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Struggling with irregular Greek past tense verbs in your Greek lessons?
You’ve been working hard on those regular patterns—έκανα, έγραψα, μίλησα—and just when you think you’ve got this whole past tense thing figured out, boom! You confidently say “έπισα” instead of “ήπια” but people around you correct you and suddenly question everything you thought you knew about Greek verbs.
Here’s the truth: these aren’t just random exceptions thrown in to make your life harder. These are some of the most common verbs you’ll use every single day, and they’ve been doing their own thing for centuries. Today, we want to help you notice these rebel verbs and give you strategies that actually work to master them—not just memorize them, but truly make them stick.
Meet the rebels
The unexpected transformations
βάζω → έβαλα
“Βάζω” (to put) becomes “έβαλα”— not “έβασα” as you might guess.
βγάζω → έβγαλα
Similarly, “βγάζω” (to take out) transforms to “έβγαλα,” not “έβγασα”.
μένω → έμεινα
“Μένω” (to stay) becomes “έμεινα,” not “έμεσα” (which would sound awkwardly like something else entirely!).
περιμένω → περίμενα
“Περιμένω” (to wait) transforms to “περίμενα,” not “περίμεσα.” Observe that “μένω” changes to..”έμεινα” but the “ε” in “περιμένω” stays intact.
πίνω → ήπια
You might expect “πίνω” (to drink) to follow standard rules, becoming something like “έπισα.” Nope! It transforms into “ήπια.”
φέρνω → έφερα
“Φέρνω” (to bring) transforms to “έφερα,” not “έφερσα.”
παίρνω → πήρα
“Παίρνω” (to take) transforms to “πήρα,” not “έπερσα.”
πηγαίνω → πήγα
“Πηγαίνω” (to go) shortens dramatically to “πήγα,” not “πήγαισα.”
πεθαίνω → πέθανα
“Πεθαίνω” (to die) transforms to “πέθανα,” not “πέθαισα” as you might expect.
μαθαίνω → έμαθα
“Μαθαίνω” (to learn) becomes the simpler “έμαθα,” not “μάθαισα.”
Why do these verbs break the rules?
These irregularities aren’t just there to frustrate language learners. Many of these verbs are ancient, frequently used words that have evolved differently over centuries of spoken Greek.
Think of it like how in English we say “went” for the past tense of “go” rather than “goed.” The most common verbs often have the most irregular forms because they’ve been used (and changed) so much throughout history.
Master these rebels!
Rather than trying to memorize rules that these verbs break, we’ve found these strategies helpful for my students:
- Create short sentences with each verb in past tense daily.
- Practice speaking these sentences daily.
- Group similar-sounding transformations together (like έβαλα/έβγαλα).
- Create flashcards!
Remember, even native Greek speakers had to learn these through practice and exposure, not by memorizing rules.
The more you use them, the more natural they’ll feel. And don’t worry—making mistakes is part of the journey. Οur students’ Greek improves dramatically when they stop fearing errors and start speaking more! 😊
What irregular Greek verb trips you up the most? I’d love to know which one you find hardest to remember!
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