Present Tense: Class Β1 (αγαπάω/-ώ) | Greek Grammar

Class Β verbs stress the ending, not the stem — αγαπώ, μιλάς — and they come in two flavours. This page covers Β1, the larger and more everyday of the two: the αγαπάω type, full of the plain physical verbs you use from your first week (love, speak, ask, walk, look, forget, pass). Its defining feature is a set of -άω/-ώ doublets: for several persons you may say the form two ways, and both are fully standard. Learn the paradigm, learn where the doublets sit, and keep one ending — the "you" form -άς — nailed down, because that is the single form Β1 never varies and the one learners most often get wrong.

The full present of αγαπάω/αγαπώ

Person	Form(s)	Reading
εγώ	αγαπάω / αγαπώ	aghapáo / aghapó
εσύ	αγαπάς	aghapás
αυτός/-ή/-ό	αγαπάει / αγαπά	aghapái / aghapá
εμείς	αγαπάμε / αγαπούμε	aghapáme / aghapúme
εσείς	αγαπάτε	aghapáte
αυτοί/-ές/-ά	αγαπάνε / αγαπούν(ε)	aghapáne / aghapún(e)

Three persons offer a choice — εγώ (αγαπάω/αγαπώ), αυτός (αγαπάει/αγαπά) and αυτοί (αγαπάνε/αγαπούν) — while εσύ (αγαπάς) and εσείς (αγαπάτε) are single-form. The "we" form has its own pair, the everyday αγαπάμε beside the slightly more formal αγαπούμε. None of these are mistakes and neither member is "more correct": the -άω / -άει / -άνε / -άμε forms are more colloquial and dominate speech, while the shorter -ώ / -ά / -ούν / -ούμε forms lean formal and appear more in writing. Pick whichever suits your register — but keep -άς fixed.

Αγαπάω τη θάλασσα πιο πολύ κι απ' το βουνό.

aghapáo ti thálasa pio polí ki ap' to vunó

I love the sea even more than the mountains.

Οι γονείς μου αγαπάνε τα εγγόνια τους παράφορα.

i ghonís mu aghapáne ta engónia tus paráfora

My parents love their grandchildren to bits.

The same endings across the everyday Β1 verbs

Every Β1 verb runs on the same set. Here are six of the most common — μιλάω (speak), ρωτάω (ask), περπατάω (walk), κοιτάω (look), ξεχνάω (forget), περνάω (pass) — in the forms you use daily:

Person	μιλάω	ρωτάω	κοιτάω	ξεχνάω	περνάω
εγώ	μιλάω/-ώ	ρωτάω/-ώ	κοιτάω/-ώ	ξεχνάω/-ώ	περνάω/-ώ
εσύ	μιλάς	ρωτάς	κοιτάς	ξεχνάς	περνάς
αυτός/-ή/-ό	μιλάει/-ά	ρωτάει/-ά	κοιτάει/-ά	ξεχνάει/-ά	περνάει/-ά
εμείς	μιλάμε	ρωτάμε	κοιτάμε	ξεχνάμε	περνάμε
εσείς	μιλάτε	ρωτάτε	κοιτάτε	ξεχνάτε	περνάτε
αυτοί/-ές/-ά	μιλάνε/-ούν	ρωτάνε/-ούν	κοιτάνε/-ούν	ξεχνάνε/-ούν	περνάνε/-ούν

Μη μιλάς τόσο δυνατά, θα μας ακούσουν οι διπλανοί.

mi milás tóso dhinatá, tha mas akúsun i dhiplaní

Don't talk so loud, the people next to us will hear.

Το παιδί ρωτάει συνέχεια «γιατί;» για το κάθε τι.

to pedhí rotái sinéchia «yatí;» ya to káthe ti

The child keeps asking 'why?' about everything.

Περπατάμε στην παραλία κάθε απόγευμα πριν το δείπνο.

perpatáme stin paralía káthe apóyevma prin to dhípno

We walk on the beach every afternoon before dinner.

Γιατί με κοιτάς έτσι; Έχω κάτι στο πρόσωπό μου;

yatí me kitás étsi; écho káti sto prósopó mu;

Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?

Πάντα ξεχνάω πού αφήνω τα γυαλιά μου.

pánda ksechnáo pu afíno ta yaliá mu

I always forget where I leave my glasses.

Ο χρόνος περνάει πιο γρήγορα το καλοκαίρι.

o chrónos pernái pio ghríghora to kalokéri

Time passes faster in the summer.

