Class Β — the end-stressed verbs, αγαπάω, μιλάω, μπορώ — has the tidiest aorist in the language: slot a linking vowel in, add -σ-, done. αγαπήσ-, μιλήσ-, ρωτήσ-. The class has no consonant clusters to negotiate and no suppletion to speak of. What it does have is a short list of high-frequency verbs that take a different route, and because the presents give you no warning at all, that list has to be memorised outright. This page is the list, sorted so that it is four small patterns rather than twenty separate facts.
The baseline first, in one line: the three linking vowels are -ησ- (the default: μίλησα), -ασ- (γέλασα, πείνασα, δίψασα, χάλασα) and -εσ- (μπόρεσα, φόρεσα, κάλεσα), and they are laid out on the Class Β aorist. Everything below is what happens when none of the three applies.
The -νάω verbs lose their ν
Four everyday verbs end in -νάω, and every one of them throws the ν away in the perfective and takes -ασ- on the bare stem. Seeing them as a group is the whole trick: on their own they look like four unrelated irregulars.
| Present | Meaning | After θα / να | Aorist |
|---|---|---|---|
| περνάω | pass, go by, spend time | περάσω | πέρασα |
| ξεχνάω | forget | ξεχάσω | ξέχασα |
| κερνάω | treat, stand a round | κεράσω | κέρασα |
| γερνάω | grow old | γεράσω | γέρασα |
Πέρασα από το φαρμακείο, αλλά ήταν ήδη κλειστό.
pérasa apó to farmakío, alá ítan ídhi klistó
I stopped by the pharmacy, but it was already shut.
Πάλι ξέχασα το όνομά της, ντρέπομαι να ρωτήσω.
páli kséchasa to ónomá tis, drépome na rotíso
I've forgotten her name again — I'm too embarrassed to ask.
Σήμερα κερνάω εγώ, εσύ πλήρωσες την προηγούμενη φορά.
símera kernáo eghó, esí plíroses tin proighúmeni forá
Today it's on me — you paid last time.
The velar group: -ηξα and -αξα
This is the pattern that catches everyone, because there is no κ, γ or χ anywhere in the present to warn you — and then the aorist comes out with a ξ in it. The verbs behave as though their stem ended in a throat sound, so the perfective -σ- fuses with it into -ξ- exactly as it does in any velar stem (τρέχω → έτρεξα).
| Present | Meaning | After θα / να | Aorist |
|---|---|---|---|
| τραβάω | pull; take (a photo) | τραβήξω | τράβηξα |
| φυσάω | blow | φυσήξω | φύσηξα |
| πηδάω | jump (also the everyday vulgar word for sex — vulgar) | πηδήξω | πήδηξα |
| βουτάω | dip, dive | βουτήξω | βούτηξα |
| ρουφάω | slurp, suck up | ρουφήξω | ρούφηξα |
| πετάω | throw; fly | πετάξω | πέταξα |
| κοιτάω | look at | κοιτάξω | κοίταξα |
| φυλάω | guard, keep | φυλάξω | φύλαξα |
| βαστάω | hold, bear | βαστάξω | βάσταξα |
The split inside the group — -ηξα for the first five, -αξα for the last four — is one more lexical fact with no rule behind it. Learn the two sub-lists as sounds: τράβηξα, φύσηξα, πήδηξα, βούτηξα, ρούφηξα against πέταξα, κοίταξα, φύλαξα, βάσταξα. Weight them by frequency, though: τράβηξα, πέταξα, κοίταξα and φύλαξα are daily words, while ρούφηξα and especially βάσταξα are worth recognising rather than producing — βαστάω survives mostly in fixed phrases (δεν βαστάει άλλο) and sounds dated or regional in Athens.
Τράβηξα μερικές φωτογραφίες από το μπαλκόνι του ξενοδοχείου.
tráviksa merikés fotoghrafíes apó to balkóni tu ksenodhochíu
I took a few photos from the hotel balcony.
Φύσηξε τόσο δυνατά που έσπασε η τέντα του μαγαζιού.
físikse tóso dhinatá pu éspase i ténda tu maghaziú
It blew so hard that the shop's awning snapped.
