Most irregular Greek verbs surprise you by losing something — the -αιν- of μαθαίνω drops and the root walks out intact. This group surprises you differently: the root stays, and its vowel changes. στέλνω becomes έστειλα, πλένω becomes έπλυνα, σπέρνω becomes έσπειρα. Nothing has been added or taken away; a single letter inside the word has been swapped, and that swap is what marks the aspect. It is the oldest piece of machinery in the Greek verb, and about two dozen words still run on it.
The vowel is the tense marker
Look at στέλνω across its whole range and you find not two shapes but three, each with its own job:
| Grade | Stem | Forms it builds |
|---|---|---|
| ε — imperfective | στελν- | στέλνω, έστελνα, θα στέλνω, στέλνοντας, στέλνεται / στέλνονται |
| ει — perfective | στειλ- | έστειλα, θα στείλω, να στείλω, στείλε, έχω στείλει |
| α — perfective passive | σταλ- | στάλθηκε, σταλμένος, απεσταλμένος (correspondent, envoy) |
That three-way pattern is not a quirk of one verb. σπέρνω gives σπέρνω / έσπειρα / σπάρθηκε, δέρνω gives δέρνω / έδειρα / δάρθηκε. Greek inherited an ancient system in which a root changed its vowel rather than taking an ending, and these words are the survivors. You do not have to learn the history, but you do have to expect the third grade: a learner who knows έστειλα and then meets σταλμένος on a parcel will not recognise the verb unless someone has warned them.
Τα προσκλητήρια είναι ήδη σταλμένα, δεν αλλάζει κάτι τώρα.
ta prosklitíria íne ídhi stalména, dhen alázi káti tóra
The invitations have already gone out — nothing can change now.
Θα σου στείλω το αρχείο μόλις γυρίσω στο γραφείο.
tha su stílo to archío mólis yiríso sto ghrafío
I'll send you the file as soon as I'm back at the office.
The whole set
| Present | Meaning | After θα / να | Aorist | Command (sg) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| στέλνω | send | στείλω | έστειλα | στείλε | ε → ει |
| μένω | stay, live | μείνω | έμεινα | μείνε | ε → ει |
| σπέρνω | sow | σπείρω | έσπειρα | σπείρε | ε → ει |
| δέρνω | beat, hit | δείρω | έδειρα | δείρε | ε → ει |
| πλένω | wash | πλύνω | έπλυνα | πλύνε | ε → υ |
| φεύγω | leave, go away | φύγω | έφυγα | φύγε | ευ → υ |
| πεθαίνω | die | πεθάνω | πέθανα | — | ε → α |
| γδέρνω | skin, graze | γδάρω | έγδαρα | γδάρε | ε → α |
| ψέλνω | chant; tell off | ψάλω | έψαλα | ψάλε | ε → α |
| φέρνω | bring | φέρω | έφερα | φέρε | only the -ν- goes |
Be honest with yourself about frequency. στέλνω, μένω, φεύγω, πλένω, φέρνω and πεθαίνω are daily vocabulary and worth drilling now. σπέρνω, δέρνω, γδέρνω and ψέλνω are worth recognising rather than producing: σπέρνω lives mostly in proverbs and farming, ψέλνω in church and in the idiom του τα έψαλα ("I gave him a telling-off", informal).
Όποιος σπέρνει ανέμους, θερίζει θύελλες.
ópios spérni anémus, therízi thíeles
He who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind. (proverb)
Έμεινα ξύπνιος μέχρι τις τρεις διαβάζοντας για τις εξετάσεις.
émina ksípnios méchri tis tris dhiavázondas ya tis eksetásis
I stayed up till three revising for the exams.
Φύγαμε νωρίς για να μην πέσουμε στην κίνηση.
fíghame norís ya na min pésume stin kínisi
We left early so we wouldn't hit the traffic.
Ο παππούς μου πέθανε πριν προλάβω να τον γνωρίσω.
o papús mu péthane prin prolávo na ton ghnoríso
My grandfather died before I got the chance to know him.
Notice πέθανα: no augment. At three syllables (πέ-θα-να) the stress already has its antepenult, so the έ- that fronts έστειλα and έφυγα has nothing to do here and does not appear.
φέρνω is the easy one — and παίρνω is its twin
φέρνω → φέρω → έφερα is the mildest member of the group and a good place to start, because the vowel does not move at all: the -ν- simply drops out of -ρν- and the root φερ- carries on unchanged. Its twin παίρνω → πάρω → πήρα does the same thing (παιρν- → παρ-) and is filed with the suppletive verbs, where it is the borderline case for the same reason. If the alternating vowels feel like a wall, learn these two first: they show you the shape of the family with only one letter to lose.
Φέρε και καμιά καρέκλα, δεν φτάνουν για όλους.
fére ke kamiá karékla, dhen ftánun ya ólus
Bring another chair or two — there aren't enough for everyone.
Why these dependents are more dangerous than δω and πω
Here is the practical reason this group deserves its own page rather than a line in a list. When βλέπω hands you δω, there is no risk of misusing it: δω is a syllable long, it means nothing on its own, and it visibly cannot be a present tense. But στείλω, πλύνω, μείνω, φύγω, φέρω all look like perfectly ordinary present tenses — same length, same -ω, same rhythm as γράφω. In everyday Greek they are not. They are dependent forms, and they appear leaning on θα, να, ας, μη(ν) or a conjunction such as όταν or αν. (The one to know about is φέρω, which does survive as a real present in formal register — φέρω ευθύνη, το έγγραφο φέρει ημερομηνία — so if you meet it heading a clause in an official text, that is not a misprint.)
