Simple Past (Αόριστος) in Greek

In Brief

The Greek aorist (αόριστος) presents an event as a completed whole in the past: Χθες έγραψα ένα γράμμα means “Yesterday I wrote a letter.” Most active forms use the endings -α, -ες, -ε, -αμε, -ατε, -αν, but the verb often changes its stem, so learn a new verb together with its aorist: γράφω → έγραψα, βλέπω → είδα.

Overview

The aorist is the main Greek tense for saying that an event happened and was completed. You use it for a single action, a completed sequence, or an event viewed as one whole: arriving, buying something, finishing a meal, or staying somewhere for a defined period. It is one of the central A2 verb forms because ordinary stories and conversations about yesterday, last weekend, or a past trip depend on it.

“Aorist” is a Greek grammatical name, but its everyday use is not exotic. It often corresponds to the English simple past: μίλησα can mean “I spoke,” πήγα means “I went,” and έφαγαν means “they ate.” The match is not exact, however. English sometimes uses one past form where Greek chooses between the aorist and the imperfect. The aorist views an event as complete; the imperfect views a past activity as ongoing, repeated, or background information.

Greek verbs also distinguish aspect (how the speaker presents an action): the aorist has perfective aspect, which means looking at an event as a whole rather than from inside its duration. You do not need to analyze every sentence in those terms at first. The useful beginner question is: “Am I reporting a completed event?” If yes, the aorist is usually the form you need.

How It Works

The basic active endings

The active aorist uses one highly recognizable set of person endings. The person tells you who performs the action.

Person	Ending	γράφω “write”	English
εγώ (I)	-α	έγραψα	I wrote
εσύ (you, singular)	-ες	έγραψες	you wrote
αυτός/αυτή/αυτό (he/she/it)	-ε	έγραψε	he/she/it wrote
εμείς (we)	-αμε	γράψαμε	we wrote
εσείς (you, plural or polite)	-ατε	γράψατε	you wrote
αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά (they)	-αν or -ανε	έγραψαν / γράψανε	they wrote

The final -ε in forms such as γράψανε is common, especially in speech. Έγραψαν and γράψανε have the same basic meaning.

Greek normally omits the subject pronoun because the ending already identifies the person. Έγραψα by itself means “I wrote.” Add εγώ only when you need emphasis or contrast: Εγώ έγραψα το μήνυμα, όχι ο Νίκος (“I wrote the message, not Nikos”).

Sigmatic aorists: the common -σ- pattern

A sigmatic aorist is one whose aorist stem contains σ. The name comes from sigma, the Greek letter σ. A simple model is:

aorist stem + active ending

For διαβάζω (“read”), the aorist stem is διαβασ-:

Person	Form
εγώ	διάβασα
εσύ	διάβασες
αυτός/αυτή/αυτό	διάβασε
εμείς	διαβάσαμε
εσείς	διαβάσατε
αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά	διάβασαν / διαβάσανε

The stem is not always made by merely adding σ to the present form. Sound and spelling changes are frequent:

Present	Aorist	Meaning	What to notice
γράφω	έγραψα	write → wrote	φ + σ appears as ψ
ανοίγω	άνοιξα	open → opened	γ + σ appears as ξ
δουλεύω	δούλεψα	work → worked	the stem changes before σ
διαβάζω	διάβασα	read → read	ζ is replaced in the aorist stem
αγαπάω / αγαπώ	αγάπησα	love → loved	contracted present, aorist in -ησα
τηλεφωνώ	τηλεφώνησα	call → called	common -ώ verb pattern

These patterns help you recognize families of verbs, but they are not a perfect rule for predicting every aorist. A dictionary or vocabulary list normally gives the aorist as a principal form. Learn γράφω — έγραψα, not γράφω alone.

Non-sigmatic and irregular aorists

A non-sigmatic aorist does not build its stem with the regular -σ- marker. Some forms remain fairly recognizable; others use a completely different stem.

Present	Aorist, “I” form	English
μένω	έμεινα	I stayed
παίρνω	πήρα	I took / got
φεύγω	έφυγα	I left
έρχομαι	ήρθα	I came
πηγαίνω / πάω	πήγα	I went
βλέπω	είδα	I saw
λέω	είπα	I said
τρώω	έφαγα	I ate
πίνω	ήπια	I drank
βρίσκω	βρήκα	I found
κάνω	έκανα	I did / made

Even when the stem is irregular, most of these verbs take the familiar active endings: είδα, είδες, είδε, είδαμε, είδατε, είδαν. The practical strategy is therefore to memorize the first-person singular and then attach the normal person endings, while checking any especially irregular paradigm.