Why the doublets exist — and which one to say

The two forms are a live piece of Greek history. Β1 verbs descend from the ancient α-contract verbs (αγαπάω once contracted to αγαπῶ), and modern speech kept both the older uncontracted -άω and the contracted -ώ side by side. In practice the -άω set is what you hear in the street, on the bus, at the dinner table; the -ώ set sounds a touch more careful and shows up in formal writing and public speech. You will be understood perfectly whichever you choose, and native speakers mix them freely, even in the same conversation. The full phonological story — and why Β2 verbs like μπορώ never offer the -άω option — is on Contract verb details.

Άλλοτε λέω «σε αγαπάω» κι άλλοτε «σε αγαπώ» — το ίδιο πράγμα.

álote léo «se aghapáo» ki álote «se aghapó» — to ídhio prághma

Sometimes I say 'se aghapáo' and sometimes 'se aghapó' — the same thing.

💡

The one form to guard is the "you" -άς. It has no variant, and it is exactly where Class Α's regular -εις tries to sneak in. If you ever catch yourself writing ×αγαπείς, ×μιλείς or ×ρωτείς, you have accidentally treated a Β1 verb as if it were γράφω. Say it out loud: a Β1 "you" is always -άς (aghapás, milás, rotás), never -ís.

Don't confuse Β1 with Β2

Both subtypes stress the ending, so the danger is blending their middle persons. Β1 has -άς / -άει; the μπορώ type (Β2) has -είς / -εί. Keep them apart — the two split neatly in one sentence:

Ρωτάς εμένα, αλλά εγώ δεν μπορώ να ξέρω τα πάντα.

rotás eména, alá eghó dhen boró na kséro ta pánda

You're asking me, but I can't know everything.

Here ρωτάς is Β1 (-άς) and μπορώ is Β2 — neither could borrow the other's ending. The whole Β1-vs-Β2 fork, with a rule of thumb for which verbs go where, is on Class Β subtypes and the μπορώ paradigm itself on Present tense: Class Β2.

Common Mistakes

1. Giving a Β1 verb the -είς ending. The "you" form is -άς with an α, never the Class Α / Β2 -είς. This is the number-one Β1 error.

❌ Αγαπείς τα ζώα, το βλέπω από μακριά.

Incorrect — Β1 'you' is αγαπάς, not αγαπείς.

✅ Αγαπάς τα ζώα, το βλέπω από μακριά.

aghapás ta zóa, to vlépo apó makriá

You love animals, I can tell from a mile off.

2. Using -εί for the 3rd person singular. "He/she asks" is ρωτάει or ρωτά — never ×ρωτεί.

❌ Ο πελάτης ρωτεί πόσο κοστίζει το δωμάτιο.

Incorrect — the 3sg of ρωτάω is ρωτάει / ρωτά.

✅ Ο πελάτης ρωτάει πόσο κοστίζει το δωμάτιο.

o pelátis rotái póso kostízi to dhomátio

The customer is asking how much the room costs.

3. Putting -είτε on the plural "you". The 2pl is -άτε (μιλάτε), matching the -άς / -άει family, not the Β2 -είτε.

❌ Μιλείτε πολύ γρήγορα, δεν σας καταλαβαίνω.

Incorrect — the 2pl of μιλάω is μιλάτε.

✅ Μιλάτε πολύ γρήγορα, δεν σας καταλαβαίνω.

miláte polí ghríghora, dhen sas katalavéno

You (all) speak too fast, I can't understand you.

4. "Correcting" a valid doublet. αγαπάω and αγαπώ, κοιτάει and κοιτά are all standard — don't treat one as a mistake.

✅ Ο μικρός κοιτάει / κοιτά έξω απ' το παράθυρο συνέχεια.

o mikrós kitái / kitá ékso ap' to paráthiro sinéchia

The little one keeps looking out of the window. (both forms standard)

Key Takeaways

Β1 is the everyday contract class (αγαπάω, μιλάω, ρωτάω, κοιτάω, ξεχνάω, περνάω), with the stress on the ending throughout.
Its present carries -άω/-ώ doublets in the "I", "he/she/it" and "they" forms (and -άμε/-ούμε for "we"); the two members differ by register, not correctness.
The "you" form is always -άς — the one ending with no variant, and the one learners wrongly swap for -είς.
Keep Β1 (-άς / -άει) apart from Β2 (-είς / -εί): confusing them produces ×αγαπείς and ×μιλείς.
The -άω/-ώ split is inherited from the ancient α-contract verbs; both survived into modern speech.

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