Πρέπει να πλύνω τα σεντόνια πριν έρθουν οι φίλοι μου.
prépi na plíno ta sendónia prin érthun i fíli mu
I need to wash the sheets before my friends arrive.
Αν μείνεις κι άλλο, θα προλάβεις και το γλυκό.
an mínis ki álo, tha prolávis ke to ghlikó
If you stay a bit longer you'll be here for dessert too.
The vowel keeps its promise in the perfect and the participle
The pay-off for learning the perfective grade is that it also builds the perfect — έχω στείλει, έχω πλύνει, έχω φύγει, έχω μείνει — while the third, α-grade shows up in the passive aorist and the -μένος participle. πλένω is the tidy case to hold in mind: perfective πλυν- covers both the active perfective and the passive (πλύθηκα, πλυμένος), so it has two grades rather than three.
Τα ρούχα είναι πλυμένα, λείπει μόνο το σιδέρωμα.
ta rúcha íne pliména, lípi móno to sidhéroma
The clothes are washed — all that's left is the ironing.
Έχω στείλει τρία μέιλ και δεν πήρα καμία απάντηση.
écho stíli tría méil ke dhen píra kamía apándisi
I've sent three emails and haven't had a single reply.
Common Mistakes
1. Using the dependent as a present tense. πλύνω, μείνω and στείλω look like presents and are not; they need θα, να or a conjunction in front of them.
❌ Πλύνω τα πιάτα κάθε βράδυ μετά το φαγητό.
Incorrect — the present is πλένω; πλύνω only appears after θα, να or a conjunction.
✅ Πλένω τα πιάτα κάθε βράδυ μετά το φαγητό.
pléno ta piáta káthe vrádhi metá to fayitó
I wash the dishes every evening after dinner.
2. Spelling the perfective vowel by ear. ει and η sound identical, so the ει of έστειλα has to be learned as spelling, not heard.
❌ Σου έστηλα τη φωτογραφία χθες.
Incorrect — the aorist of στέλνω is spelled έστειλα, with ει.
✅ Σου έστειλα τη φωτογραφία χθες το βράδυ.
su éstila ti fotoghrafía chthes to vrádhi
I sent you the photo last night.
3. Building the passive on the perfective grade. The passive takes the third, α-grade — στάλθηκε, σπάρθηκε, δάρθηκε — not the ει of the active perfective.
❌ Το δέμα στείλθηκε την Παρασκευή.
Incorrect — the passive of στέλνω is built on σταλ-: στάλθηκε.
✅ Το δέμα στάλθηκε την Παρασκευή και δεν έχει φτάσει ακόμα.
to dhéma stálthike tin Paraskeví ke dhen échi ftási akóma
The parcel was sent on Friday and still hasn't arrived.
Key Takeaways
- In this group the root vowel itself carries the grammar: στέλνω / έστειλα / στάλθηκε — ε for the imperfective, ει for the perfective, α for the passive. (φέρνω is the one member that keeps its vowel and only loses the -ν-.)
- The everyday members are στέλνω, μένω, φεύγω, πλένω, φέρνω, πεθαίνω; σπέρνω, δέρνω, γδέρνω and ψέλνω are recognition vocabulary.
- The alternations come in three shapes: ε → ει (στείλω, μείνω, σπείρω, δείρω), ε/ευ → υ (πλύνω, φύγω) and ε → α (πεθάνω, γδάρω, ψάλω).
- φέρνω → φέρω loses only its -ν- and keeps its vowel; it and παίρνω → πάρω are the gentlest members of the pattern.
- These dependents look like presents (στείλω, πλύνω, μείνω, φύγω) but do not head a clause in everyday Greek — they need θα, να, ας, μη(ν) or a conjunction. (φέρω is the exception: it is also a live formal present.)
- The perfective grade also builds the perfect (έχω στείλει, έχω πλύνει); the α-grade builds the passive aorist and the -μένος participle (στάλθηκε, σταλμένος, πλυμένος).
- πέθανα takes no augment — at three syllables the stress already has somewhere to sit.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- στέλνω (to send)A2 — Three stems and two objects. στελν- for the present, στειλ- for έστειλα and στείλω, σταλ- for the passive στάλθηκε and σταλμένος — and the recipient frames a learner needs in week one: Σου έστειλα μήνυμα, Το έστειλα στον Γιάννη, Σου το έστειλα, with the word-order trap that turns Έστειλα τα χαρτιά του Γιάννη into somebody else's papers.
- φέρνω (to bring)A2 — φέρνω moves a thing towards the speaker — which is why Greek needs three verbs where English has bring and take: φέρνω here, πηγαίνω there, παίρνω away with you. Principal parts (note the aorist έφερα, one ν away from the imperfect έφερνα), the frames, and the mediopassive φέρομαι, which has quietly become a different verb meaning 'behave'.
- Nasal-Stem Verbs (μπαίνω, πίνω)B1 — In μαθαίνω, καταλαβαίνω, μπαίνω, πίνω and δίνω the -ν- or -αιν- belongs to the imperfective half of the verb only — it is there in μαθαίνω and μάθαινα alike, and gone from everything perfective. Drop it and the bare root underneath is the perfective stem (μάθ-, καταλάβ-, μπ-, πι-). Covers the whole family, the -ηκα aorists that look passive and are not, the causative partners in -άζω, and μαθαίνω's double life as both 'learn' and 'teach'.
- 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.
- Irregular and Suppletive AoristsB1 — The dozen aorists you cannot derive and must simply know — είδα, είπα, ήρθα, ήπια, πήγα, βρήκα, μπήκα, βγήκα, πήρα, έφαγα, έδωσα, έμεινα — grouped by their shared shape, and precisely because they belong to Greek's most frequent verbs, the highest-value forms in the whole past tense.