Passive Voice in Greek

In Brief

Modern Greek uses the endings -μαι, -σαι, -ται, -μαστε, -στε, -νται for many present-tense passive and mediopassive verbs: γράφεται can mean “it is written” or “it is being written.” However, a verb with these endings is not necessarily passive: χρειάζομαι means “I need,” and φοβάμαι means “I am afraid.” Learn each verb with its meaning, not from its ending alone.

Overview

The passive voice presents the subject (the person or thing the sentence is about) as receiving an action rather than performing it. Compare Ο Νίκος γράφει το γράμμα (“Nikos is writing the letter”) with Το γράμμα γράφεται από τον Νίκο (“The letter is being written by Nikos”). In the first sentence, Nikos acts; in the second, the letter becomes the grammatical subject and receives the action.

Greek grammars commonly call the relevant set of verb forms παθητική φωνή, but “passive” does not describe every meaning those forms can have. The same forms may express an action directed back at oneself, an event that happens without a stated agent, a reciprocal action, or an ordinary active idea. For this reason, linguists often use mediopassive: a form covering both passive and “middle” meanings, where the subject is closely affected by or involved in the event.

At B1, your main goals are to recognize the present endings, understand the most frequent meanings, and use common verbs as complete vocabulary items. The later passive aorist has its own stems and is treated separately, so you should not try to build every past passive form from the present alone.

How It Works

From active sentence to passive sentence

An active sentence normally foregrounds the doer. A passive sentence foregrounds the person or thing affected.

Voice	Subject	Verb	Other information	English
Active	Ο υπάλληλος	ελέγχει	τα εισιτήρια.	The employee checks the tickets.
Passive	Τα εισιτήρια	ελέγχονται	από τον υπάλληλο.	The tickets are checked by the employee.

In the passive sentence, τα εισιτήρια is the subject, so the plural verb ελέγχονται agrees with it. The original doer can be expressed with από + accusative. The accusative is the form used for many objects and after certain prepositions: από τον υπάλληλο, από τη Μαρία, από τους μαθητές. The agent phrase is often omitted when the doer is unknown, obvious, or unimportant.

Greek does not need a separate equivalent of English “be” to make this present passive. The voice is built into the verb ending:

• γράφεται = “is written” or “is being written”
• not είναι γράφεται

The core present-tense endings

The regular pattern is easiest to see with γράφω (“I write”) and its mediopassive counterpart γράφομαι.

Person	Pronoun	γράφομαι	Basic English meaning
1st singular	εγώ	γράφομαι	I am written / I register myself
2nd singular	εσύ	γράφεσαι	you are written / you register yourself
3rd singular	αυτός, αυτή, αυτό	γράφεται	he, she, it is written
1st plural	εμείς	γραφόμαστε	we are written / we register ourselves
2nd plural	εσείς	γράφεστε	you are written / you register yourselves
3rd plural	αυτοί, αυτές, αυτά	γράφονται	they are written

The underlying endings are -μαι, -σαι, -ται, -μαστε, -στε, -νται, but the full form may show connecting vowels and stress changes. It is more useful to notice complete forms such as γράφεσαι, γράφεται and γράφονται than to attach the bare endings mechanically.

Subject pronouns are usually omitted because the ending identifies the person: Χρειάζομαι βοήθεια already means “I need help.” Add εγώ only for emphasis or contrast.

More than one conjugation pattern

Not all mediopassive presents look exactly like γράφομαι. Very common verbs include patterns such as θυμάμαι (“I remember”), φοβάμαι (“I am afraid”), κοιμάμαι (“I sleep”), θεωρούμαι (“I am considered”), and ασχολούμαι (“I occupy myself / deal with”). You will also meet verbs in -ιέμαι, such as βαριέμαι (“I am bored”). Their stress and internal vowels vary.

Pattern	Example	English	Note
-ομαι	εργάζομαι	I work	Active meaning despite mediopassive form
-άμαι	θυμάμαι	I remember	Common stress pattern
-ούμαι	θεωρούμαι	I am considered	Often genuinely passive
-ιέμαι	βαριέμαι	I am bored	Common in everyday speech

These groupings help recognition, but they are not a safe recipe for inventing forms. When learning a new verb, record its first-person present, one other useful form, and its meaning.

Four common relationships between form and meaning

1. A true passive

The subject receives an action: Η αίτηση εξετάζεται (“The application is being examined”). A doer could be added, but often is not.

