Here is a rare piece of good news in Greek grammar: the imperfect of regular Class Β verbs — ending-stressed verbs like αγαπώ (love), μιλώ (speak), μπορώ (can), οδηγώ (drive) — is easier than their present tense. The present distinguishes B1 (αγαπάω/αγαπώ, αγαπάς) from B2 (μπορώ, μπορείς), while some verbs waver between two present ending sets. The neutral imperfect gives both subtypes the same -ούσα set and no productive augment. A live -άω variant may additionally supply the informal -αγα pattern explained below.
The pattern: -ούσα
Take the present, strip it back to the bare verb, and attach the -ούσα endings:
| Person | Ending | αγαπώ → αγαπούσα | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| εγώ | -ούσα | αγαπούσα | aghapúsa |
| εσύ | -ούσες | αγαπούσες | aghapúses |
| αυτός/-ή/-ό | -ούσε | αγαπούσε | aghapúse |
| εμείς | -ούσαμε | αγαπούσαμε | aghapúsame |
| εσείς | -ούσατε | αγαπούσατε | aghapúsate |
| αυτοί/-ές/-ά | -ούσαν(ε) | αγαπούσαν | aghapúsan |
The stress sits on the -ού- of the ending in every single person — αγαπούσα, αγαπούσαμε — and it never moves. (As with Class Α, the 3rd plural has a longer everyday twin -ούσανε: αγαπούσαν ~ αγαπούσανε, the second one (informal).)
Αγαπούσε τη θάλασσα όσο τίποτα άλλο στον κόσμο.
aghapúse ti thálasa óso típota álo ston kózmo
She loved the sea more than anything else in the world.
Μιλούσα με τη Μαρία όταν κόπηκε ξαφνικά η γραμμή.
milúsa me ti María ótan kópike ksafniká i ghramí
I was talking to Maria when the line suddenly cut off.
Why there is no augment
Class Α may need a stressed prefix (έγραφα) to place the past stress on the antepenult. Class Β has a different solution: -ούσ- is itself stressed, even in a two-syllable form such as ζούσα, so the neutral Standard paradigm has no productive augment. The ending supplies its own accent rather than borrowing the Class Α pattern. (Contrast the augment story for the short Α stems on the augment page.)
One pattern swallows the whole class
This is the point worth dwelling on. In the present, Class Β splits into two conjugations — the B1 verbs sound out their endings (αγαπάω, αγαπάς, αγαπάει) while the B2 verbs are shorter (μπορώ, μπορείς, μπορεί), and you have to know which subtype a verb belongs to (that split is mapped on Class Β subtypes). In the imperfect all of that collapses: B1 αγαπώ and B2 μπορώ both go to -ούσα.
| Present type | Verb | Imperfect 1sg | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 (-άω/-ώ) | μιλάω/μιλώ (speak) | μιλούσα | milúsa |
| B1 | ρωτάω/ρωτώ (ask) | ρωτούσα | rotúsa |
| B1 | περπατάω/περπατώ (walk) | περπατούσα | perpatúsa |
| B2 (-ώ/-είς) | μπορώ (can) | μπορούσα | borúsa |
| B2 | οδηγώ (drive) | οδηγούσα | odhighúsa |
| B2 | ζω (live) | ζούσα | zúsa |
Δεν μπορούσα να κοιμηθώ χθες με τόση ζέστη.
dhen borúsa na kimithó chthes me tósi zésti
I couldn't sleep last night with so much heat.
Ο παππούς μου οδηγούσε ακόμα στα ογδόντα του.
o papús mu odhighúse akóma sta oghdhónda tu
My grandpa was still driving in his eighties.
Παλιά περπατούσαμε μία ώρα για να πάμε στο σχολείο.
paliá perpatúsame mía óra ya na páme sto scholío
We used to walk an hour to get to school.
What it means
The Class Β imperfect has the same viewpoint as Class Α: an internal or unbounded process, an open habit, or narrative background. Common English renderings are was ‑ing, used to, or habitual would, while states may use a simple past: ζούσαμε, "we lived". The aorist (μίλησα, έζησα) instead packages one occurrence or a finite repeated series as a bounded whole. The mapping into English is contextual, not one-to-one; the choice is developed on using the imperfect and aspect in the past.
Τότε ζούσαμε σε ένα μικρό χωριό στα βουνά.
tóte zúsame se éna mikró chorió sta vuná
Back then we lived in a small village in the mountains.
Μας ρωτούσαν συνέχεια πότε θα παντρευτούμε.
mas rotúsan sinéchia póte tha pandreftúme
They kept asking us when we were going to get married.
