Imperfect Mediopassive | Greek Grammar

Every mediopassive verb — the -ομαι group, from the passive γράφομαι ("be written") to the reflexive πλένομαι ("wash oneself") to the deponent έρχομαι ("come") — has its own past-continuous, and it does not use the active -α endings you learned for Class Α. It uses a completely separate set built on -όμουν. This is the imperfect that means I was coming, it was being built, we were getting ready, I used to sit here. The forms look unlike anything on the active side, so treat them as a fresh set to memorise — but there is only one such set, it is regular, and it covers the whole voice.

The endings

Person	Ending	έρχομαι → ερχόμουν	Reading
εγώ	-όμουν(α)	ερχόμουν	erchómun
εσύ	-όσουν(α)	ερχόσουν	erchósun
αυτός/-ή/-ό	-όταν	ερχόταν	erchótan
εμείς	-όμασταν	ερχόμασταν	erchómastan
εσείς	-όσασταν	ερχόσασταν	erchósastan
αυτοί/-ές/-ά	-ονταν	έρχονταν	érchondan

Set this beside the active imperfect and the contrast is total. Active: -α, -ες, -ε, -αμε, -ατε, -αν. Mediopassive: -όμουν, -όσουν, -όταν, -όμασταν, -όσασταν, -ονταν. There is no overlap and no shortcut — the two voices simply have two different past-endings systems, and both need to be at your fingertips. (The full active/passive endings inventory sits on mediopassive personal endings.)

Ερχόμουν προς το σπίτι όταν άρχισε να βρέχει.

erchómun pros to spíti ótan árchise na vréchi

I was coming home when it started to rain.

Πώς ερχόσουν στη δουλειά πριν πάρεις αυτοκίνητο;

pos erchósun sti dhuliá prin páris aftokínito;

How did you get to work before you got a car?

The accent: singular on the ending, 3rd plural back on the stem

There is one subtle but consistent feature. In the singular and the first two plural persons, the stress sits on the ending itself — ερχόμουν, ερχόταν, ερχόμασταν — because those endings (-όμουν, -όταν…) carry their own written accent. But the 3rd-plural -ονταν has no accent of its own, so the stress falls back to where the verb's recessive accent naturally lands, on the stem: έρχονταν, γίνονταν, σκέφτονταν. This is not an exception you have to memorise verb by verb; it is the general Greek rule that an unaccented ending lets the stress retreat as far back as it can, set out on verb accent rules. Just note the visible result: ερχόμουν but έρχονταν — the accent jumps.

Οι τουρίστες έρχονταν κάθε καλοκαίρι στο νησί για τις παραλίες.

i turístes érchondan káthe kalokéri sto nisí ya tis paralíes

Tourists used to come to the island every summer for the beaches.

💡

Guard the one-letter minimal pairs. Present ερχόμαστε ("we are coming") vs past ερχόμασταν ("we were coming"); present έρχεστε vs past ερχόσασταν. The past forms all end in an extra -ν (with an inserted vowel). When a sentence is set in the past, that final -ν is doing real work — don't drop it into the present shape.

What the mediopassive imperfect means

The same three readings the present mediopassive carries, now set in the past:

1. Passive — the subject was being acted on. γραφόταν = "it was being written", χτιζόταν = "it was being built."

Το σπίτι χτιζόταν ακόμα όταν το αγοράσαμε.

to spíti chtizótan akóma ótan to aghorásame

The house was still being built when we bought it.

2. Reflexive / middle — the subject did the action to or for itself. ετοιμαζόμουν = "I was getting (myself) ready."

Ετοιμαζόμασταν να βγούμε όταν χτύπησε το κουδούνι.

etimazómastan na vghúme ótan chtípise to kudhúni

We were getting ready to go out when the doorbell rang.

3. Deponent — the verb has no active form and its meaning is plainly active. καθόμουν = "I was sitting", γινόταν = "it was becoming / it was getting", σκεφτόμουν = "I was thinking."

Καθόμουν στο πάρκο και χάζευα τον κόσμο που περνούσε.

kathómun sto párko ke cházeva ton kózmo pu pernúse

I was sitting in the park watching the people go by.

Γινόταν όλο και πιο κρύο όσο περνούσε η νύχτα.

yinótan ólo ke pio krío óso pernúse i níchta

It kept getting colder and colder as the night went on.

Σκεφτόμουν συνέχεια τι θα σου έλεγα, αλλά δεν έβρισκα τα λόγια.

skeftómun sinéchia ti tha su élegha, alá dhen évriska ta lóya

I kept thinking about what I'd say to you, but I couldn't find the words.

💡

Don't translate the voice — read the context. The deponents are the ones to internalise first, because they are everyday verbs with no active twin: ερχόμουν (was coming), καθόμουν (was sitting), γινόταν (was becoming), σκεφτόμουν (was thinking), φαινόταν (seemed). Whenever the meaning is active but the ending is -όμουν, you are looking at a deponent.