2. A reflexive or self-directed meaning

The subject acts upon itself: Ο Γιάννης ξυρίζεται (“Giannis shaves [himself]”). English often uses an ordinary active verb here rather than “himself.”

3. A reciprocal or shared action

With a plural subject, some verbs describe people acting toward one another: Βλεπόμαστε συχνά (“We see each other often”). Context supplies the reciprocal meaning.

4. A deponent verb

A deponent verb has mediopassive morphology but an active or stative meaning; in plain terms, it looks passive but is not translated as a passive. Examples include έρχομαι (“I come”), εργάζομαι (“I work”), χρειάζομαι (“I need”), and θυμάμαι (“I remember”). Do not search for an active present form with the same meaning unless a dictionary actually gives one.

Form, meaning, and English translation

Voice and meaning do not match word for word across Greek and English. English may use “be + past participle” where Greek uses a single mediopassive verb. Conversely, Greek may use an active intransitive verb—one that has no direct object—for a change of state:

• Η πόρτα άνοιξε. — “The door opened.”
• Κάποιος άνοιξε την πόρτα. — “Someone opened the door.”

The first sentence is not morphologically passive. It simply describes what happened to the door without naming a doer. This is why translating English wording first and then choosing a Greek voice is unreliable.

Present-time meaning

The Greek present normally has imperfective aspect, meaning it views an action as ongoing, repeated, or generally valid. Therefore Το σπίτι καθαρίζεται may mean “The house is being cleaned” in the current situation or “The house gets/is cleaned” as a routine. Time expressions and context decide which reading is intended.

Examples in Context

Greek	English	Note
Το γράμμα γράφεται αυτή τη στιγμή.	The letter is being written right now.	Ongoing true passive
Τα δωμάτια καθαρίζονται κάθε πρωί.	The rooms are cleaned every morning.	Habitual passive; plural agreement
Η αίτηση εξετάζεται από την επιτροπή.	The application is being examined by the committee.	Agent with από
Εδώ πωλούνται εισιτήρια.	Tickets are sold here.	The agent is unnecessary
Αυτό το βιβλίο διαβάζεται εύκολα.	This book is easy to read.	Mediopassive form expressing a general property
Ο Πέτρος ξυρίζεται πριν από τη δουλειά.	Petros shaves before work.	Self-directed meaning
Ντυνόμαστε γρήγορα το πρωί.	We get dressed quickly in the morning.	Subject undergoes the change
Βλεπόμαστε συνήθως τα Σαββατοκύριακα.	We usually see each other at weekends.	Reciprocal meaning
Χρειάζομαι βοήθεια.	I need help.	Deponent; active meaning
Φοβάμαι τα σκυλιά.	I am afraid of dogs.	Mediopassive form, not an English passive
Η Άννα εργάζεται σε νοσοκομείο.	Anna works in a hospital.	Deponent verb
Δεν θυμάσαι το όνομά του;	Don’t you remember his name?	Common verb in -άμαι
Η πόρτα άνοιξε μόνη της.	The door opened by itself.	Active intransitive form, not passive morphology
Το πρόγραμμα χρησιμοποιείται από πολλούς φοιτητές.	The program is used by many students.	Explicit agent; πολλούς φοιτητές is accusative

Common Mistakes

Adding είμαι before a mediopassive verb

• Wrong: Το γράμμα είναι γράφεται τώρα.
• Right: Το γράμμα γράφεται τώρα.
• Why: The ending of γράφεται already marks the present mediopassive. Greek does not copy the English structure “is being written” word for word.

Making the verb agree with the agent

• Wrong: Τα βιβλία διαβάζεται από τη Μαρία.
• Right: Τα βιβλία διαβάζονται από τη Μαρία.
• Why: The verb agrees with the passive subject τα βιβλία, which is plural. Η Μαρία is the doer inside an agent phrase, not the grammatical subject.

Treating every -μαι verb as a true passive

• Wrong: interpreting Χρειάζομαι ένα ταξί as “I am needed a taxi.”
• Right: Χρειάζομαι ένα ταξί. — “I need a taxi.”
• Why: χρειάζομαι is deponent. Learn its real meaning as part of the verb entry.

Guessing all persons from the dictionary ending

• Wrong: εσύ γράφοσαι
• Right: εσύ γράφεσαι
• Why: The stem and connecting vowel may change. Learn the full pattern γράφομαι, γράφεσαι, γράφεται..., not just a list of endings.

