Our first stop on the journey of modern Greek verb conjugation is the person(s) and numbers.

Greek verbs, just like English verbs, get conjugated according to the first, second, and third
person in the singular and plural. To create all these different verb forms, the only thing you
need to do is change its suffix (i.e., its ending). 

Greek Organization Translation

1st Person Singular εγώ egó “I”

2nd Person Singular εσύ esí “you”

3rd Person Singular αυτός / αυτή / αυτό aftós / aftí / aftó “he” / “she” / “it”

1st Person Plural εμείς emís “we”

2nd Person Plural εσείς esís “you”

aftí / aftés / aft
3rd Person Plural αυτοί / αυτές / αυτά “they” (male / female / neutral)
á

For example: 

 εγώ λύνω (egó líno) — “I solve”

 εσύ λύνεις (esí línis) —  “you solve”

As you might have noticed, this change can be very tricky for English-speakers, since the
verb in English remains unchanged, regardless of the person. That’s surely one major
difference between Greek and English grammar, so you’ll need time and a lot of practice to
get used to this.
Lucky for you, the Greek tenses have many similarities with those in English. Let’s have a
look at the table below.

Corresponding
Greek Tense Romanization Usage
English Tense

Simple Present &  For an action that is happening in

Ενεστώτας Enestótas Present the present, either continuously or
Continuous repeatedly, or just once.

For an action that was happening

Παρατατικός Paratatikós Past Continuous continuously or repeatedly in the
past.

For an action that happened in the

Αόριστος Aóristos Simple Past
past once or momentarily.

For an action that will happen in

Στιγμιαίος Stigmiéos
Simple Future the future just once or
Μέλλοντας Mélondas
momentarily.

For an action that will be

Εξακολουθητικός Exakoluthitikós Future
happening in the future
Μέλλοντας Mélondas Continuous
continuously or repeatedly.

For an action that began in the

Παρακείμενος Parakímenos Present Perfect past and has been completed by
the present time.

For an action that began in the

past and was completed before a
Υπερσυντέλικος Ipersidélikos Past Perfect
specific moment (or other action)
in the past.

For an action that will have been

Συντελεσμένος Sindelezménos
Future Perfect completed by a specific time in the
Μέλλοντας Mélondas
future.

For example:

 εγώ προσπαθώ (egó prospathó) — “I try” / “I am trying” | ενεστώτας (enestótas,

“present tense”)

 εγώ προσπάθησα (egó prospáthisa) — “I tried” | αόριστος (aóristos, “simple past

tense” or “aorist tense”)

All future tenses (στιγμιαίος, εξακολουθητικός & συντελεσμένος μέλλοντας) make use of
the particle θα (tha), meaning “will.“ Moreover, Συντελεσμένος Μέλλοντας & Παρακείμενος
make use of the auxiliary verb έχω (ého), meaning “have,“ whereas Υπερσυντέλικος makes
use of είχα (íha), meaning “had.“
1.4 The Voices

As in English, there are two voices in Greek:

Greek Voices Romanization Corresponding English Voice

Ενεργητική φωνή Eneryitikí foní Active voice

Παθητική φωνή Pathitikí foní Passive voice

For example:

 Active Voice:
Η αδερφή μου αγόρασε το μήλο. (I aderfí mu agórase to mílo.) — “My sister bought
the apple.

 Passive Voice:
Το μήλο αγοράστηκε από την αδερφή μου. (To mílo agorástike apó tin aderfí mu.)
— “The apple was bought by my sister.”