι in the active voice it is stressed in the ending in the passive it is stressed in the antepenultimate	γελώ - γελιέμαι, θεωρώ - θεωρούμαι, θυμάμαι in the active voice it is stressed in the ending in the passive it is stressed in the penultimate
	α' τάξη – α’classe		β' τάξη – β’ classe
	ώ or άω άς ά or άει	-ιέμαι -ιέσαι -ιέται	-ώ -είς -εί	-ούμαι or -άμαι -είσαι or -άσαι -είται or -άται

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Other Lessons

• Syllabification
• Alphabet
• Participle spelling
• Prepositions
• Pronouns (Summary)
• Punctuation
• Verbes elliptiques, impersonnels et irréguliers
• Greek Deponent Verbs
• Interjections
• Augment in modern Greek