Modern Greek has one active participle you can build from almost any verb and drop into ordinary speech without sounding like a lawyer: the form in -οντας. γράφοντας (writing), τρέχοντας (running), μιλώντας (talking). It is a single frozen word — no gender, no number, no case, no tense — and it does the adverbial job that English hands to an -ing form: she left running, walking home I realised…. This page builds the form. What it does in a sentence is the business of using the gerund.
The recipe: present stem + -οντας
Take the verb in its dictionary form — the 1st person singular present — knock off the -ω, and add -οντας. That is the whole rule for Class Α verbs, and there are no consonant changes to worry about, because you are working from the stem you already say every day.
| Present (1sg) | Gerund | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| γράφω | γράφοντας | writing |
| τρέχω | τρέχοντας | running |
| παίζω | παίζοντας | playing |
| ψάχνω | ψάχνοντας | looking for |
| ανοίγω | ανοίγοντας | opening |
| περιμένω | περιμένοντας | waiting |
| πηγαίνω | πηγαίνοντας | going |
| θέλω | θέλοντας | wanting |
Γράφοντας το μήνυμα, κατάλαβα ότι δεν είχα τίποτα να πω.
ghráfondas to mínima, katálava óti dhen ícha típota na po
Writing the message, I realised I had nothing to say.
Περιμένοντας στην ουρά, διάβασα όλο το άρθρο στο κινητό μου.
periménondas stin urá, dhiávasa ólo to árthro sto kinitó mu
Waiting in the queue, I read the whole article on my phone.
Ψάχνοντας για τα γυαλιά μου, τα βρήκα πάνω στο κεφάλι μου.
psáchnondas ya ta yaliá mu, ta vríka páno sto kefáli mu
Looking for my glasses, I found them on top of my head.
The stem you are using is the imperfective stem — the present one, not the aorist one. This is not a trivia point: it is the reason the gerund always presents its action as going on, not as a finished package. There is no gerund built on the perfective stem at all: no ×γράψοντας, no ×διαβάσοντας. One aspect, one form — and Greek uses a different construction (below) when it needs "having done it."
Class Β verbs take -ώντας
Verbs whose 1st person singular is stressed on the ending build the gerund on the contracted form and come out in -ώντας. That covers both the -άω / -ώ type (μιλάω, ρωτάω) and the -ώ / -είς type (οδηγώ, μπορώ).
| Present (1sg) | Gerund | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| μιλάω / μιλώ | μιλώντας | talking |
| αγαπάω / αγαπώ | αγαπώντας | loving |
| ρωτάω / ρωτώ | ρωτώντας | asking |
| περνάω / περνώ | περνώντας | passing |
| οδηγώ | οδηγώντας | driving |
| μπορώ | μπορώντας | being able |
| ζω | ζώντας | living |
There is no ×-άοντας. Even a verb you normally say in its long form — μιλάω, ρωτάω, περνάω — switches to the short contracted stem for this one form. That is why the ending looks like -ώντας rather than -οντας: the stem's own -ώ is still sitting there, and only -ντας has been added on top.
Μιλώντας στο τηλέφωνο, ξέχασα εντελώς την κατσαρόλα στη φωτιά.
milóndas sto tiléfono, kséchasa endelós tin katsaróla sti fotiá
Talking on the phone, I completely forgot the pot on the stove.
Οδηγώντας τη νύχτα στην εθνική, πρέπει να προσέχεις διπλά.
odhighóndas ti níchta stin ethnikí, prépi na proséchis dhiplá
Driving on the motorway at night, you have to be twice as careful.
The γ that turns up in vowel-stem verbs
A small group of very common verbs ends its present stem in a vowel — λέω, τρώω, ακούω, κλαίω, καίω, φταίω — and every one of them puts a γ back before the ending: λέγοντας, τρώγοντας, ακούγοντας, κλαίγοντας, καίγοντας, φταίγοντας. Not ×τρώοντας, not ×λέοντας.
