The Present of είμαι (to be) | Greek Grammar

είμαι is the first verb you learn and the one you will say more than any other. It is the Greek "to be," and like be in English it is thoroughly irregular — you cannot derive it from any rule, so you simply learn it whole. The good news is that it is short, and its six present forms carry an enormous amount of everyday speech: who you are, how you feel, where you are, whether something exists.

The paradigm

Person	Form	Reading	Meaning
εγώ	είμαι	íme	I am
εσύ	είσαι	íse	you are (sg)
αυτός/-ή/-ό	είναι	íne	he / she / it is
εμείς	είμαστε	ímaste	we are
εσείς	είστε / είσαστε	íste / ísaste	you are (pl/formal)
αυτοί/-ές/-ά	είναι	íne	they are

Two things to lock in immediately. First, είναι does double duty: the exact same word means both "he/she/it is" and "they are." Greek does not distinguish the third singular from the third plural of this verb, so the subject (or context) tells you which:

Το παιδί είναι στο σχολείο μέχρι τις δύο.

to pedhí íne sto scholío méchri tis dhío

The child is at school until two.

Τα παιδιά είναι στο σχολείο μέχρι τις δύο.

ta pedhyá íne sto scholío méchri tis dhío

The children are at school until two.

Second, notice the -μαι / -σαι / -ται shape. These are the mediopassive endings, the same ones you meet on έρχομαι and θυμάμαι — and indeed είμαι has no active -ω form at all. Historically it settled into the mediopassive pattern, so it behaves like a deponent: mediopassive in shape, but simply meaning "to be." You never need an ×είω.

What είμαι is for

Identity — saying what or who someone is. The word after είμαι stays in the nominative (more on this below):

Είμαι δασκάλα σε ένα δημοτικό σχολείο.

íme dhaskála se éna dhimotikó scholío

I'm a teacher at a primary school.

Ο Γιώργος είναι ο καλύτερός μου φίλος από το σχολείο.

o Yórghos íne o kalíterós mu fílos apó to scholío

Giorgos is my best friend from school.

State or condition — how someone is or feels. Here the complement is usually an adjective, and it agrees with the subject in gender and number:

Είμαι πολύ κουρασμένος σήμερα, θέλω να κοιμηθώ νωρίς.

íme polí kurazménos símera, thélo na kimithó norís

I'm very tired today; I want to sleep early.

Πώς είσαι; Είσαι καλά μετά από χθες;

pos íse; íse kalá metá apó chthes;

How are you? Are you okay after yesterday?

Location — where someone or something is:

Είμαι στο σπίτι όλο το απόγευμα, έλα όποτε θέλεις.

íme sto spíti ólo to apóyevma, éla ópote thélis

I'm home all afternoon — come whenever you like.

Πού είσαι; Σε περιμένω κάτω εδώ και δέκα λεπτά.

pu íse; se periméno káto edhó ke dhéka leptá

Where are you? I've been waiting downstairs for ten minutes.

Age — Greek expresses age with είμαι plus χρονών ("of years"), where English uses a bare number:

Είμαι τριάντα χρονών και δουλεύω ως μηχανικός.

íme tryánda chronón ke dhulévo os michanikós

I'm thirty years old and I work as an engineer.

Existence — είμαι can mean "there is/are," though for a plain "there is" Greek more often uses the dedicated verb υπάρχει:

Είναι κανείς εδώ ή έφυγαν όλοι;

íne kanís edhó i éfighan óli;

Is anyone here, or has everyone left?

Δεν υπάρχει κανένα πρόβλημα, μη σε νοιάζει.

dhen ipárchi kanéna próvlima, mi se niázi

There's no problem at all — don't worry about it.

Είμαστε έτοιμοι, μπορούμε να φύγουμε όποτε πεις.

ímaste étimi, borúme na fíghume ópote pis

We're ready — we can leave whenever you say.

The word after είμαι stays nominative

This is the one grammar point that trips beginners. In English "I am him" uses an object pronoun, and speakers of many languages expect the noun after "to be" to look like an object. In Greek it does not: είμαι links two things that are the same, so the complement stays in the nominative, exactly like the subject. You say Είμαι δάσκαλος (nominative δάσκαλος), never ×Είμαι δάσκαλο. The full rule, including adjectives and pronouns, is on the predicate nominative.

Negation and the past

To make είμαι negative, put δεν directly in front — not όχι, which is the standalone "no":

Δεν είμαι σίγουρος γι' αυτό, άσε με να το σκεφτώ.

dhen íme síghuros yaftó, áse me na to skeftó

I'm not sure about that — let me think it over.

είμαι is unusual in another way: it has no perfective form. Ordinary Greek verbs split their past into an imperfect and an aorist, but "to be" has only one past, the imperfect ήμουν, ήσουν, ήταν, ήμασταν, ήσασταν, ήταν ("I was, you were…"). Note that ήταν, like είναι, serves both third singular and third plural. That past tense has its own page: the imperfect of είμαι. For the future you simply prefix θα: θα είμαι "I will be."

Common Mistakes

1. Putting the complement in the accusative. After είμαι, a predicate noun stays nominative.

❌ Ο Νίκος είναι έναν πολύ καλό γιατρό.

Incorrect — after είναι the noun is nominative: ένας πολύ καλός γιατρός.

✅ Ο Νίκος είναι ένας πολύ καλός γιατρός.

o Níkos íne énas polí kalós yatrós

Nikos is a very good doctor.

2. Spelling είναι as ×είνε. It ends in the /e/ sound but is written with αι, like the other -μαι/-σαι/-ται verbs.

❌ Ο καφές είνε κρύος, θέλεις να φτιάξω άλλον;

Incorrect — the form is είναι, spelled with αι.

✅ Ο καφές είναι κρύος, θέλεις να φτιάξω άλλον;

o kafés íne kríos, thélis na ftyákso álon;

The coffee is cold — want me to make another?

3. Inventing a separate 3rd-plural form. Greek uses the very same είναι for "they are"; there is no ×είνουν by analogy with έχουν.

❌ Τα κλειδιά είνουν πάνω στο τραπέζι της κουζίνας.

Incorrect — the 3rd plural of είμαι is είναι, not ×είνουν.

✅ Τα κλειδιά είναι πάνω στο τραπέζι της κουζίνας.

ta klidhyá íne páno sto trapézi tis kuzínas

The keys are on the kitchen table.

4. Negating with όχι instead of δεν. A verb is negated with δεν; όχι stands alone as the answer "no."

❌ Όχι είμαι κουρασμένος, απλώς έχω λίγη δουλειά.

Incorrect — negate the verb with δεν: δεν είμαι κουρασμένος.

✅ Δεν είμαι κουρασμένος, απλώς έχω λίγη δουλειά.

dhen íme kurazménos, aplós écho líyi dhulyá

I'm not tired, I just have a bit of work.

Key Takeaways

είμαι is irregular and must be learned whole: είμαι, είσαι, είναι, είμαστε, είστε, είναι.
The single form είναι covers both "he/she/it is" and "they are" — and, in the past, ήταν covers both too.
It has mediopassive endings and no active -ω form; it patterns like a deponent but simply means "to be."
The complement after είμαι stays in the nominative (Είμαι δάσκαλος), and the verb is negated with δεν (Δεν είμαι).
There is no perfective; the only past is the imperfect ήμουν, and the future is θα είμαι.

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