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; the event that breaks into it takes the aorist. This is the single most common use, and English 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 becomes one finished act:
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 wraps it up as a completed result. This background-versus-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) are the giveaway, and they pull the imperfect.
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.
Here too the aorist flips the meaning to a single 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 have no natural endpoint — the weather, someone's appearance, what you knew or felt — so they take the imperfect when you set a scene. The events that then happen against that backdrop are 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 ένα καφέ is a flat "I want a coffee", while Ήθελα ένα καφέ lands as "I'd like a coffee." Nothing about it is really past — it is a courtesy move, backing the wish one step away from the here-and-now.
Ήθελα ένα καφέ σκέτο, παρακαλώ.
íthela éna 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, one finished event → 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 → imperfect, despite no used to), and its ‑ing can attach to a bounded whole ("I read the whole book last night" → aorist). So decide by the Greek question — is this a frame, a habit, a description, or a softened wish (imperfect), or a single completed event (aorist)? — not by the English surface. Spanish speakers have it easier: the imperfect matches the imperfecto and the aorist the pretérito almost exactly. The full decision procedure lives on imperfect vs aorist, and the aorist's own jobs are on using the aorist.
Common Mistakes
1. Using the aorist for a repeated habit. "Every summer I swam every day" is recurrent, so it needs the imperfect.
❌ Κάθε καλοκαίρι κολύμπησα στη θάλασσα κάθε μέρα.
Incorrect — a repeated habit is imperfective: κολυμπούσα.
✅ 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.
2. Using the aorist for a background description. Setting a scene — what someone was wearing, how things looked — is imperfective; the aorist φόρεσε means the single act of putting on.
❌ Η γυναίκα φόρεσε ένα μακρύ παλτό και περίμενε στη στάση.
Incorrect — describing what she had on is imperfective: φορούσε (φόρεσε = 'put on', a single act).
✅ 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.
3. Using the imperfect for a single, completed result. "I wrote three letters and sent them" is a finished, bounded action — the aorist.
❌ Χθες έγραφα τρία γράμματα και τα έστειλα αμέσως.
Incorrect — a finished, bounded act is the aorist: έγραψα.
✅ 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.
4. Using the imperfect for the interrupting event. The single thing that breaks into the background is a completed point → aorist, even when the background around it is imperfect.
❌ Μαγείρευα όταν χτυπούσε το κουδούνι της πόρτας.
Incorrect — the single ring that interrupts is a completed event: χτύπησε.
✅ Μαγείρευα όταν χτύπησε το κουδούνι της πόρτας.
mayíreva ótan chtípise to kudhúni tis pórtas
I was cooking when the doorbell rang.
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 ένα καφέ).
- Each contrasts with the aorist, which frames a single completed event; the interrupting event in a background is always aorist.
- English was ‑ing / used to points to the imperfect, but the simple past leaks both ways — decide by the Greek question, not the English surface; Spanish's imperfecto/pretérito is a near-exact match.
- The polite imperfect (ήθελα, έλεγα) is a register move, not a real past; more on the polite imperfect.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Using the AoristA2 — The aorist is Greek's default past tense: single finished actions (πήγα, είδα), events chained in a narrative (μπήκε, κάθισε, παρήγγειλε), actions with a result (έμαθα ελληνικά), and time-bounded stretches (έμεινα δύο χρόνια) — the tense that most often lines up with the English simple past, and how it splits work with the imperfect.
- 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.