Class Β is the second conjugation — the contract verbs stressed on the ending: αγαπώ (love), μιλώ (speak), ρωτώ (ask), οδηγώ (drive), μπορώ (can). Their present tense is a nest of contractions, but their aorist is the most regular in the whole language. The reason is simple: a Class Β stem ends in a vowel with no consonant to fight over, so the perfective -σ- lands cleanly. You just have to slot a linking vowel in front of it first — and then the past endings you already know from Class Α and the imperfect drop straight on.
The paradigm: αγαπώ → αγάπησα
The default linking vowel is -η-, giving the stem αγαπησ-:
| Person | Aorist | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| εγώ | αγάπησα | I loved |
| εσύ | αγάπησες | you loved |
| αυτός/-ή/-ό | αγάπησε | he/she/it loved |
| εμείς | αγαπήσαμε | we loved |
| εσείς | αγαπήσατε | you (pl.) loved |
| αυτοί/-ές/-ά | αγάπησαν | they loved |
The endings are the same -α, -ες, -ε, -αμε, -ατε, -αν as everywhere else in the past. What's new is only the -ησ- joint that turns αγαπ- into the perfective αγαπησ-.
Μίλησα με τη μητέρα σου χθες και σε χαιρετάει.
mílisa me ti mitéra su chthes ke se cheretái
I spoke with your mother yesterday and she says hi.
Ρώτησα τον σερβιτόρο πόσο κάνει ο λογαριασμός.
rótisa ton servitóro póso káni o loghariazmós
I asked the waiter how much the bill was.
Με ρώτησαν αν θα πάω στον γάμο τους.
me rótisan an tha páo ston ghámo tus
They asked me whether I'd go to their wedding.
No augment — but watch the stress
Notice there is no ε- augment here: it's αγάπησα, not ×εαγάπησα. Class Β aorists are already long enough that the stress has a third-from-last syllable to sit on without help. But that means the accent moves as the word gets longer, and this trips up nearly every learner.
The rule is that the aorist stress always seeks the antepenult (third syllable from the end). In the singular that lands it on the stem: α-γά-πη-σα. In the 1st and 2nd plural the extra syllable of -αμε / -ατε pushes the antepenult one step to the right, onto the linking vowel -η-: α-γα-πή-σα-με.
| Singular | 1st/2nd plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Stress on... | the stem — αγάπησα | the -η- — αγαπήσαμε |
| μιλώ | μίλησα | μιλήσαμε |
| οδηγώ | οδήγησα | οδηγήσαμε |
Περπατήσαμε ώρες στην παλιά πόλη χωρίς χάρτη.
perpatísame óres stin paliá póli chorís chárti
We walked for hours around the old town without a map.
Οδήγησα έξι ώρες για να φτάσω στο χωριό των παππούδων μου.
odhíyisa éksi óres ya na ftáso sto chorió ton papúdhon mu
I drove six hours to get to my grandparents' village.
Της τηλεφώνησα τρεις φορές, αλλά δεν το σήκωσε.
tis tilefónisa tris forés, alá dhen to síkose
I called her three times, but she didn't pick up.
The other two linking vowels: -ασ- and -εσ-
Most Class Β verbs take -ησ-, and when you don't know, that's the safe guess. But two smaller families take a different vowel, and — this is the honest part — you cannot predict which from the present tense. You learn the aorist as a fixed fact about each verb, the way you memorise an English irregular past.
The -ασ- family (a short, high-frequency list):
| Present | Aorist (1sg) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| περνώ | πέρασα | pass, spend time |
| γελώ | γέλασα | laugh |
| πεινώ | πείνασα | be/get hungry |
| διψώ | δίψασα | be/get thirsty |
| χαλώ | χάλασα | break, spoil |
Πέρασα υπέροχα στις διακοπές, δεν ήθελα να γυρίσω.
pérasa ipérocha stis dhiakopés, dhen íthela na yiríso
I had a wonderful time on holiday; I didn't want to come back.
Πείνασα πολύ στην πεζοπορία και σταμάτησα να ξεκουραστώ.
pínasa polí stin pezoporía ke stamátisa na ksekurastó
I got really hungry on the hike and stopped to rest.
Χθες γέλασα με μια βλακεία που είπε ο αδερφός μου.
chthes yélasa me mia vlakía pu ípe o adherfós mu
Yesterday I laughed at something silly my brother said.
The -εσ- family is smaller still, but it holds two verbs you meet in your first week — μπορώ and φορώ:
| Present | Aorist (1sg) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| μπορώ | μπόρεσα | can, be able |
| φορώ | φόρεσα | wear, put on |
| καλώ | κάλεσα | call, invite |
Δεν μπόρεσα να έρθω νωρίτερα, είχα δουλειά.
dhen bóresa na értho norítera, ícha dhuliá
I couldn't come earlier, I had work.
Φόρεσα το καινούριο μου παλτό και βγήκα έξω.
fóresa to kenúrio mu paltó ke vyíka ékso
I put on my new coat and went outside.