This γ is not invented for the gerund. It is the same one you already hear right through these verbs' mediopassive: λέγομαι (I am called), τρώγεται (it is edible), ακούγομαι (I am heard), καίγομαι (I'm burning). Learn the verb's γ once and it serves both forms.
Ακούγοντας τα νέα στο ραδιόφωνο, σταμάτησε το αυτοκίνητο στην άκρη.
akúghondas ta néa sto radhiófono, stamátise to aftokínito stin ákri
Hearing the news on the radio, he pulled the car over to the side.
Τρώγοντας έρχεται η όρεξη, λέει η γιαγιά μου κάθε φορά.
tróghondas érchete i óreksi, léi i yayá mu káthe forá
Appetite comes with eating, my grandmother says every time.
The accent stays put — and that decides everything later
The gerund's accent sits on exactly the syllable it sat on in the present: γράφω → γράφοντας, μιλώ → μιλώντας. Because -οντας adds one syllable and -ώντας adds one syllable, the arithmetic comes out the same way every time:
- -οντας forms are proparoxytone (stressed third from the end): γρά-φο-ντας, ψά-χνο-ντας, α-κού-γο-ντας. The one word outside this is the suppletive όντας from είμαι, which has only two syllables to work with — see below.
- -ώντας forms are paroxytone (stressed second from the end): μι-λώ-ντας, ο-δη-γώ-ντας, ζώ-ντας.
That difference has a visible consequence as soon as a weak pronoun attaches. The gerund is one of only two verb forms that take their clitics behind them (enclisis) — the other is the bare positive imperative — and a proparoxytone host forced to carry an extra syllable needs a second written accent, while a paroxytone one with a single pronoun does not: κοιτάζοντάς με but μιλώντας μου. The full arithmetic is on accent on clitic clusters.
Κοιτάζοντάς με στα μάτια, μου είπε ότι δεν θυμάται τίποτα.
kitázondás me sta mátia, mu ípe óti dhen thimáte típota
Looking me in the eye, he told me he doesn't remember a thing.
One form for everybody
The gerund does not agree with anything. Its subject can be a woman, a crowd or a dog, and the word does not move:
Τα παιδιά μπήκαν στο σπίτι φωνάζοντας και γεμάτα λάσπες.
ta pedhiá bíkan sto spíti fonázondas ke yemáta láspes
The kids came into the house shouting and covered in mud.
This is worth stating flatly, because Greek's other participles all decline. The passive participle in -μένος has three genders and four cases (κουρασμένος, κουρασμένη, κουρασμένο), and the learned active participle in -ων / -ούσα / -ον declines too. Only the -οντας form is frozen. Its implicit subject is simply the subject of the main verb, which is why it can afford to carry no marking of its own — a constraint with real teeth, worked through on using the gerund.
Verbs that have no gerund
This is the honest part. Not every verb has one, and no amount of pattern-matching will produce a form that does not exist.
Mediopassive verbs have no -οντας gerund at all. Verbs that end in -ομαι / -άμαι — έρχομαι, κάθομαι, σκέφτομαι, γίνομαι, θυμάμαι, φοβάμαι, χρειάζομαι — simply cannot form one. There is no ×ερχόντας, no ×σκεφτόντας. Everyday Greek reaches for a finite clause with καθώς or ενώ instead; formal written Greek can use the declinable mediopassive participle in -όμενος (ερχόμενος, εργαζόμενος, προερχόμενος), which agrees like an adjective and belongs to the (formal) register.
Καθώς ερχόμουν από τη δουλειά, πέρασα από το σούπερ μάρκετ.
kathós erchómun apó ti dhuliá, pérasa apó to súper márket
Coming home from work, I stopped off at the supermarket.
είμαι has a suppletive form: όντας. It is not built by the rule above — it is inherited whole from Ancient Greek ὤν / ὄντος — and being only two syllables it is paroxytone, the one -οντας word that is not stressed third from the end. It is (formal): at home in writing and careful speech, while everyday conversation prefers επειδή ήταν… or σαν… with a finite verb.
