When the mediopassive moves into the past, it splits — exactly as the active does — into imperfective and perfective viewpoints. This page is about the imperfective side, whose trademark ending is -όμουν: it presents a situation from inside as it unfolds, as a background, or as an open habit. English often uses was ‑ing / used to: the house was being heated, I was getting dressed, we used to sit here. You have already seen where it fits in the voice overview — this page gives you the recognition view and the everyday uses, then routes you to the Imperfect Mediopassive page for the complete paradigm and accent drill.
Where -όμουν sits in the system
The single most important thing is the position of -όμουν relative to the tenses around it. Take ντύνομαι (get dressed) and watch the past split in two:
| Present | Imperfective past (internal view) | Aorist (bounded view) |
|---|---|---|
| ντύνομαι I get dressed | ντυνόμουν I was getting dressed | ντύθηκα I got dressed |
The present -ομαι becomes the imperfect -όμουν for an internally viewed process, background, or open habit; the aorist -θηκα presents an occurrence or finite series as a bounded whole. English was getting dressed against got dressed illustrates the contrast, but does not mechanically determine it: one real-world event can be viewed internally, and a delimited repeated series can be viewed perfectively. The aorist page owns the -θηκα side; here we stay with -όμουν.
The endings, at a glance
The imperfect mediopassive runs on -όμουν, -όσουν, -όταν, -όμασταν, -όσασταν, -ονταν — a set with no overlap at all with the active -α endings. Two features are worth pinning down for recognition, both explained in full on the Imperfect Mediopassive page:
- Every ending except the 3rd plural carries its own stress: ερχόμουν, ντυνόσουν, γινόταν, καθόμασταν, καθόσασταν — the accent sits on the -ό- of the ending however long the verb is.
- The 3rd plural -ονταν has no accent of its own, so the stress retreats to the stem: έρχονταν, γίνονταν. The accent visibly jumps between ερχόμουν and έρχονταν.
Ντυνόμουν ακόμα όταν χτύπησε το κουδούνι της πόρτας.
dinómun akóma ótan chtípise to kudhúni tis pórtas
I was still getting dressed when the doorbell rang.
Job 1: "was being X'd" — the ongoing passive
The imperfect passive describes something that was in the process of being done to the subject over a stretch of past time. English uses was/were being ‑ed.
Το φαγητό μαγειρευόταν σιγά σιγά όλο το πρωί.
to fayitó mayirevótan sighá sighá ólo to proí
The food was cooking slowly all morning.
Εκείνα τα χρόνια το σπίτι φωτιζόταν ακόμα με λάμπες πετρελαίου.
ekína ta chrónia to spíti fotizótan akóma me lámbes petreléu
In those years the house was still lit with oil lamps.
Job 2: "was X-ing oneself / used to" — reflexive, middle and deponent
The very same -όμουν form does the ongoing past of the reflexive/middle readings and — crucially — of the deponents, the verbs that have no active form at all. This is where -όμουν earns its keep in everyday storytelling, because the commonest deponents (καθόμουν, ερχόμουν, γινόταν, φαινόταν, σκεφτόμουν) live here.
Παλιά ονειρευόμουν να γίνω ναυτικός σαν τον παππού μου.
paliá onirevómun na yíno naftikós san ton papú mu
I used to dream of becoming a sailor like my grandfather.
Μικροί, καθόμασταν στην αυλή και ακούγαμε ιστορίες από τη γιαγιά.
mikrí, kathómastan stin avlí ke akúghame istoríes apó ti yayá
As children, we used to sit in the yard and listen to stories from grandma.
Ο καιρός χειροτέρευε και το ταξίδι γινόταν όλο και πιο επικίνδυνο.
o kerós chirotéreve ke to taksídhi yinótan ólo ke pio epikíndhino
The weather was getting worse and the trip was becoming more and more dangerous.
The Β-class contract verbs slot straight in: the -ιέμαι group gives -ιόμουν (αγαπιόμουν, στεναχωριόμουν) and the -άμαι deponents give -όμουν (θυμόμουν, κοιμόμουν, φοβόμουν).
Μικρός φοβόμουν το σκοτάδι και κοιμόμουν με το φως αναμμένο.
mikrós fovómun to skotádhi ke kimómun me to fos anaméno
As a child I was afraid of the dark and slept with the light on.
Παλιά στεναχωριόμουν με το παραμικρό, τώρα όμως το προσπερνάω.
paliá stenachoryómun me to paramikró, tóra ómos to prospernáo
I used to get upset over the tiniest thing, but now I let it go.
The pair to hold apart: -όμουν vs -θηκα
Because English does not force the choice as sharply, this is the pair to internalise. -όμουν places the listener inside a state, process, or open habit; -θηκα packages a situation as a bounded whole. They very often sit in the same sentence — one setting the scene, the other presented as an interruption:
Καθόμουν στο μπαλκόνι όταν ξαφνικά ακούστηκε ένας δυνατός κρότος.
kathómun sto balkóni ótan ksafniká akústike énas dhinatós krótos
I was sitting on the balcony when suddenly a loud bang was heard.