The augment and stress

Many aorists of verbs beginning with a consonant add ε- at the front. This is the augment (an extra syllable marking past time):

• γράφω → έγραψα
• κάνω → έκανα
• φεύγω → έφυγα

In modern Greek, the augment is closely tied to stress. It is generally kept when it carries the stress, but disappears when the longer ending allows the stress to stay within the normal word limit:

Singular	Plural
έγραψα	γράψαμε
έγραψες	γράψατε
έγραψε	έγραψαν

Do not mechanically put ε- before every verb. Forms such as διάβασα, αγάπησα and άνοιξα already have enough syllables and do not need it. Verbs beginning with a vowel may have a historical or irregular vowel change, as in έρχομαι → ήρθα and έχω → είχα. These are best learned as complete forms.

Negatives, questions, and objects

Use δεν before the aorist to make a negative statement:

• Δεν πήγα στη δουλειά. — “I did not go to work.”
• Δεν είδαμε τη Μαρία. — “We did not see Maria.”

Unlike English, Greek does not add an equivalent of “did.” The aorist verb itself still carries past time. Questions use the same verb form and are shown by context, word order, or intonation:

• Διάβασες το μήνυμα; — “Did you read the message?”
• Πότε ήρθαν; — “When did they come?”

An unstressed object pronoun (a short word such as “it” or “him”) normally comes before a finite aorist verb: Το έγραψα (“I wrote it”), Τον είδα (“I saw him”).

Aorist or imperfect?

The aorist reports a completed event. The imperfect presents a past activity as ongoing, habitual, or background. Compare:

Aorist: completed whole	Imperfect: activity/background
Χθες έγραψα τρία email. — Yesterday I wrote three emails.	Έγραφα ένα email όταν τηλεφώνησε. — I was writing an email when he/she called.
Μείναμε εκεί δύο εβδομάδες. — We stayed there for two weeks.	Μέναμε εκεί κάθε καλοκαίρι. — We used to stay there every summer.
Διάβασε το βιβλίο σε δύο μέρες. — He/She read the book in two days.	Διάβαζε όλο το απόγευμα. — He/She was reading all afternoon.

A duration does not automatically require the imperfect. If the period is presented as bounded and finished—δύο εβδομάδες, “for two weeks”—the aorist is natural.

Examples in Context

Greek	English	Note
Έγραψα ένα γράμμα στη γιαγιά μου.	I wrote a letter to my grandmother.	Completed sigmatic aorist
Διάβασε το βιβλίο σε τρεις μέρες.	He/She read the book in three days.	A finished result within a time limit
Μείναμε στο σπίτι όλο το βράδυ.	We stayed at home all evening.	Non-sigmatic stem; bounded period
Ήρθαν χθες το απόγευμα.	They came yesterday afternoon.	Irregular aorist
Το πρωί άνοιξα το παράθυρο.	In the morning I opened the window.	γ + σ gives ξ in the aorist
Πήρα το λεωφορείο στις οκτώ.	I took the bus at eight.	Irregular παίρνω → πήρα
Είδατε την καινούργια ταινία;	Did you see the new film?	Question; plural or polite “you”
Δεν βρήκα τα κλειδιά μου.	I did not find my keys.	Negative with δεν
Η Άννα μαγείρεψε και μετά έπλυνε τα πιάτα.	Anna cooked and then washed the dishes.	Sequence of completed events
Πού έβαλες το κινητό;	Where did you put the phone?	Common irregular βάζω → έβαλα
Χθες δούλεψαν μέχρι αργά.	Yesterday they worked until late.	Finished period of work
Του τηλεφώνησα, αλλά δεν απάντησε.	I called him, but he did not answer.	Two completed events
Φάγαμε σε ένα μικρό εστιατόριο.	We ate at a small restaurant.	Irregular τρώω → έφαγα
Πρώτα ήπια καφέ και μετά έφυγα.	First I drank coffee and then I left.	Narrative sequence

Common Mistakes

Building the aorist directly from the present stem

• Wrong: Χθες γράφσα ένα μήνυμα.
• Right: Χθες έγραψα ένα μήνυμα.
• Why: The aorist of γράφω is έγραψα. The consonants combine into ψ, and the stressed augment is required.

