Once a Greek verb has produced its participle in -μένος / -μένη / -μένο, that word stops behaving like a verb and starts behaving like an adjective — and it behaves like one completely, not approximately. It sits in front of nouns, it follows είμαι, it takes πιο, it grows adverbs, it accepts prefixes, and a great many speakers no longer feel the verb inside it at all. How the form is built — which consonant lands before the -μένος, why the accent is glued to the -μέ- — is on the passive participle -μένος. This page is about the adjective it turns into.
Attributive: in front of the noun, inside the article
The default position is the same as any Greek adjective's: between the article and the noun. It agrees in gender, number and case with whatever it describes.
Τα μαγειρεμένα φαγητά είναι στο ψυγείο, τα υπόλοιπα θέλουν βράσιμο.
ta mayireména fayitá íne sto psiyío, ta ipólipa thélun vrásimo
The cooked dishes are in the fridge, the rest need boiling.
Πάνω στο γραφείο υπήρχε ένα ανοιγμένο γράμμα και ένα κρύο τσάι.
páno sto ghrafío ipírche éna anighméno ghráma ke éna krío tsái
On the desk there was an opened letter and a cold tea.
It can also follow the noun as a modifier — but then the article is repeated, exactly as adjective position requires. το σιδερωμένο πουκάμισο and το πουκάμισο το σιδερωμένο are both correct; the second singles the shirt out of a set, which is why it is the natural form when you are pointing at one of several. (A participle sitting bare after the noun is heard as a predicate rather than a modifier — that is the object-predicate construction two sections down, not a shortened version of this one.)
Πάρε το πουκάμισο το σιδερωμένο, όχι αυτό που είναι στην πολυθρόνα.
páre to pukámiso to sidheroméno, óchi aftó pu íne stin polithróna
Take the ironed shirt, not the one on the armchair.
Predicative: after είμαι and its family
After a linking verb — είμαι, γίνομαι, φαίνομαι, μένω, δείχνω — the participle drops the article, stands in the nominative and agrees with the subject. This is where you will use it most: είμαι κουρασμένος, φαίνεσαι στεναχωρημένη, έμεινε έκπληκτος.
Είμαι τόσο κουρασμένη που δεν αντέχω να βγω απόψε.
íme tóso kurazméni pu dhen andécho na vgho apópse
I'm so tired I can't face going out tonight.
Γιατί είσαι στεναχωρημένος; Κάτι έγινε στη δουλειά;
yatí íse stenachoriménos; káti éyine sti dhuliá;
Why are you upset? Did something happen at work?
The object-predicate twist
There is a second predicative slot that English speakers rarely notice, and it agrees with an accusative object rather than with the subject. After verbs like βρίσκω, βλέπω, αφήνω, θέλω, the participle describes the state the object is in at that moment.
Βρήκα την πόρτα κλειδωμένη και περίμενα μισή ώρα στο κρύο.
vríka tin pórta klidhoméni ke perímena misí óra sto krío
I found the door locked and waited half an hour in the cold.
Τον είδα πολύ αλλαγμένο, είχε να έρθει στο χωριό δέκα χρόνια.
ton ídha polí alaghméno, íche na érthi sto chorió dhéka chrónia
I thought he looked very changed — he hadn't been to the village in ten years.
The agreement here is with πόρτα (feminine accusative → κλειδωμένη) and with τον (masculine accusative → αλλαγμένο), not with the speaker. This is the construction learners most often leave in the default masculine, and it is the fastest way to sound like you are guessing. The general rules are on participle agreement.
It is a full adjective, not a half-verb
Three pieces of evidence, all of them useful in their own right.
It takes degree words and comparison. πολύ κουρασμένος, αρκετά μπερδεμένος, λίγο ζαλισμένος, and comparatives with the analytic πιο rather than a -τερος suffix.
Σήμερα είσαι πιο χαλαρωμένος από χθες, σου πήγε καλά η βόλτα.
símera íse pio chalaroménos apó chthes, su píye kalá i vólta
You seem more relaxed today than yesterday — the walk did you good.
