ανήκω expresses ownership, membership, classification, and figurative association. Its complement changes shape according to expression type: a full noun phrase follows σε + accusative, while a weak personal pronoun is genitive. The thing or person that belongs is the grammatical subject.
Αυτό το παλιό ρολόι ανήκει στη γιαγιά μου.
aftó to palió rolói aníki sti yayá mu
This old watch belongs to my grandmother.
Τα κλειδιά αυτά μου ανήκουν, όχι στον θυρωρό.
ta klidhiá aftá mu aníkun, óchi ston thiroró
These keys belong to me, not to the doorman.
Principal parts—and an empty half
| Slot | Form | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Present | ανήκω, ανήκεις, ανήκει, ανήκουμε, ανήκετε, ανήκουν | ordinary |
| Imperfect | ανήκα | the only neutral past stem |
| Continuous future | θα ανήκω | present stem |
| Imperative | — | no established neutral everyday form |
| Gerund | ανήκοντας | ordinary written prose |
| Perfective stem | Does not exist: no aorist, perfective dependent, simple perfective future, or perfect | |
| Mediopassive / -μένος form | Does not exist: no ×ανήκομαι and no verbal result participle | |
| Learned active participle | ανήκων, ανήκουσα, ανήκον | (formal/legal); recognition form |
The missing perfective stem is a genuine lexical defect. ανήκω presents a state of belonging; Standard Greek has not lexicalized a second stem that packages its onset or boundary. Do not fill the gap with ×ανήκησα or ×ανήξω. This does not mean “states never take perfective”—other stative verbs have lexicalized perfective meanings.
Το αρχείο ανήκε κάποτε στον δήμο, αλλά τώρα είναι ιδιωτικό.
to archío aníke kápote ston dhímo, alá tóra íne idhiotikó
The archive once belonged to the municipality, but it is now private.
Ανήκουμε στην ίδια ερευνητική ομάδα από πέρσι.
aníkume stin ídhia erevnitikí omádha apó pérsi
We've been in the same research group since last year.
The principal-parts index marks such gaps explicitly. An imperfective imperative is not an established neutral everyday command; Greek normally asserts or invites membership with another construction rather than ordering a state.
Government
Use ανήκω σε + accusative with nouns: στη Μαρία, στον σύλλογο, σε μια κατηγορία. Use genitive μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους when the complement is a weak pronoun. Agreement follows the subject, not the owner.
Σε ποιον ανήκει αυτό το ξεχασμένο σακίδιο;
se pion aníki aftó to ksechasméno sakídhio;
Who does this forgotten backpack belong to?
Αυτή η ευθύνη δεν σου ανήκει αποκλειστικά.
aftí i efthíni dhen su aníki apoklistiká
This responsibility is not exclusively yours.
The full alternation is mapped under genitive versus σε.
The two participles
ανήκοντας is the productive gerund. Learned ανήκων / ανήκουσα / ανήκον agrees in gender, number, and case and survives in legal or administrative prose; do not use it as the default conversational equivalent of “belonging.”
Ανήκοντας σε διαφορετικές γενιές, βλέπουμε το θέμα αλλιώς.
aníkondas se dhiaforetikés yeniés, vlépume to théma aliós
Belonging to different generations, we see the issue differently.
Ο ανήκων στην πρώτη κατηγορία αιτών οφείλει να προσκομίσει βεβαίωση.
o aníkon stin próti katighoría etón ofíli na proskomísi vevéosi
An applicant belonging to the first category must submit a certificate. (formal/legal)
Set phrases
- Σε ποιον ανήκει; — Who does it belong to?
- δεν σου ανήκει — it is not yours
- ανήκω σε μια ομάδα — belong to a group
- ανήκει στο παρελθόν — belongs in the past
- ανήκουμε στην ίδια γενιά — belong to the same generation
Three possession choices
Το μικρό διαμέρισμα ανήκει στη Μαρία.
to mikró dhiamérisma aníki sti María
The small flat belongs to Maria.
Στα χαρτιά, το διαμέρισμα είναι της Μαρίας.
sta chartiá, to dhiamérisma íne tis Marías
On paper, the flat is Maria's.
Το διαμέρισμα το έχει τώρα η Μαρία.
to dhiamérisma to échi tóra i María
Maria has the flat now.
ανήκει σε highlights ownership or affiliation; είναι της Μαρίας is a direct possessive classification; το έχει η Μαρία foregrounds current possession or control. See genitive possession.
Common Mistakes
Use ανήκει στη Μαρία, not ×ανήκει της Μαρίας. The genitive is correct in είναι της Μαρίας, a different construction. Do not manufacture a perfective stem or mediopassive.
Key Takeaways
- ανήκω · ανήκα · θα ανήκω · ανήκοντας; the perfective half is empty.
- Full nouns take σε + accusative; weak personal pronouns are genitive.
- Learned ανήκων, -ουσα, -ον exists in formal prose and is not a neutral spoken default.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- έχω (to have)A1 — The complete inventory of έχω on one card — present, the ει- past είχα, future, imperative and gerund — the slots it leaves empty (no aorist, no perfective stem, no perfect of itself, no passive), and the genuinely ambiguous έχω να construction.
- υπάρχω (to exist/there is)A2 — The full personal paradigm behind υπάρχει, with the perfective existential and copular senses of υπήρξα, its formal active participle, and its genuinely empty voice slots.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.