The Class Β mediopassive: -ιόμουν and -όμουν

The verbs whose present mediopassive is a contract type — the -ιέμαι group (αγαπιέμαι "be loved") and the -άμαι group (θυμάμαι, κοιμάμαι, φοβάμαι) — form their imperfect on the same -όμουν frame:

-ιέμαι → -ιόμουν: αγαπιέμαι → αγαπιόμουν, φιλιέμαι → φιλιόμουν.
-άμαι → -όμουν: θυμάμαι → θυμόμουν, κοιμάμαι → κοιμόμουν, φοβάμαι → φοβόμουν, λυπάμαι → λυπόμουν.

Δεν κοιμόμουν καθόλου καλά εκείνη την περίοδο.

dhen kimómun kathólu kalá ekíni tin períodho

I wasn't sleeping at all well during that period.

Δεν θυμόμουν το όνομά της, γι' αυτό ένιωθα άβολα.

dhen thimómun to ónomá tis, yaftó éniotha ávola

I couldn't remember her name, so I felt awkward.

Colloquial variants — heard, not wrong

Everyday speech loosens some of these endings, and none of the following is an error — just a register down:

-όμουνα / -όσουνα for the singular: ερχόμουνα, ερχόσουνα alongside ερχόμουν, ερχόσουν — (informal).
-όντουσαν for the 3rd plural: ερχόντουσαν alongside έρχονταν — (informal), and note it pulls the stress onto the ending.

In careful writing, stay with -όμουν, -όσουν … -ονταν; recognise the longer forms when you hear them.

Common Mistakes

1. Putting active -α endings on a mediopassive verb. A deponent like σκέφτομαι has no active form; you cannot borrow the active past endings for it.

❌ Χθες το βράδυ σκέφτα πολύ την πρότασή σου.

Incorrect — σκέφτομαι is mediopassive; its imperfect is σκεφτόμουν, not an active -α form.

✅ Χθες το βράδυ σκεφτόμουν πολύ την πρότασή σου.

chthes to vrádhi skeftómun polí tin prótasí su

Last night I was thinking a lot about your offer.

2. Using the present -όμαστε where the past -όμασταν is meant. They differ by a single letter, and the ear barely separates them, but one is present and one is past.

❌ Χθες όλο το απόγευμα ετοιμαζόμαστε για το ταξίδι.

Incorrect — a past action needs the past ending: ετοιμαζόμασταν.

✅ Χθες όλο το απόγευμα ετοιμαζόμασταν για το ταξίδι.

chthes ólo to apóyevma etimazómastan ya to taksídhi

Yesterday we were getting ready for the trip all afternoon.

3. Using the 1st-singular -όμουν for "he/she/it". The 3rd singular is -όταν; over-generalising -όμουν produces the wrong person.

❌ Ο Νίκος ερχόμουν κάθε μέρα με τα πόδια στη δουλειά.

Incorrect — 'he was coming' is the 3rd singular ερχόταν, not the 1st singular ερχόμουν.

✅ Ο Νίκος ερχόταν κάθε μέρα με τα πόδια στη δουλειά.

o Níkos erchótan káthe méra me ta pódhia sti dhuliá

Nikos used to come to work on foot every day.

4. Using the perfective (aorist) passive for an ongoing background. χτίστηκε is "was built (and finished)"; a process still under way when something else happened is imperfective.

❌ Το γεφύρι χτίστηκε ακόμα όταν το είδαμε από μακριά.

Incorrect — an ongoing, unfinished process needs the imperfect: χτιζόταν.

✅ Το γεφύρι χτιζόταν ακόμα όταν το είδαμε από μακριά.

to yefíri chtizótan akóma ótan to ídhame apó makriá

The bridge was still being built when we saw it from afar.

Key Takeaways

The mediopassive imperfect uses its own endings — -όμουν, -όσουν, -όταν, -όμασταν, -όσασταν, -ονταν — learned separately from the active -α set; there is no overlap.
The stress sits on the ending in the singular and first two plurals (ερχόμουν, ερχόταν) but retreats to the stem in the 3rd plural (έρχονταν), because -ονταν has no accent of its own.
It carries the three mediopassive readings in the past — passive (χτιζόταν "was being built"), middle/reflexive (ετοιμαζόμουν), and deponent (καθόμουν, γινόταν, σκεφτόμουν) — all imperfective (was ‑ing / used to).
The Β contract types slot in as -ιόμουν (αγαπιόμουν) and -όμουν (θυμόμουν, κοιμόμουν, φοβόμουν).
Colloquial -όμουνα and 3rd-plural -όντουσαν are (informal), not mistakes; keep the plain forms for writing.

Now practice Greek

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

Start learning Greek →