The Habitual Past ('used to') | Greek Grammar

English has two special ways to talk about a past habit: "used to" ("I used to live in Athens") and habitual "would" ("every summer we would go to the island"). Greek has neither — and does not need them. The imperfect on its own already means "repeated or ongoing in the past," so a single verb form does all the work that English spreads across an auxiliary and a main verb. This is one of the places where Greek is simpler than English, provided you resist the urge to translate word by word.

One tense, two English translations

The Greek imperfect describes a past action as unbounded — going on, or happening again and again, with no eye on where it ended. That single idea surfaces in English as either "used to X" or habitual "would X," depending on taste. In Greek it is just the imperfect:

Παλιά έμενα στη Θεσσαλονίκη, αλλά μετακόμισα στην Αθήνα πέρσι.

paliá émena sti Thesaloníki, alá metakómisa stin Athína pérsi

I used to live in Thessaloniki, but I moved to Athens last year.

Notice how the two verbs divide the labour: έμενα (imperfect) is the open-ended state — where I lived, over an unmarked stretch of time — while μετακόμισα (aorist) is the single, finished event that ended it. That contrast is the heart of the Greek past, and it has its own page: habitual vs. single events.

Κάθε καλοκαίρι πηγαίναμε στο χωριό της γιαγιάς.

káthe kalokéri piyéname sto chorió tis yayás

Every summer we would go to grandma's village.

Όταν ήμουν μικρός, έπαιζα ποδόσφαιρο κάθε απόγευμα.

ótan ímun mikrós, épeza podhósfero káthe apóyevma

When I was little, I used to play football every afternoon.

Συνήθως έπινε τον καφέ του σκέτο, χωρίς ζάχαρη.

siníthos épine ton kafé tu skéto, chorís záchari

He usually drank his coffee black, without sugar.

The words that cue the habitual reading

Certain adverbs of time practically announce that a habit is coming, and they pair naturally with the imperfect. Learn to hear them as green lights for this tense:

παλιά — "in the old days, back then"
τότε — "at that time, back then"
κάθε (μέρα / βδομάδα / καλοκαίρι…) — "every…"
συνήθως — "usually"
πάντα — "always"

Τότε δεν είχαμε κινητά, βρισκόμασταν στην πλατεία και περιμέναμε.

tóte dhen íchame kinitá, vriskómastan stin platía ke periméname

Back then we didn't have mobiles; we'd meet at the square and wait.

Η γιαγιά μου έφτιαχνε πάντα γλυκά τις Κυριακές.

i yayá mu éftiachne pánda ghliká tis Kiriakés

My grandmother always made sweets on Sundays.

The imperfect also covers a long, unbroken stretch of past activity even without an explicit "every" — the sense of "for years, on and on":

Ο πατέρας μου δούλευε σε ένα εργοστάσιο επί τριάντα χρόνια.

o patéras mu dhúleve se éna erghostásio epí triánda chrónia

My father worked in a factory for thirty years.

Διάβαζε εφημερίδα κάθε πρωί με το πρωινό του.

dhiávaze efimerídha káthe proí me to proinó tu

He read a newspaper every morning with his breakfast.

The single most common mistake is trying to build "used to" or "would" out of pieces. There is no Greek auxiliary for it — no verb meaning "used to," and crucially θα + imperfect does not mean habitual "would." In Greek, θα + imperfect is the conditional ("I would [if…]"), a completely different meaning. So the English habitual "would" must never become θα in Greek; it just becomes the bare imperfect.

Greek does have a heavier verb συνήθιζα να… ("I was in the habit of…"), but it is bookish and rarely necessary. In normal speech the plain imperfect already carries the whole "used to" meaning — reach for it directly and add nothing.

💡

Whenever you catch yourself about to translate "used to" or "would," delete both English words and put the Greek verb straight into the imperfect. "We used to go" and "we would go" are both simply πηγαίναμε.

Where it flips to the aorist: counting the times

Here is the subtle boundary, and it is worth getting exactly right. The imperfect is for open-ended habit — a routine with no stated limit. But the moment you count the occasions — "three times," "twice that week," "a couple of times" — the repetition becomes a bounded, completed whole, and Greek switches to the aorist (the perfective past). A counted number of times is not a habit; it is a finished quantity of events.

Πήγαινα στο γυμναστήριο κάθε μέρα εκείνη την εποχή.

píyena sto yimnastírio káthe méra ekíni tin epochí

I used to go to the gym every day back then.

Πήγα στο γυμναστήριο τρεις φορές αυτή τη βδομάδα.

pígha sto yimnastírio tris forés aftí ti vdhomádha

I went to the gym three times this week.

The first is an unbounded routine (κάθε μέρα → imperfect πήγαινα); the second is a closed count (τρεις φορές → aorist πήγα). Same verb, opposite aspect, decided entirely by whether the repetition is left open or totted up.

Common Mistakes

1. Using the aorist for an open-ended habit. With κάθε signalling an unbounded routine, the verb must be imperfect.

❌ Κάθε καλοκαίρι πήγαμε στο νησί με τους γονείς μου.

Incorrect — a repeated, open-ended habit takes the imperfect: πηγαίναμε.

✅ Κάθε καλοκαίρι πηγαίναμε στο νησί με τους γονείς μου.

káthe kalokéri piyéname sto nisí me tus ghonís mu

Every summer we would go to the island with my parents.

2. Using the imperfect for a counted number of times. A finite count is perfective, so it needs the aorist.

❌ Πήγαινα τρεις φορές στο θέατρο πέρσι.

Incorrect — a counted number of times is perfective: Πήγα τρεις φορές.

✅ Πήγα τρεις φορές στο θέατρο πέρσι.

pígha tris forés sto théatro pérsi

I went to the theatre three times last year.

3. Building habitual 'would' with θα. θα + imperfect is the conditional, not the past habitual; drop the θα.

❌ Κάθε μέρα θα περπατούσα στην παραλία πριν τη δουλειά.

Incorrect — habitual 'would' is the bare imperfect: περπατούσα (θα would make it conditional).

✅ Κάθε μέρα περπατούσα στην παραλία πριν τη δουλειά.

káthe méra perpatúsa stin paralía prin ti dhuliá

Every day I would walk along the beach before work.

4. Leaving the verb in the present for a past habit. A past habit still needs a past tense.

❌ Όταν ήμουν μικρός, παίζω με τα ξαδέρφια μου.

Incorrect — a past habit needs the imperfect: έπαιζα με τα ξαδέρφια μου.

✅ Όταν ήμουν μικρός, έπαιζα με τα ξαδέρφια μου.

ótan ímun mikrós, épeza me ta ksadhérfia mu

When I was little, I used to play with my cousins.

Key Takeaways

The Greek imperfect is the "used to / would (habitually)" tense; there is no separate construction to build.
English "used to X" and habitual "would X" both collapse into a single imperfect verb (πηγαίναμε "we used to go / we would go").
Watch for the cue words παλιά, τότε, κάθε, συνήθως, πάντα — they point straight at the imperfect.
Never render habitual "would" with θα — θα + imperfect is the conditional, a different meaning.
Counting the occasions ("three times") makes the repetition bounded, so it flips to the aorist; only an open-ended habit stays imperfect.

Now practice Greek

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Greek →