Knowing how to build the imperfect (έγραφα, αγαπούσα, ερχόμουν) is only half the job; the other half is knowing when to reach for it instead of the aorist. The imperfect is the imperfective past — it looks at a past action from inside, as something going on, without caring where it began or ended. That single idea fans out into four everyday jobs: painting the background of a scene, describing habits, sketching states and settings, and softening a request. This page takes them one at a time, each against its aorist counterpart, and maps them onto the English was doing / used to do / would do.
1. The ongoing background of a past scene
The imperfect is the tense of the action that was already under way — the stretch of time that something else can happen inside. It is the frame; a single bounded event that breaks into it normally takes the aorist. This is the single most common use, and English often marks it with was / were + ‑ing.
Διάβαζα όταν ήρθες, γι' αυτό δεν σε άκουσα να χτυπάς.
dhiávaza ótan írthes, yaftó dhen se ákusa na chtipás
I was reading when you came, that's why I didn't hear you knocking.
Ενώ περίμενα το λεωφορείο, έπιασε μια δυνατή βροχή.
enó perímena to leoforío, épiase mia dhinatí vrochí
While I was waiting for the bus, a heavy downpour started.
Compare the same verb in the aorist, where it stops being a frame and is packaged as one bounded whole:
Διάβασα όλο το βιβλίο σε δύο μέρες.
dhiávasa ólo to vivlío se dhío méres
I read the whole book in two days. (one bounded event → aorist)
The contrast is the whole point: διάβαζα puts you inside the reading; διάβασα packages it as a bounded whole. In this sentence, όλο το βιβλίο and σε δύο μέρες also state that the whole book was read; the aorist ending alone does not encode that result. This background-versus-bounded-event split is the heart of Greek past-tense choice, and it gets its own full treatment on imperfect vs aorist.
2. A repeated or habitual past
The second job: something you did over and over in the past — English used to or habitual would. Time-words like κάθε (every), πάντα (always), συνήθως (usually) and τότε (back then) often cue the imperfective viewpoint. They do not mechanically ban the aorist: a speaker can use the aorist to package a finite series as one bounded whole.
Κάθε πρωί έπινα καφέ στο ίδιο μικρό καφενείο.
káthe proí épina kafé sto ídhio mikró kafenío
Every morning I used to drink coffee at the same little café.
Όταν ήμασταν μικροί, πηγαίναμε διακοπές στο χωριό της γιαγιάς.
ótan ímastan mikrí, piyéname dhiakopés sto chorió tis yayás
When we were kids, we used to go on holiday to grandma's village.
In the next example, the aorist packages one holiday as a bounded occasion:
Πέρσι πήγαμε διακοπές στην Κρήτη για δέκα μέρες.
pérsi píghame dhiakopés stin Kríti ya dhéka méres
Last year we went on holiday to Crete for ten days. (one occasion → aorist)
3. Describing states and settings
States, descriptions and conditions in the past — the weather, someone's appearance, what you knew or felt — normally take the imperfect when they set a scene. Events then viewed as bounded wholes against that backdrop usually take the aorist. The workhorse here is the imperfect of είμαι (ήμουν, ήταν), which carries most descriptions and has its own page: the imperfect of είμαι.
Ήταν νύχτα, έκανε κρύο και οι δρόμοι ήταν εντελώς άδειοι.
ítan níchta, ékane krío ke i dhrómi ítan endelós ádhii
It was night, it was cold, and the streets were completely empty.
Φορούσε ένα μπλε παλτό και κρατούσε μια μαύρη ομπρέλα.
forúse éna ble paltó ke kratúse mia mávri ombréla
She was wearing a blue coat and holding a black umbrella.
Το σπίτι ήταν παλιό αλλά είχε έναν τεράστιο κήπο με λεμονιές.
to spíti ítan palió alá íche énan terástio kípo me lemoniés
The house was old but had a huge garden with lemon trees.
Knowledge and feeling are states too, so verbs like ξέρω and νιώθω sit in the imperfect when they describe an ongoing mental backdrop:
Δεν ήξερα ότι δούλευες κι εσύ εκεί, τι σύμπτωση!
dhen íksera óti dhúleves ki esí ekí, ti símptosi!
I didn't know you worked there too — what a coincidence!
4. Softening a request: the polite imperfect
The fourth use surprises English speakers. Greek shifts a present wish into the imperfect to make it gentler and more polite — a bit like the English I was wondering… instead of the blunt I want. The verb θέλω → ήθελα is the classic case: Θέλω έναν καφέ is a flat "I want a coffee", while Ήθελα έναν καφέ lands as "I'd like a coffee." In this request use the past form need not locate the wish in past time; it courteously backs it away from the here-and-now.
Ήθελα έναν καφέ σκέτο, παρακαλώ.
íthela énan kafé skéto, parakaló
I'd like a black coffee, please.
Ήθελα να σας ρωτήσω κάτι, αν έχετε ένα λεπτό.
íthela na sas rotíso káti, an échete éna leptó
I wanted to ask you something, if you have a minute.