Keeping the augment in every person

• Wrong: Εμείς εγράψαμε δύο γράμματα.
• Right: Εμείς γράψαμε δύο γράμματα.
• Why: In standard modern Greek, the augment drops here because it is not stressed. Compare singular έγραψα with plural γράψαμε.

Using the present after a past-time expression

• Wrong: Χθες πηγαίνω στην αγορά.
• Right: Χθες πήγα στην αγορά.
• Why: A completed visit yesterday requires a past form. Πήγα is the irregular aorist of πηγαίνω/πάω.

Choosing the aorist for an interrupted background action

• Wrong: Έγραψα όταν χτύπησε το τηλέφωνο if you mean “I was writing when the phone rang.”
• Right: Έγραφα όταν χτύπησε το τηλέφωνο.
• Why: The writing was already in progress, so Greek uses the imperfect έγραφα. The phone’s ringing is the completed event and stays in the aorist χτύπησε.

Copying English “did” into Greek

• Wrong: Δεν κάνω πήγα for “I did not go.”
• Right: Δεν πήγα.
• Why: Greek forms the negative with δεν plus the aorist. No extra auxiliary verb is needed.

Assuming every past meaning has a predictable form

• Wrong: βλέπω → έβλεψα for “I saw.”
• Right: βλέπω → είδα
• Why: Many very common verbs have irregular aorists. Memorize them as vocabulary pairs.

Usage Notes

The aorist is extremely frequent in both conversation and writing. Time expressions such as χθες (“yesterday”), πέρσι (“last year”), πριν από λίγο (“a short while ago”), μετά (“afterwards”), and ξαφνικά (“suddenly”) often accompany it, but they do not create the tense. The verb form itself marks the past.

Spoken Greek often uses the longer third-person plural ending -ανε: γράψανε, φύγανε. The shorter forms έγραψαν, έφυγαν are also normal and are especially common in neutral written language. This is mainly a difference of style and rhythm, not meaning.

English learners should be cautious with translations involving “for.” English “We stayed there for a month” and Greek Μείναμε εκεί έναν μήνα both describe a completed stay, so Greek uses the aorist. The presence of a duration does not by itself mean “continuous” grammar.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of this at A2, but the aorist stem becomes important far beyond past-time statements. Greek reuses the perfective stem in forms that present an action as a single whole:

Function	Example	Meaning
Past statement	έγραψα	I wrote
Dependent perfective form	να γράψω	to write / that I write once or to completion
Future perfective	θα γράψω	I will write
Singular command	γράψε!	write!

Traditional descriptions often call γράψω an “aorist subjunctive.” A subjunctive is a verb form used after particles such as να for wishes, aims, possibilities, and many structures that English may express with “to” or a clause. Notice that γράψω has no augment: the augment belongs to past indicative forms such as έγραψα, not to the perfective stem everywhere.

This link explains why learning only the English meaning of a present-tense dictionary form is not enough. The pair γράφω / γράψω contrasts ongoing or repeated writing with writing viewed as one complete event. Later, you will meet contrasts such as θέλω να γράφω (“I want to write regularly / be writing”) and θέλω να γράψω (“I want to write [it], once or to completion”).

Compound verbs can also show an augment inside the word or vary according to stress and register. Such details are best learned from reliable dictionary paradigms and natural examples rather than from a rule guessed from the spelling. At an advanced level, you may also encounter older or more formal past forms, but the modern forms taught here are the foundation of everyday usage.

Practice Tips

1. Learn verbs in pairs. Make cards with the present on one side and the first-person aorist on the other: βλέπω — είδα, γράφω — έγραψα, μένω — έμεινα. Say one short sentence with each form.
2. Build six-person chains. Start with έγραψα and continue aloud: έγραψες, έγραψε, γράψαμε, γράψατε, έγραψαν. This trains both the endings and the changing position of the augment.
3. Retell a real day. Write five events from yesterday using connectors such as πρώτα (“first”), μετά (“then”), and στο τέλος (“in the end”). Then check whether each verb reports a completed event or gives background; use that distinction to choose between aorist and imperfect.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense (Group A: -ω) — provides the basic person system and dictionary forms from which you learn aorist pairs.
• Next step: Imperative Mood — many commands use the same perfective stem as the aorist, as in έγραψα → γράψε.