Two Greek tenses translate the English past, and choosing between them is one of the defining B1 skills. The aorist — έγραψα, "I wrote" — simply says it happened, and it's over. The present perfect — έχω γράψει, "I have written" — says it's done, and that fact counts right now (as your experience, or as a result you can still see). The trap for an English speaker is not the definitions; it is the balance. English hands a huge amount of work to the perfect; Greek keeps most of it for the aorist. Get that one adjustment right and your Greek past tense will sound native overnight.
The core idea: what is the sentence really about?
Ask yourself: is the sentence about the past moment itself, or about the present situation that the past left behind?
- About the past event (when it happened, in what order, as a story) → aorist.
- About the present — your life-experience so far, or a result that still holds — → perfect.
The perfect is really a present tense in disguise: it comments on now by pointing at something finished. So the moment you anchor the sentence to a specific past time, you have declared it to be about the past — and Greek switches to the aorist, with no exceptions.
Rule 1 — a stated past time forces the aorist
This is the hardest rule to bend and the easiest to apply: if the sentence names when — χθες, την Τρίτη, πέρσι, πριν μία ώρα, το 2010 — it takes the aorist. The perfect cannot host a past-time expression at all.
Το είδα την Τρίτη στην τηλεόραση, ήταν πολύ καλό ντοκιμαντέρ.
to ídha tin Tríti stin tileórasi, ítan polí kaló dokimandér
I saw it on Tuesday on TV — it was a very good documentary.
Γύρισα σπίτι στις έντεκα χθες το βράδυ και έπεσα αμέσως για ύπνο.
yírisa spíti stis éndeka chthes to vrádhi ke épesa amésos ya ípno
I got home at eleven last night and went straight to bed.
Μετακόμισα εδώ πριν δύο χρόνια και δεν το έχω μετανιώσει.
metakómisa edhó prin dhío chrónia ke dhen to écho metaniósi
I moved here two years ago and I haven't regretted it.
The same logic makes the "when…?" question an aorist: asking when something happened pins it to an occasion.
Πότε τελείωσες το πανεπιστήμιο; Πριν πόσα χρόνια;
póte telíoses to panepistímio; prin pósa chrónia;
When did you finish university? How many years ago?
Rule 2 — experience and "ever / never" take the perfect
When you are totting up what you have done in your life — with no particular occasion in mind — that is the perfect's home turf. It pairs naturally with ποτέ (ever/never), πολλές φορές (many times), and open counts.
Έχω πάει στην Ιταλία, αλλά ποτέ στη Ρώμη.
écho pái stin Italía, alá poté sti Rómi
I've been to Italy, but never to Rome.
Έχεις δουλέψει ποτέ σε εστιατόριο; Είναι πιο κουραστικό απ' ό,τι φαίνεται.
échis dhulépsi poté se estiatório; íne pio kurastikó ap' óti fénete
Have you ever worked in a restaurant? It's more tiring than it looks.
Έχω διαβάσει όλα τα βιβλία αυτού του συγγραφέα, τον λατρεύω.
écho dhiavási óla ta vivlía aftú tu singraféa, ton latrévo
I've read all of this author's books — I adore him.
Rule 3 — a result that still holds takes the perfect
The other perfect use is a past action whose result is still true now. You are not reporting the event for its own sake; you are explaining the present state it created.
Έχω χάσει τα κλειδιά μου, δεν μπορώ να μπω στο σπίτι.
écho chási ta klidhiá mu, dhen boró na bo sto spíti
I've lost my keys — I can't get into the house.
Έχεις τελειώσει; Σε περιμένουν όλοι στο αυτοκίνητο.
échis teliósi; se periménun óli sto aftokínito
Have you finished? Everyone's waiting for you in the car.
Here the point of έχω χάσει is the present lock-out, and the point of έχεις τελειώσει is the present readiness to go. Note, though, that Greek is happy to use the aorist for these too when the "now-relevance" is not being stressed — which brings us to the warning that matters most.
The warning: Greek loves the aorist — stop over-using the perfect
Here is the single most valuable thing on this page. English uses the present perfect far more freely than Greek does. Countless English "have + done" sentences come out as a plain Greek aorist. The classic case is everyday spoken questions and reports:
Έφαγες; Σου κράτησα λίγο φαγητό στο ψυγείο.
éfayes; su krátisa lígho fayitó sto psiyío
Have you eaten? I saved you some food in the fridge.
An English speaker's instinct is "Have you eaten?" → έχεις φάει; — but a Greek almost always says the crisp Έφαγες; The perfect there would sound oddly heavy, as if you were asking about a lifetime of eating. The same goes for "I've already finished" (Τελείωσα ήδη), "she's just left" (Μόλις έφυγε), "have you seen my phone?" (Είδες το κινητό μου;). In relaxed Greek the aorist is the default; the perfect is the marked, special choice you make only when you specifically mean experience or result-now.
The two side by side
Sometimes both tenses are grammatical, and the choice quietly changes the meaning. The perfect asks about your life; the aorist asks about an occasion.
Έχεις πάει ποτέ στην Κρήτη; Πρέπει να τη δεις.