It hosts a family of prefixes. This is the productive corner of Greek word-formation that these participles own: καλο- (well), κακο- (badly), φρεσκο- (freshly), μισο- (half), ξανα- (re-). They are written as one word.
| Prefix | Participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| καλο- | καλοντυμένος, καλοφτιαγμένος | well dressed, well made |
| κακο- | κακομαθημένος, κακογραμμένος | spoilt (of a child), badly written |
| φρεσκο- | φρεσκοβαμμένος, φρεσκοψημένος | freshly painted, freshly baked |
| μισο- | μισοτελειωμένος, μισοφαγωμένος | half finished, half eaten |
| ξανα- | ξαναβαμμένος, ξαναγραμμένος | repainted, rewritten |
Μην ακουμπάς τον τοίχο, είναι φρεσκοβαμμένος.
min akumbás ton tícho, íne freskovaménos
Don't touch the wall, it's freshly painted.
Το παιδί είναι λίγο κακομαθημένο, αλλά έχει καλή καρδιά.
to pedhí íne lígho kakomathiméno, alá échi kalí kardhiá
The child is a bit spoilt, but he's got a good heart.
Άφησε τη δουλειά μισοτελειωμένη και έφυγε για διακοπές.
áfise ti dhuliá misotelioméni ke éfiye ya dhiakopés
She left the job half finished and went off on holiday.
It makes adverbs in -μένα. Like other -ος adjectives, it forms its adverb from the neuter plural: οργανωμένα (in an organised way), συγκρατημένα (with restraint), μετρημένα (sparingly), αποφασισμένα (with resolve).
Μίλησε πολύ συγκρατημένα, αν και ήταν έξαλλος.
mílise polí singratiména, an ke ítan éksalos
He spoke with a lot of restraint, even though he was furious.
The half that is not passive at all
Textbooks call -μένος "the passive participle," and for a transitive verb the label fits: γραμμένος is what got written, πλυμένος is what got washed. But an enormous number of everyday -μένος words come from intransitive verbs, where nothing was done to anybody — the participle simply names the state the subject ended up in by itself.
| Verb | Participle | Means |
|---|---|---|
| πέφτω (fall) | πεσμένος | fallen, lying where it fell |
| κάθομαι (sit) | καθισμένος | seated |
| ξαπλώνω (lie down) | ξαπλωμένος | lying down |
| ανθίζω (blossom) | ανθισμένος | in bloom |
| γερνάω (grow old) | γερασμένος | aged, grown old |
Μάζεψα τα πεσμένα φύλλα από την αυλή όλο το απόγευμα.
mázepsa ta pezména fíla apó tin avlí ólo to apóyevma
I spent the whole afternoon gathering the fallen leaves in the yard.
Stranger still, a handful of transitive verbs give a participle that describes the doer, not the thing done. φαγωμένος is not "eaten" when you say it of a person — it is "having eaten." The same goes for πιωμένος (having drunk, i.e. drunk), διαβασμένος (having done the reading, well prepared) and μαθημένος (accustomed).
Ήρθε στο τραπέζι φαγωμένος και ήπιε μόνο έναν καφέ.
írthe sto trapézi faghoménos ke ípie móno énan kafé
He came to the table having already eaten and just had a coffee.
Ο Νίκος οδηγούσε πιωμένος και του πήραν το δίπλωμα.
o Níkos odhighúse pioménos ke tu píran to dhíploma
Nikos was driving drunk and they took his licence.
The lexicalised ones you will meet first
Some of these have drifted so far from any verb that treating them as participles is pure etymology. χαρούμενος (happy), παντρεμένος (married), στεναχωρημένος (upset), θυμωμένος (angry), μπερδεμένος (confused), κουρασμένος (tired), νευριασμένος (wound up) are simply the ordinary Greek words for those states, and αγαπημένος has moved all the way to meaning "favourite" (see participles as adjectives).
Είναι παντρεμένη με έναν Κρητικό και ζουν στα Χανιά.
íne pandreméni me énan Kritikó ke zun sta Chaniá
She's married to a Cretan and they live in Chania.
Two footnotes before you go. First, a rival ending: some verbs also give a -τος adjective (κλειστός, ανοιχτός, ψητός), which names a kind or standing property rather than a fresh result — the pair κλειστό τις Κυριακές against βρήκα την πόρτα κλεισμένη is set out on participles as adjectives. Second, do not confuse this fully-agreeing adjective with the invariable -εί form that follows έχω (έχει γραφτεί): they come from the same stem and mean different things, which is the subject of participle vs perfect confusion.
Common Mistakes
1. Using -μένος for the thing that causes the state. Greek splits tired from tiring with two different suffixes: -μένος for whoever is affected, -τικός for whatever does the affecting.
❌ Η μέρα ήταν πολύ κουρασμένη, θέλω μόνο να κοιμηθώ.
Incorrect for this meaning — a day is κουραστική (tiring); κουρασμένος describes the person who is tired.