Όντας ο μικρότερος στην οικογένεια, γλίτωνε πάντα το πλύσιμο των πιάτων.
óndas o mikróteros stin ikoyénia, ghlítone pánda to plísimo ton piáton
Being the youngest in the family, he always got out of doing the washing-up.
πάω borrows from πηγαίνω. The short verb πάω has no gerund of its own; the form in use is πηγαίνοντας.
"Having done it": έχοντας + απαρέμφατο
Since there is no perfective gerund, Greek expresses a completed, prior action with a two-word phrase: έχοντας (the gerund of έχω) plus the invariable απαρέμφατο — έχοντας γράψει, έχοντας δει, έχοντας τελειώσει. This is the exact counterpart of English "having written / having seen," and it is common in writing and in careful speech.
Έχοντας δουλέψει δέκα χρόνια στο ίδιο μαγαζί, ήξερε κάθε πελάτη με το όνομά του.
échondas dhulépsi dhéka chrónia sto ídhio maghazí, íksere káthe peláti me to ónomá tu
Having worked ten years in the same shop, he knew every customer by name.
Negating it: μην, not δεν
The gerund can be negated, and the negator is μην — δεν belongs to finite verbs only. It is not an everyday move; you meet it mostly with a handful of verbs of knowing, wanting and having (μην ξέροντας, μην έχοντας, μην μπορώντας), and mostly in writing. Note that the clitic still goes behind the gerund even with μην in front of it (Μην ξέροντάς το, υπέγραψε): the position is fixed by the verb form, not by what precedes it.
Μην ξέροντας τι να πει, άλλαξε θέμα και ρώτησε για τα παιδιά.
min ksérondas ti na pi, álakse théma ke rótise ya ta pedhiá
Not knowing what to say, he changed the subject and asked after the children.
Θέλοντας και μη, έμαθα να μαγειρεύω όταν έφυγα από το σπίτι.
thélondas ke mi, ématha na mayirévo ótan éfigha apó to spíti
Like it or not, I learned to cook when I moved out.
Common Mistakes
1. Building a Class Β gerund on the long -άω stem. μιλάω has a short form μιλώ, and the gerund is built on that one.
❌ Μιλάοντας με τη γιαγιά μου, κατάλαβα πόσο έχει αλλάξει το χωριό.
Incorrect — a Class Β verb takes -ώντας on the contracted stem: μιλώντας.
✅ Μιλώντας με τη γιαγιά μου, κατάλαβα πόσο έχει αλλάξει το χωριό.
milóndas me ti yayá mu, katálava póso échi aláksi to chorió
Talking with my grandmother, I realised how much the village has changed.
2. Dropping the γ from a vowel-stem verb. τρώω, λέω, ακούω, καίω all insert it.
❌ Τρώοντας το παγωτό, μου έπεσε στο παντελόνι.
Incorrect — the stem takes a γ before the ending: τρώγοντας.
✅ Τρώγοντας το παγωτό, μου έπεσε στο παντελόνι.
tróghondas to paghotó, mu épese sto pandelóni
Eating the ice cream, I dropped it on my trousers.
3. Inventing a perfective gerund for a completed action. The gerund only exists on the imperfective stem; "having written" is έχοντας γράψει.
❌ Γράψοντας το γράμμα, το έβαλα στο ταχυδρομείο.
Incorrect — there is no gerund on the perfective stem; use Έχοντας γράψει.
✅ Έχοντας γράψει το γράμμα, το έβαλα στο ταχυδρομείο.
échondas ghrápsi to ghráma, to évala sto tachidhromío
Having written the letter, I put it in the post.
4. Manufacturing a gerund for a mediopassive verb. έρχομαι, κάθομαι, σκέφτομαι have none; use a καθώς / ενώ clause.
❌ Σκεφτόντας το ταξίδι, δεν μπορούσα να κοιμηθώ.