Here καθόμουν (imperfect) is the internally viewed backdrop and ακούστηκε (aorist) packages the bang as a bounded interruption. English was sitting versus was heard happens to match this example; the Greek choice itself is one of viewpoint, not objective event count or guaranteed completion.
A note on register
Everyday speech has looser variants of these endings, and none of them is an error — just a notch more colloquial: the singular -όμουνα / -όσουνα (ερχόμουνα) and the 3rd-plural -όντουσαν (ερχόντουσαν) alongside the plain forms (informal). In careful or written Greek, stay with -όμουν … -ονταν; recognise the longer ones when you hear them.
Common Mistakes
1. Do not mistake the historic present for a past ending. Neutral retrospective narration uses καθόμασταν. Conversational Greek can deliberately switch to present καθόμαστε to make a story vivid, but the surrounding narration switches with it.
✅ Χθες το απόγευμα καθόμαστε στην παραλία και ξαφνικά αρχίζει να βρέχει.
chthes to apóyevma kathómaste stin paralía ke ksafniká archízi na vréchi
Yesterday afternoon we're sitting on the beach and suddenly it starts raining. (vivid conversational historic present)
✅ Χθες το απόγευμα καθόμασταν στην παραλία μέχρι το ηλιοβασίλεμα.
chthes to apóyevma kathómastan stin paralía méchri to iliovasílema
Yesterday afternoon we sat on the beach until sunset.
2. Check who the unspoken subject is. With an explicit εγώ, ετοιμαζόμουν correctly means “I was getting ready”; if the father remains the subject, use 3rd-singular ετοιμαζόταν.
✅ Ο πατέρας μου ξυπνούσε νωρίς κι εγώ ετοιμαζόμουν για τη δουλειά.
o patéras mu ksipnúse norís ki eghó etimazómun ya ti dhuliá
My father would wake up early, and I would get ready for work.
✅ Ο πατέρας μου ξυπνούσε νωρίς και ετοιμαζόταν για τη δουλειά.
o patéras mu ksipnúse norís ke etimazótan ya ti dhuliá
My father would wake up early and get ready for work.
3. Let viewpoint, not the number of triggers, choose the aspect. One news event can lead into an internally viewed state; the aorist instead packages the immediate reaction as a bounded whole.
✅ Αφού έμαθα τα νέα, στεναχωριόμουν για μέρες.
afú ématha ta néa, stenachoryómun ya méres
After I heard the news, I was upset for days. (resulting state viewed internally)
✅ Μόλις άκουσα τα νέα, στεναχωρήθηκα πάρα πολύ.
mólis ákusa ta néa, stenachoríthika pára polí
The moment I heard the news, I got really upset.
4. Borrowing an active -α ending for a deponent. εργάζομαι is mediopassive-only; its imperfect is εργαζόμουν, never an active form.
❌ Τα καλοκαίρια εργάζα σε ένα εστιατόριο στο νησί.
Incorrect — εργάζομαι is deponent; its imperfect is εργαζόμουν, not an active -α form.
✅ Τα καλοκαίρια εργαζόμουν σε ένα εστιατόριο στο νησί.
ta kalokéria erghazómun se éna estiatório sto nisí
In the summers I worked at a restaurant on the island.
Key Takeaways
- The imperfect mediopassive presents a past situation from inside or as an open habit, ending in -όμουν, -όσουν, -όταν, -όμασταν, -όσασταν, -ονταν — a set separate from the active -α endings.
- It carries two everyday jobs: "was being X'd" (passive: μαγειρευόταν) and "was X-ing oneself / used to" (reflexive, middle, and deponent: καθόμουν, γινόταν).
- Every ending but one carries its own stress (ερχόμουν, ερχόμασταν); only the 3rd plural -ονταν lets it fall back to the stem (έρχονταν).
- Hold it apart from the aorist -θηκα: -όμουν gives an internal process or open-habit view, while -θηκα presents an occurrence or finite series as a bounded whole — see Mediopassive Aorist.
Related Topics
- Imperfect MediopassiveB1 — The past-continuous of the -ομαι voice — ερχόμουν, γινόταν, σκεφτόμουν — built with the mediopassive past endings -όμουν, -όσουν, -όταν, -όμασταν, -όσασταν, -ονταν, a set you learn separately from the active -α endings, plus the deponent verbs (καθόμουν, θυμόμουν) that live only here.
- Mediopassive Aorist (-θηκα)B1 — The bounded perfective past of the whole -ομαι voice — where -θηκα sits in the cross-tense system, its everyday passive, reflexive and deponent uses, the stem-driven -φτηκα/-χτηκα/-στηκα faces, and the suppletive aorists ήρθα, έγινα, κάθισα.
- Mediopassive Personal EndingsA2 — The mediopassive (passive/middle) voice has its own set of personal endings that look nothing like the active — present -ομαι, -εσαι, -εται, -όμαστε, -εστε, -ονται and past -όμουν, -όσουν, -όταν, -όμασταν, -όσασταν, -ονταν. They carry a fixed αι spelling, and a whole class of everyday verbs (έρχομαι, κάθομαι, θυμάμαι) lives only in this form.