The same softening works with έλεγα ("I was thinking / I was going to say") to float a suggestion without pushing:
Έλεγα μήπως πάμε καμιά βόλτα το απόγευμα.
élegha mípos páme kamiá vólta to apóyevma
I was thinking maybe we could go for a walk this afternoon.
The English map, and where it leaks
As a starting point:
- was / were + ‑ing → imperfect (Διάβαζα)
- used to / habitual would → imperfect (έπινα, πηγαίναμε)
- simple past, viewed as a bounded whole → aorist (διάβασα, πήγαμε)
But English is a loose guide. Its simple past covers habits too ("I drank coffee there every morning for years" is a habit and normally invites the Greek imperfect despite having no used to). So decide by the Greek viewpoint — is this presented from inside as a frame, habit or description, or from outside as a bounded whole? — not by the English surface. Spanish imperfecto / pretérito offers a useful parallel, but the choices do not match word for word in every context. The full decision procedure lives on imperfect vs aorist, and the aorist's own jobs are on using the aorist.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating repetition as an automatic tense switch. The imperfect is the neutral way to present an open-ended habit. The aorist is also grammatical when a finite period lets the speaker package the repeated swims as one bounded series.
✅ Κάθε καλοκαίρι κολυμπούσα στη θάλασσα κάθε μέρα.
káthe kalokéri kolimbúsa sti thálasa káthe méra
Every summer I used to swim in the sea every day.
✅ Πέρσι το καλοκαίρι κολύμπησα στη θάλασσα κάθε μέρα.
pérsi to kalokéri kolímbisa sti thálasa káthe méra
Last summer I swam in the sea every day. (a finite series packaged as bounded)
2. Confusing a state with the event that begins it. Φορούσε describes what the woman had on; φόρεσε reports the bounded act of putting it on. Both are grammatical, and the intended scene decides.
✅ Η γυναίκα φορούσε ένα μακρύ παλτό και περίμενε στη στάση.
i yinéka forúse éna makrí paltó ke perímene sti stási
The woman was wearing a long coat and waiting at the stop.
✅ Η γυναίκα φόρεσε ένα μακρύ παλτό και βγήκε από το σπίτι.
i yinéka fórese éna makrí paltó ke vyíke apó to spíti
The woman put on a long coat and left the house.
3. Choosing the viewpoint for a writing event. An explicit finite count plus a following result favors the aorist; a stretch of activity whose endpoint is withheld favors the imperfect.
✅ Χθες έγραψα τρία γράμματα και τα έστειλα αμέσως.
chthes éghrapsa tría ghrámata ke ta éstila amésos
Yesterday I wrote three letters and sent them straight away.
✅ Χθες έγραφα όλο το πρωί, αλλά δεν τελείωσα το γράμμα.
chthes éghrafa ólo to proí, alá dhen telíosa to ghráma
Yesterday I was writing all morning, but I didn't finish the letter.
4. Assuming every simultaneous event is a point interruption. A ring presented as a bounded interruption normally takes the aorist; repeated or ongoing ringing can take the imperfect alongside the cooking background.
✅ Μαγείρευα όταν χτύπησε το κουδούνι της πόρτας.
mayíreva ótan chtípise to kudhúni tis pórtas
I was cooking when the doorbell rang.
✅ Ενώ μαγείρευα, το κουδούνι χτυπούσε συνέχεια.
enó mayíreva, to kudhúni chtipúse sinéchia
While I was cooking, the doorbell kept ringing.
Key Takeaways
- The imperfect is the imperfective past: it views an action from inside, indifferent to its start or finish.
- Four uses: (1) ongoing background (Διάβαζα όταν ήρθες), (2) habit / repetition (Κάθε πρωί έπινα καφέ), (3) states and descriptions (Ήταν νύχτα, έκανε κρύο), (4) polite softening (Ήθελα έναν καφέ).
- Each contrasts with the aorist, which views an event or finite series as a bounded whole; a single bounded interruption normally takes the aorist, while repeated ringing can remain imperfective.
- English was ‑ing / used to points toward the imperfect, but the simple past leaks both ways — decide by the Greek viewpoint, not the English surface. Spanish imperfecto/pretérito is a useful parallel, not an exact substitution chart.
- In polite ήθελα / έλεγα, the past form performs a register move and need not place the wish or suggestion in past time; more on the polite imperfect.
Related Topics
- Using the AoristA2 — The aorist is Greek's default perfective past: it presents an event, a narrative step, a result or even a finite series as one bounded whole — and often lines up with the English simple past while contrasting with the imperfect's internal view.
- Imperfect vs AoristB1 — Use one compact decision flow to choose an internal or open past viewpoint versus an occurrence or finite series packaged as bounded.
- The Imperfect for PolitenessB1 — Why Ήθελα έναν καφέ is softer than Θέλω — the imperfect as a politeness-through-distance strategy for requests and wishes, alongside Μπορούσατε…; and the even more polite θα ήθελα.