Incorrect — σκέφτομαι has no -οντας form: Καθώς σκεφτόμουν το ταξίδι…
✅ Καθώς σκεφτόμουν το ταξίδι, δεν μπορούσα να κοιμηθώ.
kathós skeftómun to taksídhi, dhen borúsa na kimithó
Thinking about the trip, I couldn't sleep.
Key Takeaways
- The gerund is present stem + -οντας for Class Α verbs (γράφω → γράφοντας) and -ώντας for Class Β (μιλώ → μιλώντας). There is no ×-άοντας.
- Vowel-stem verbs insert a γ: λέγοντας, τρώγοντας, ακούγοντας, κλαίγοντας — the same γ their mediopassive shows.
- It is built on the imperfective stem only. No perfective gerund exists; anteriority is έχοντας + απαρέμφατο (έχοντας γράψει).
- The accent never moves from where the present puts it, which makes the -οντας forms proparoxytone and the -ώντας forms paroxytone — the fact that decides whether an attached clitic forces a second accent. (Two-syllable όντας is the one form too short to be proparoxytone.)
- It is invariable and takes its subject from the main verb, unlike the declinable -μένος and -ων participles.
- Mediopassive verbs have no gerund (no ×ερχόντας) — use καθώς / ενώ, or (formal) -όμενος. είμαι supplies the suppletive όντας, and πάω borrows πηγαίνοντας.
- It is negatable, with μην and never δεν: μην ξέροντας, μην έχοντας.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Using the GerundB1 — What the -οντας form actually does in a sentence: manner (Έφυγε τρέχοντας), background and simultaneity (Περπατώντας, σκεφτόμουν), immediacy (Μπαίνοντας, κατάλαβα), means (Έμαθα ελληνικά μιλώντας) and cause (Βλέποντας ότι δεν ερχόταν κανείς) — plus the same-subject rule that makes a dangling gerund a real error, the small closed set of formulaic gerunds that legitimately break it, and the four jobs English -ing does that Greek hands to a finite clause instead.
- The Passive Participle -μένοςB1 — The perfect passive participle in -μένος / -μένη / -μένο seen from the verb's side — how it is built from the passive-perfect stem (γράφω → γραμμένος, κλείνω → κλεισμένος, κουράζω → κουρασμένος), why its stem-final consonant sorts into a handful of patterns, its job as the participle half of the είμαι-perfect passive, and how it names a resulting STATE against the -θηκα aorist that names the EVENT.
- Proclisis and Enclisis in DetailB1 — The complete account of clitic position: proclisis is the unconditional default with every finite verb in the standard language, and enclisis belongs to exactly two forms — the bare positive imperative and the gerund. Why those two, what the Medieval system looked like, why Cypriot Greek still uses it, and what the switch does to the written accent.
- Accent on Clitic ClustersC1 — When pronouns attach behind a verb, the written accent sometimes has to be repaired: Ξύπνησέ μας, Δάνεισέ μου το, Ψάχνοντάς τα, Δώσε μού το — but never ×Πές μου το and never ×Πάρε τό. The exact condition, why a proparoxytone verb takes the mark itself while a paroxytone one passes it to the pronoun, and the look-alike accent in Ο πατέρας μού το είπε.
- Learned Active Participles (-ων/-οντας)C1 — The ancient active participle seen from the verb's side: one -οντ- stem, three descendants — the frozen everyday gerund -οντας, the declined learned active -ων / -ουσα / -ον (ο ισχύων νόμος, η υπάρχουσα κατάσταση), and the middle participle in -όμενος / -ούμενος (οι εργαζόμενοι, τα εισερχόμενα, ο κατηγορούμενος), which is the one corner of the system still being used to make new words — plus how these participles head whole phrases like reduced relative clauses, why they negate with μη, and the -όμενος / -μένος split between a process and a result.