Using nominative case after από

• Wrong: Το κείμενο γράφεται από ο φοιτητής.
• Right: Το κείμενο γράφεται από τον φοιτητή.
• Why: από takes the accusative here: ο φοιτητής becomes τον φοιτητή.

Forcing a passive where Greek naturally uses an active change-of-state verb

• Awkward assumption: that “the door opened” must contain a passive form.
• Natural Greek: Η πόρτα άνοιξε.
• Why: Greek often uses an active intransitive verb when something opens, closes, begins, or stops without an expressed agent. Learn the natural construction rather than translating the English label “passive.”

Usage Notes

Passive constructions are common in notices, news, instructions, administrative writing, and descriptions of processes because these settings often focus on the result or procedure: Οι αιτήσεις γίνονται ηλεκτρονικά (“Applications are made online”). In everyday speech, speakers may prefer an active sentence with an indefinite third-person plural when the doer does not matter: Μου είπαν να περιμένω literally means “They told me to wait,” with unnamed “they.” English might use “I was told to wait.”

An από agent should add useful information, and not every mediopassive-looking verb can be turned into a passive simply by adding one. For example, επισκέπτομαι means “visit” despite its form, so Το μουσείο επισκέπτεται από πολλούς τουρίστες is not a valid way to say “The museum is visited by many tourists.” Natural alternatives are Το μουσείο το επισκέπτονται πολλοί τουρίστες (“Many tourists visit the museum”) and Το μουσείο δέχεται πολλούς επισκέπτες (“The museum receives many visitors”). Greek often chooses an active reformulation instead of a heavy passive.

Some mediopassive verbs change meaning according to context. γράφεται can mean “is written,” but in suitable contexts γράφομαι also means “register/enrol”: Γράφομαι σε ένα μάθημα ελληνικών (“I’m enrolling in a Greek course”). A dictionary and a complete example sentence are more reliable than morphology alone.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

The present pattern does not predict the passive past reliably. The passive aorist (a form presenting a past event as a complete whole) frequently uses a stem in -θ- or -στ-, but irregularities and spelling changes are common: γράφεται → γράφτηκε (“it was written”), χτίζεται → χτίστηκε (“it was built”), ειδοποιούμαι → ειδοποιήθηκα (“I was notified”). Treat the present and aorist principal parts as separate items to learn.

The passive aorist stem also supplies many one-time future and subjunctive forms: θα γραφτεί (“it will be written”), να γραφτεί (“for it to be written / that it be written”). The subjunctive is the verb pattern normally introduced by words such as να; Greek uses it where English often uses an infinitive (“to write”) or a that-clause. This belongs to the next stage of study, but recognizing the stem connection will save effort later.

Past passive participles—adjective-like verb forms—often end in -μένος, -μένη, -μένο and agree with a noun in gender, number, and case: ένα γραμμένο μήνυμα (“a written message”), η κλεισμένη πόρτα (“the closed door”). A participle often describes a resulting state, whereas a finite passive verb presents an event or ongoing process:

Greek	English	Focus
Η πόρτα κλείνεται.	The door is being closed.	Process or repeated event
Η πόρτα είναι κλεισμένη.	The door is closed.	Resulting state

Finally, forms that look identical can permit several readings. Οι δύο φίλοι αγκαλιάζονται most naturally means “The two friends hug each other,” while Το παιδί αγκαλιάζεται από τη μητέρα του means “The child is hugged by its mother.” Number, context, verb meaning, and an agent phrase guide the interpretation.

Practice Tips

1. Learn verbs in meaning families. Make four short lists: true passive (χρησιμοποιείται), self-directed (ντύνομαι), reciprocal (βλεπόμαστε), and deponent (χρειάζομαι). Add a full sentence to every item.
2. Transform active sentences carefully. Start with Η Μαρία γράφει το μήνυμα, make the object the new subject, match the verb to it, and add the old subject only if useful: Το μήνυμα γράφεται από τη Μαρία.
3. Listen for endings, then check meaning. When you hear -μαι, -ται, or -νται, first identify person and number. Next ask whether the subject receives an action, acts on itself, acts mutually, or is simply part of a deponent verb.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense (Group A: -ω) — provides the active present forms needed for active–passive contrasts.
• Next step: Participles — covers forms such as γραμμένος and their agreement with nouns.
• Next step: Passive Aorist — extends the system to completed past events and related future and subjunctive stems.