✅ Η μέρα ήταν πολύ κουραστική, θέλω μόνο να κοιμηθώ.
i méra ítan polí kurastikí, thélo móno na kimithó
The day was really tiring, I just want to sleep.
2. Leaving the participle in the masculine when the subject is not. It is an adjective, so it tracks whoever it describes — including you, when you are the one talking.
❌ Η Μαρία λέει ότι είναι κουρασμένος από το ταξίδι.
Incorrect — the participle agrees with Μαρία: κουρασμένη.
✅ Η Μαρία λέει ότι είναι κουρασμένη από το ταξίδι.
i María léi óti íne kurazméni apó to taksídhi
Maria says she's tired from the journey.
3. Agreeing with the speaker instead of with the object. In the object-predicate slot the participle belongs to the accusative object.
❌ Βρήκα τα παιδιά κοιμισμένος στον καναπέ.
Incorrect — the participle describes τα παιδιά, so it must be κοιμισμένα.
✅ Βρήκα τα παιδιά κοιμισμένα στον καναπέ.
vríka ta pedhiá kimizména ston kanapé
I found the kids asleep on the sofa.
4. Translating "married to" with σε. παντρεμένος takes με, and the English preposition does not survive the crossing.
❌ Είναι παντρεμένη σε έναν γιατρό εδώ και δέκα χρόνια.
Incorrect — the participle takes με: παντρεμένη με έναν γιατρό.
✅ Είναι παντρεμένη με έναν γιατρό εδώ και δέκα χρόνια.
íne pandreméni me énan yatró edhó ke dhéka chrónia
She's been married to a doctor for ten years.
Key Takeaways
- The -μένος participle is a full adjective: attributive inside the article (τα μαγειρεμένα φαγητά), postposed with the article repeated (το πουκάμισο το σιδερωμένο), and predicative after είμαι and its family.
- It also fills an object-predicate slot, where it agrees with the accusative object: Βρήκα την πόρτα κλειδωμένη, Τον είδα αλλαγμένο.
- It behaves like an adjective all the way down: πολύ / πιο for degree, -μένα adverbs (συγκρατημένα), and the prefixes καλο-, κακο-, φρεσκο-, μισο-, ξανα- (καλοντυμένος, φρεσκοβαμμένος, μισοτελειωμένος).
- "Passive participle" is only half true. Intransitive verbs give πεσμένος, καθισμένος, ξαπλωμένος, ανθισμένος, and some transitive ones describe the doer: φαγωμένος, πιωμένος, διαβασμένος, μαθημένος.
- The everyday state words — χαρούμενος, παντρεμένος, στεναχωρημένος, θυμωμένος, μπερδεμένος — are lexicalised participles you will use long before you analyse them. παντρεμένος takes με.
- Keep it apart from the invariable -εί form used with έχω, and from the -τος adjective that names a kind rather than a result.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Passive Participles as AdjectivesB1 — The passive perfect participle in -μένος / -μένη / -μένο used as an everyday adjective for resultant states — κουρασμένος (tired), χαλασμένος (broken), κλεισμένος (shut), αγαπημένος (beloved) — how it's built from verbs, how it declines and agrees, why the accent is glued to the -μέ-, and how it differs from the -τος verbal adjective (κλειστός) and the eventive passive.
- 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.
- Participle vs Perfect ConfusionB2 — Why είμαι κουρασμένος and έχω κουραστεί are not two ways of saying the same thing: one describes a state and agrees like an adjective, the other reports an event and never changes — set against the two shapes that complete the picture, the mediopassive present for a repeated event (καθαρίζεται κάθε μέρα) and the active perfect for a named agent (κάποιος έχει κλείσει την πόρτα).
- Predicative AdjectivesA2 — The adjective after a linking verb — Ο καφές είναι κρύος, Η σούπα είναι κρύα, Τα παιδιά είναι κουρασμένα — where it drops the article, takes the nominative and agrees in gender and number with the subject, plus the object-predicate twist (Τη βρήκα αλλαγμένη) that agrees with an accusative instead.
- Participle Agreement RulesB1 — Greek has four participle-shaped forms and only two of them agree — the -μένος participle and the learned -ων / -όμενος decline for gender, number AND case, while the gerund in -οντας and the -ει / -εί form after έχω never change at all. One inventory table, one two-second test for telling them apart, what the agreeing ones agree with (including the polite plural Είστε κουρασμένος; and mixed-gender subjects), and two look-alikes that are not agreement at all.