échis pái poté stin Kríti; prépi na ti dhis
Have you ever been to Crete? You have to see it. (experience — any time in your life)
Πήγες στην Κρήτη το καλοκαίρι; Πώς σου φάνηκε;
píyes stin Kríti to kalokéri; pos su fánike;
Did you go to Crete this summer? How did you find it? (a specific occasion)
Both are correct — but they are different questions. The first opens your whole past; the second points at one summer. The same split works for a CV versus a fixed stint:
Έχω δουλέψει σε πολλές χώρες, από την Ισπανία ως την Ιαπωνία.
écho dhulépsi se polés chóres, apó tin Ispanía os tin Iaponía
I've worked in many countries, from Spain to Japan. (life experience)
Δούλεψα τρία χρόνια στη Γερμανία και μετά γύρισα πίσω.
dhúlepsa tría chrónia sti Yermanía ke metá yírisa píso
I worked three years in Germany and then came back. (a bounded, finished span)
Quick reference
| The situation | Tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A stated past time (χθες, πέρσι, πριν μία ώρα) | Aorist | Ήρθε χθες |
| A "when…?" question | Aorist | Πότε γύρισες; |
| A story / chain of events | Aorist | Μπήκε, είδε, έφυγε |
| A plain spoken "did you…? / have you…?" | Aorist | Έφαγες; |
| Life experience ("ever / never / X times") | Perfect | Έχω πάει τρεις φορές |
| A result that still holds now | Perfect | Έχω χάσει το πορτοφόλι μου |
Common Mistakes
1. Using the perfect with a stated past time. A named time (χθες) is the aorist's absolute territory; the perfect cannot take it.
❌ Έχω πάει στο σινεμά χθες με την παρέα μου.
Incorrect — with χθες the tense must be the aorist: Πήγα στο σινεμά χθες.
✅ Πήγα στο σινεμά χθες με την παρέα μου.
pígha sto sinemá chthes me tin paréa mu
I went to the cinema yesterday with my friends.
2. Using the perfect in a "when…?" question. πότε asks about an occasion, so it forces the aorist.
❌ Πότε έχεις μάθει να οδηγείς;
Incorrect — 'when…?' pins an occasion and needs the aorist: Πότε έμαθες;
✅ Πότε έμαθες να οδηγείς;
póte émathes na odhiyís;
When did you learn to drive?
3. Narrating a specific past event with the perfect. Telling what happened on a particular occasion is aorist work.
❌ Χθες έχω γνωρίσει έναν παλιό μου φίλο στο κέντρο.
Incorrect — a specific past occasion takes the aorist: Χθες γνώρισα...
✅ Χθες γνώρισα έναν παλιό μου φίλο στο κέντρο.
chthes ghnórisa énan palió mu fílo sto kéndro
Yesterday I ran into an old friend of mine in the centre.
4. Copying the English perfect with "πριν X ago". πριν δύο χρόνια names a past point, so it, too, is aorist.
❌ Έχω αγοράσει αυτό το σπίτι πριν πέντε χρόνια.
Incorrect — 'X years ago' is a stated past time: Αγόρασα αυτό το σπίτι πριν πέντε χρόνια.
✅ Αγόρασα αυτό το σπίτι πριν πέντε χρόνια.
aghórasa aftó to spíti prin pénde chrónia
I bought this house five years ago.
Key Takeaways
- Aorist = the event itself, especially with a stated past time (Πήγα χθες, Το είδα την Τρίτη) — this is Greek's default past.
- Perfect = the present pay-off of a past action: experience (Έχω πάει στην Ιταλία) or a result that still holds (Έχω χάσει τα κλειδιά).
- A named past time always forces the aorist; the perfect can never carry χθες, πέρσι, or πριν X.
- The big adjustment for English speakers: Greek uses the aorist far more than English uses the simple past. "Have you eaten?" is Έφαγες;, not έχεις φάει.
- When both are possible, the perfect means "…ever, in your life"; the aorist means "…on that occasion" (Έχεις πάει ποτέ; vs Πήγες το καλοκαίρι;).
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- The Present Perfect (έχω γράψει)B1 — έχω plus the invariable -ει form reports a completed action whose result or relevance reaches into the present — Έχω διαβάσει το βιβλίο ('I've read the book'), Δεν έχω πάει ποτέ στην Κρήτη ('I've never been to Crete'). It overlaps with English 'have done', but Greek leans on the plain aorist far more, and a stated time forces the aorist outright.
- Using the AoristA2 — The aorist is Greek's default past tense: single finished actions (πήγα, είδα), events chained in a narrative (μπήκε, κάθισε, παρήγγειλε), actions with a result (έμαθα ελληνικά), and time-bounded stretches (έμεινα δύο χρόνια) — the tense that most often lines up with the English simple past, and how it splits work with the imperfect.
- Choosing the Right AspectB1 — The one page to bookmark: a single decision procedure for picking imperfective vs perfective in any tense or mood. Ask whether the action is one bounded event (→ perfective) or ongoing/repeated/background (→ imperfective), read the signal words, and work through ten real decisions across the past, future, subjunctive and imperative.