Με κοίταξε παράξενα και δεν είπε τίποτα άλλο.
me kítakse paráksena ke dhen ípe típota álo
He gave me a strange look and said nothing more.
The velar analysis pays a second time, in the passive
If you accept that τραβάω and πετάω have a hidden throat sound, their passives stop being surprising too. A velar stem takes -χτηκα in the passive aorist, matching its active -ξα:
- τράβηξα → τραβήχτηκα ("was pulled, was taken")
- πέταξα → πετάχτηκα ("was thrown; leapt up")
- φύλαξα → φυλάχτηκα ("was kept, took cover")
Η φωτογραφία τραβήχτηκε πριν από τριάντα χρόνια στο λιμάνι.
i fotoghrafía travíchtike prin apó triánda chrónia sto limáni
The photo was taken thirty years ago at the harbour.
The one-off oddities
A handful of Class Β verbs are irregular on their own account and have to be filed individually.
| Present | Meaning | Aorist | What is odd |
|---|---|---|---|
| μεθάω | get drunk | μέθυσα | the α of the present becomes υ |
| σκάω | burst; be fed up | έσκασα | one-syllable stem, so it takes the augment |
| κρεμάω | hang | κρέμασα | -ασ- where -ησ- is expected |
| χαλάω | break, spoil | χάλασα | ordinary -ασ- (see the baseline above); listed here because the verb is labile — it breaks / I break it |
| πάω | go | πήγα | fully suppletive — see the suppletive verbs |
| φταίω | be at fault | έφταιξα | a vowel-final stem — see vowel-final stems |
Μέθυσε με δύο ποτήρια κρασί και άρχισε να τραγουδάει.
méthise me dhío potíria krasí ke árchise na traghudhái
He got drunk on two glasses of wine and started singing.
Έσκασα από τη ζέστη περιμένοντας στη στάση.
éskasa apó ti zésti periménondas sti stási
I was melting in the heat waiting at the bus stop.
ζω: the Class Β verb that is odd in the present
Every verb so far has had a well-behaved present. ζω ("live") breaks that too, and it is the one you meet daily: its stem is a single consonant, so the whole present is monosyllabic or nearly so, and there is nothing left to stress but the ending.
| Person | Present | Imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| εγώ | ζω | ζούσα |
| εσύ | ζεις | ζούσες |
| αυτός/-ή/-ό | ζει | ζούσε |
| εμείς | ζούμε | ζούσαμε |
| εσείς | ζείτε | ζούσατε |
| αυτοί/-ές/-ά | ζουν(ε) | ζούσαν |
ζω is Β2, so its middle persons are -εις / -ει, never ×ζάς or ×ζάει. Its aorist is regular for the class — έζησα, with the augment because ζησ- alone is too short to carry the stress — and its dependent is ζήσω. Note the spelling of ζεις and ζει: both are monosyllables and therefore take no accent, exactly as the monotonic rule requires.
Έζησα δύο χρόνια στη Θεσσαλονίκη πριν μετακομίσω στην Αθήνα.
ézisa dhío chrónia sti Thesaloníki prin metakomíso stin Athína
I lived in Thessaloniki for two years before moving to Athens.
The verb also carries two of the warmest fixed phrases in the language. Να ζήσεις! is what you say on someone's birthday, and Να ζήσετε! to a couple at their wedding. And the shout Ζήτω! ("long live…!") is an (archaic) third-person imperative — one of the very few still in circulation, alongside έστω ("let it be; at any rate") — kept alive on banners and at ceremonies.
Να ζήσετε! Και του χρόνου με υγεία!
na zísete! ke tu chrónu me iyía
Congratulations — long life to you both! And the same again next year, in good health!
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping the ν of a -νάω verb in the aorist. The ν belongs to the present only.
❌ Ξέχνασα να κλείσω το φως.
Incorrect — ξεχνάω drops its ν in the perfective: ξέχασα.
✅ Ξέχασα να κλείσω το φως του διαδρόμου.
kséchasa na klíso to fos tu dhiadhrómu
I forgot to turn the hall light off.
2. Defaulting a velar verb to -ησ-. τραβάω does not give ×τραβήσω; the ξ is part of the stem.
❌ Θα σου τραβήσω μια φωτογραφία μπροστά στο άγαλμα.
