Looking for an article that explains the formation of the tenses in modern Greek? You came to the right place. Here are “οι χρόνοι των ρημάτων” (the tenses of the verbs) in Greek.
Grammatical tenses help us understand whether we refer to the past, present, or future. They also specify duration and are manifested by the use of verbs. The modern Greek language has eight (8) tenses: Ενεστώτας, Αόριστος, Παρατατικός, Παρακείμενος, Υπερσυντέλικος, Μέλλοντας Στιγμιαίος, Μέλλοντας Εξακολουθητικός, Μέλλοντας Συντελεσμένος.
The Greek Present Tense | Ο Ενεστώτας
The Greek Present Tense is called “Ενεστώτας”. It describes events and actions that happen in the present time. Ενεστώτας is both Present Simple and Present Continuous. Here is how to form it:
The Greek Future Simple and Future Continuous | Ο Μέλλοντας Στιγμιαίος & Ο Μέλλοντας Εξακολουθητικός
The Greek Future Simple is called “Μέλλοντας Στιγμιαίος” or “Απλός Μέλλοντας” and it describes actions and events that will happen once in the future. On the other hand, the Greek Future Continuous, “Μέλλοντας Εξακολουθητικός, describes actions that will be happening in the future. Here is how to form them:
The Greek Perfect Tenses: Παρακείμενος, Υπερσυντέλικος & Μέλλοντας Συντελεσμένος
In modern Greek, the Present Perfect is called “Παρακείμενος”, the Past Perfect is called “Υπερσυντέλικος”, and the Future Perfect is called “Μέλλοντας Συντελεσμένος”. The verb “έχω” (to have) is used in all three tenses. Here is how to form them:
The Greek Past Tenses: Αόριστος & Παρατατικός
When talking about the past, Greeks use “Αόριστος” (Simple Past) and “Παρατατικός” (Past Continuous). Here is how to form the Greek Past tenses:
Marialena Perpiraki is a journalist and writer from Athens, Greece. In 2020, she founded Helinika as a cross-media platform.
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