ακούω (to hear/listen)

Two things about ακούω trip up learners of a very common verb, and neither is the aorist. One is how γ distinguishes the active present ακούω from imperfect άκουγα while also appearing inside present mediopassive ακούγομαι. The other is what that mediopassive does for a living.

Principal parts

The stem split is regular once you see its limits: the active present uses ακου-; the imperfect, gerund and mediopassive imperfective family use ακουγ-; active perfective forms use ακουσ-. Compare ακούω with άκουγα, ακούγομαι, ακούγοντας and then άκουσα, ακούσω, έχω ακούσει. ακούω shares this alternation with the other vowel-final stems, and its aorist is the model case on aorists of vowel-stem verbs — nothing merges.

ακούγομαι: audible, and sounding

The mediopassive does three jobs, and only the first is the one you would predict. With a thing as subject it is the plain passive, be heard, be audible. With a person or a plan as subject, and an adjective after it, it means sound — this is how Greek says "that sounds good". And with no subject at all, ακούγεται ότι is how Greek says word has it, the story going round is.

Government

Row one is the important one for an English speaker. Where English needs listen to and hear with nothing, Greek uses one verb and a bare accusative for both — ακούω τη μουσική covers passive hearing and deliberate listening alike. The σε of row four is not a contradiction: it marks the device or broadcast, not the sound.

Row three is worth its own line. Put a person in the accusative and ακούω slides from perceiving to obeying: Δεν με ακούει καθόλου is not about deafness, it is a complaint. Greek also has υπακούω, a more explicit and often more formal choice common with rules and authority; in personal correction, plain ακούω is everyday.

The two imperatives preserve an aspect contrast, though frequency and convention matter as much as event count. Imperfective Άκου is the everyday attention-getter and often opens a sentence; perfective Άκουσε presents a bounded act of listening and is especially common with a pronoun attached (Άκουσέ με).

Set phrases

Key Takeaways

• ακούω · άκουγα · άκουσα · ακούσω · Άκου · έχω ακούσει, mediopassive ακούγομαι / ακούστηκα.
• The 2sg is ακούς, with no ending vowel; the plural takes the short -με / -τε / -ν(ε).
• The active present uses ακου-; the imperfect, gerund and mediopassive imperfective family use ακουγ-; active perfective forms use ακουσ-.
• One verb covers hear and listen to, both with a bare accusative and no preposition.
• ακούγομαι does three jobs: be audible of a thing, sound of a person or a plan, and word has it in the impersonal ακούγεται ότι.
• ακουσμένος exists but is rare; ordinary Greek usually uses ακουστός or έχω ακουστά instead.