Incorrect — the perfective of τραβάω is τραβήξ-: θα σου τραβήξω.
✅ Θα σου τραβήξω μια φωτογραφία μπροστά στο άγαλμα.
tha su travíkso mia fotoghrafía brostá sto ághalma
I'll take a photo of you in front of the statue.
3. Treating ζω as a Β1 verb. It is an everyday physical verb, which is exactly why the "everyday verbs are Β1" rule of thumb misfires here.
❌ Ζάω μόνος μου εδώ και τρία χρόνια.
Incorrect — ζω is Β2: ζω, ζεις, ζει, ζούμε.
✅ Ζω μόνος μου εδώ και τρία χρόνια.
zo mónos mu edhó ke tría chrónia
I've been living on my own for three years.
4. Giving a velar verb the plain -θηκα passive. The active aorist is the diagnostic: -ξα in the active means -χτηκα in the passive.
❌ Το βίντεο τραβήθηκε με κινητό.
Incorrect — τράβηξα is a velar aorist, so the passive is τραβήχτηκε.
✅ Το βίντεο τραβήχτηκε με κινητό και κουνιέται συνέχεια.
to víndeo travíchtike me kinitó ke kuniéte sinéchia
The video was shot on a phone and it shakes the whole time.
Key Takeaways
- Class Β's aorist is otherwise the most regular in Greek — the exceptions below are a closed, short list you memorise once.
- The -νάω verbs drop their ν: περνάω → πέρασα, ξεχνάω → ξέχασα, κερνάω → κέρασα, γερνάω → γέρασα.
- A velar group gives -ξ- with no warning in the present: -ηξα (τράβηξα, φύσηξα, πήδηξα, βούτηξα, ρούφηξα) and -αξα (πέταξα, κοίταξα, φύλαξα, βάσταξα).
- Where a Β1 verb has a twin in -άζω / -ίζω (κοιτάω/κοιτάζω, γυρνάω/γυρίζω), the two share one aorist.
- The velar stem also decides the passive: τράβηξα → τραβήχτηκε, πέταξα → πετάχτηκε.
- One-offs to file singly: μέθυσα, έσκασα, κρέμασα, χάλασα, plus πάω and φταίω, which belong to other irregular families.
- ζω has an irregular present — ζω, ζεις, ζει, ζούμε, ζείτε, ζουν — which is unusual for Class Β, where the present is normally the easy half. It is Β2, so there is no ×ζάω, and its aorist έζησα is regular.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Aorist: Class ΒA2 — The aorist of second-conjugation (Class Β) verbs — the contract verbs in -άω/-ώ. They are the most regular aorist in Greek: slot a linking vowel before the -σ- and add the past endings — αγάπησα, μίλησα, ρώτησα, περπάτησα. Covers the three linking-vowel families (-ησ-, -ασ-, -εσ-), the stress that rides the antepenult, and the -εύω lookalikes that are really Class Α.
- Contract Verb DetailsB1 — The system behind Class Β: why these verbs stress the ending (an ancient vowel got swallowed), why Β1 kept both αγαπάω and αγαπώ while Β2 stayed contracted, the -άμε/-ούμε alternation, the near-contract irregulars λέω/ακούω/τρώω, and the lexically unpredictable Β1 aorists (γελάω→γέλασα, φυσάω→φύσηξα).
- Class Β Subtypes: αγαπάω vs μπορώA2 — Class Β splits into two paradigms that share the stressed ending but part ways in the middle persons: Β1 (αγαπάω/αγαπώ, αγαπάς, αγαπάει) with its everyday -άω doublets, and Β2 (μπορώ, μπορείς, μπορεί) with no -άω option. This page gives both full presents, a rule of thumb for which verb takes which, and the -άς vs -είς test that stops ×μποράω and ×αγαπείς.
- Irregular Verbs: PatternsB1 — Greek irregularity has one address: the perfective stem. The present of an irregular verb is almost always textbook-regular — it is δω, έφαγα, μπήκα, έστειλα that surprise you. This page sorts the whole field into five shapes (plus the impersonals) and the three verbs that have no perfective stem at all, and sends you to the page that handles each.