Κάλεσα όλους τους φίλους μου στα γενέθλιά μου.
kálesa ólus tus fílus mu sta yenéthliá mu
I invited all my friends to my birthday.
Which vowel a verb takes is a lexical fact — there is no shortcut. Treat -ησ- as the default and memorise the -ασ- and -εσ- verbs as two short lists; between them they cover almost everything. The full inventory, with the perfective stems for the future and subjunctive too, is on building the perfective stem.
A lookalike that isn't Class Β: the -εύω verbs
You will meet aorists like δούλεψα (worked), μαγείρεψα (cooked) and χόρεψα (danced) that feel like they belong here — they're long, they end in -εψα, and their stress sits proparoxytone just like αγάπησα. They are not Class Β. Verbs in -εύω (δουλεύω, μαγειρεύω, χορεύω, ταξιδεύω) are Class Α — first conjugation, stressed on the stem — and their -εψ- comes from a labial merge, not a linking vowel. Their aorist is built exactly like Class Α:
Μαγείρεψα φασολάδα για όλη την οικογένεια.
mayírepsa fasoládha ya óli tin ikoyénia
I cooked bean soup for the whole family.
The tell is the present tense: δουλεύω stresses the stem (δου-λεύ-ω), while a real Class Β verb stresses the ending (αγα-πώ). If the present is a plain -ω verb, its aorist follows Class Α; if the present is a contracted -άω/-ώ, it follows the linking-vowel pattern on this page. The -εψ- merge itself is covered in aorist consonant merges.
Common Mistakes
1. Dropping the linking vowel. A Class Β stem cannot take -σ- directly — μιλ- needs its vowel before the σ, so ×μίλσα is impossible.
❌ Χθες μίλσα με τον καθηγητή μου.
Incorrect — Class Β needs a linking vowel: μίλησα.
✅ Χθες μίλησα με τον καθηγητή μου.
chthes mílisa me ton kathiyití mu
Yesterday I spoke with my professor.
2. Using the wrong linking vowel. αγαπώ takes -ησ-, not the -ασ- of γελώ — there is no ×αγάπασα.
❌ Τον αγάπασα πάρα πολύ εκείνη την εποχή.
Incorrect — αγαπώ takes -ησ-: αγάπησα.
✅ Τον αγάπησα πάρα πολύ εκείνη την εποχή.
ton aghápisa pára polí ekíni tin epochí
I loved him very much back then.
3. Forcing -ησ- onto an -εσ- verb. φορώ takes -εσ- (φόρεσα), the way μπορώ does — ×φόρησα is not a word.
❌ Δεν φόρησα ποτέ αυτά τα παπούτσια.
Incorrect — φορώ takes -εσ-: φόρεσα.
✅ Δεν φόρεσα ποτέ αυτά τα παπούτσια.
dhen fóresa poté aftá ta papútsia
I never wore those shoes.
4. Leaving the singular's stress in the plural. Adding -αμε shifts the accent onto the -η-; keeping it on the stem gives an impossible four-syllables-back stress.
❌ Το απόγευμα περπάτησαμε στην παραλία.
Incorrect — in the plural the stress moves to the -η-: περπατήσαμε.
✅ Το απόγευμα περπατήσαμε στην παραλία.
to apóyevma perpatísame stin paralía
In the afternoon we walked along the beach.
Key Takeaways
- Class Β verbs (contract -άω/-ώ) build the aorist with a linking vowel + -σ- + past endings: αγάπησα, μίλησα, ρώτησα.
- The default vowel is -ησ-; a small -ασ- set (πέρασα, γέλασα, πείνασα) and a small -εσ- set (μπόρεσα, φόρεσα, κάλεσα) are lexical — memorise them.
- There is no augment, but the stress rides the antepenult: αγάπησα (singular) → αγαπήσαμε (plural).
- The endings are the same -α, -ες, -ε, -αμε, -ατε, -αν as Class Α — only the -ησ-/-ασ-/-εσ- joint is new.
- -εύω verbs (δούλεψα, μαγείρεψα) look similar but are Class Α; check the present — ending-stress means Class Β, stem-stress means Class Α.
Now practice Greek
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Aorist: Class ΑA2 — The aorist of first-conjugation (Class Α) verbs — έγραψα, έγραψες, έγραψε, γράψαμε, γράψατε, έγραψαν — built from the augment, the perfective stem, and past endings that are identical to the imperfect's. The single insight: only the stem changes (γραψ- for the aorist, γράφ- for the imperfect); everything else is the same.
- Building the Perfective StemB1 — The productive rule that manufactures the perfective stem from the present: Class Α adds -σ- to the stem (λύνω → λύσω), Class Β inserts a linking vowel first (αγαπώ → αγαπήσω), and the -εύω verbs give -εψ- (δουλεύω → δουλέψω). This one stem then feeds the aorist, the simple future, the perfective subjunctive and the perfective imperative.
- Accent in the AoristB1 — Why the aorist is stressed as far back as Greek allows — έγραψα, γράψαμε, αγάπησα, αγαπήσαμε all fall on the antepenult — why short verbs need the augment to reach that syllable, and how the stress tracks the antepenult as the word lengthens.