The colloquial -αγα variant
You will also hear a second imperfect built from a live -άω stem, with -αγα instead of -ούσα: μίλαγα, ρώταγα, αγάπαγα, περπάταγα. This is normal informal spoken Greek. Wavering verbs preserve both real options: τηλεφωνούσα is neutral in every register, while τηλεφώναγα follows the live τηλεφωνάω variant and is informal. A verb without a neutral -άω partner, such as μπορώ, uses μπορούσα in neutral Standard Greek. Learn -ούσα first, but do not reject a genuine -αγα form merely because one dictionary citation form ends in -ώ.
Μίλαγα με τη γειτόνισσα όταν χτύπησε το κουδούνι.
mílagha me ti yitónisa ótan chtípise to kudhúni
I was chatting with the neighbour when the doorbell rang. (informal, = μιλούσα)
The dominance of -ούσα cuts the other way too: it is such a magnet that in very casual or regional speech you may occasionally hear it stretched onto a verb that officially sits in Class Α. Treat any such form as (informal/regional) — the standard imperfect of an Α verb is the -α set on Class Α.
Common Mistakes
1. Turning the subtype labels into a ban on live doublets. The shared -ούσα form is always the safe choice, but a wavering verb with a real -άω present may also form informal -αγα. These are a register pair, not right versus wrong:
✅ Όταν σπούδαζα έξω, της τηλεφωνούσα κάθε βράδυ.
ótan spúdhaza ékso, tis tilefonúsa káthe vrádhi
When I was studying away from home, I used to call her every evening.
✅ Όταν σπούδαζα έξω, της τηλεφώναγα κάθε βράδυ.
ótan spúdhaza ékso, tis tilefónagha káthe vrádhi
When I was studying away from home, I used to call her every evening. (informal)
2. Importing the productive Class Α augment. In neutral Standard Greek, -ούσ- carries its own stress: teach and write μιλούσα, without manufacturing an extra prefix.
✅ Μιλούσα μία ώρα στο τηλέφωνο και δεν σε άκουσα.
milúsa mía óra sto tiléfono ke dhen se ákusa
I was on the phone for an hour and didn't hear you.
3. Treating κάθε as an automatic tense switch. An open habit favours the imperfect; a finite, explicitly delimited series can take the aorist. Both construals are grammatical:
✅ Όταν έλειπε στο εξωτερικό, κάθε βράδυ της μιλούσα στο τηλέφωνο.
ótan élipe sto eksoterikó, káthe vrádhi tis milúsa sto tiléfono
When she was abroad, I used to talk to her on the phone every evening.
✅ Για τρεις εβδομάδες, κάθε βράδυ της μίλησα στο τηλέφωνο.
ya tris evdhomádhes, káthe vrádhi tis mílisa sto tiléfono
For three weeks, I spoke to her on the phone every evening.
4. Dropping the -ούσ- tense marker. Do not build the imperfect directly on the present -άω ending. The neutral imperfect is αγαπούσα / μιλούσα; αγάπησα / μίλησα are the corresponding aorists.
✅ Παλιά αγαπούσα πολύ το χωριό, τώρα προτιμώ την πόλη.
paliá aghapúsa polí to chorió, tóra protimó tin póli
I used to love the village a lot, now I prefer the city.
Key Takeaways
- Regular Class Β verbs share -ούσα, -ούσες, -ούσε, -ούσαμε, -ούσατε, -ούσαν — αγαπούσα, μιλούσα, μπορούσα, οδηγούσα.
- In the shared -ούσα paradigm the B1/B2 split disappears; only the optional informal -αγα twin still depends on a live -άω stem.
- Neutral Standard Greek adds no productive augment, because stressed -ού- already carries the accent throughout.
- A live -άω stem may have an informal twin in -αγα (μίλαγα, ρώταγα, τηλεφώναγα); -ούσα remains the written-safe form.
- Meaning is the imperfective past: an internal process or open habit, often rendered was ‑ing / used to / would; the aorist presents a bounded occurrence or finite series (μιλούσα vs μίλησα).
Related Topics
- Imperfect: Class ΑA2 — The imperfect (παρατατικός) of the big -ω verb class — έγραφα, έπαιζα, διάβαζα — built from the present stem plus the past endings -α/-ες/-ε/-αμε/-ατε/-αν, with neutral Standard adding stress-carrying ε- wherever a short form cannot carry antepenultimate stress.
- Using the ImperfectA2 — The four jobs the imperfect (παρατατικός) does — the ongoing background of a past scene, a repeated or habitual past, the description of past states and settings, and a softened, polite request — each set against the bounded viewpoint of the aorist and mapped onto English 'was doing / used to do / would do'.
- Present Tense: Class Β1 (αγαπάω/-ώ)A1 — The full present of the everyday Β1 contract verbs — αγαπάω/αγαπώ, μιλάω, ρωτάω, περπατάω, κοιτάω, ξεχνάω, περνάω — with the -άω/-ώ doublet in the 'I' and 'they' forms, the fixed -άς 'you' ending, and the crossover error ×αγαπείς that spells it as if it were Class Α.