A long verb with a short problem. Nothing in αποφασίζω's paradigm is irregular — it is five syllables from the start, so no augment ever appears anywhere — but it throws off two -σ- forms that learners routinely read as the same thing, and they mean opposite things. This card is the inventory plus that one distinction.
Principal parts
| Slot | Form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present | αποφασίζω, -ζεις, -ζει, -ζουμε, -ζετε, -ζουν(ε) | decide, make up one's mind |
| Imperfect | αποφάσιζα | no augment — the word is already long enough, so the accent simply retracts to -φά- |
| Aorist | αποφάσισα | same retraction; the ζ of the present becomes σ |
| After θα / να | αποφασίσω, -σεις, -σει, -σουμε, -σετε, -σουν | the accent comes back forward |
| Command | αποφάσισε / αποφασίστε | decide, make your mind up |
| Perfect / pluperfect | έχω / είχα αποφασίσει | one -ει form for both |
| Gerund | αποφασίζοντας | in deciding, by deciding |
| Participle | αποφασισμένος | determined — see below |
| Mediopassive | αποφασίζεται, αποφασίστηκε, να αποφασιστεί | synthetic forms third person only |
The ζ → σ swap is the majority route for -ίζω verbs (στηρίζω → στήριξα is a common exception) and is worked through on consonant merges in the aorist.
The two forms that face opposite ways
αποφασισμένος describes the subject's state of mind: someone who has made their mind up and will not be talked out of it. It does not describe a settled matter, however much the English "-ed" suggests it should.
Είμαι αποφασισμένη να μιλήσω μαζί του αύριο κιόλας.
íme apofasizméni na milíso mazí tu ávrio kiólas
I've made up my mind to talk to him tomorrow, no later.
Ήρθε αποφασισμένος για όλα και δεν άκουγε κανέναν.
írthe apofasizménos ya óla ke dhen ákuye kanénan
He turned up ready for anything and wasn't listening to anyone.
αποφασίστηκε is the form that means "it was decided". It belongs to the impersonal passive, which Greek uses precisely when the deciders are irrelevant or deliberately unnamed — the register of minutes, announcements and news bulletins. The construction itself is on impersonal passives.
Αποφασίστηκε να αναβληθεί η συνέλευση για την επόμενη Δευτέρα.
apofasístike na anavlithí i sinélefsi ya tin epómeni Dheftéra
It was decided to postpone the meeting until next Monday. (formal)
Two slots this verb leaves genuinely empty:
- A synthetic mediopassive with a person as subject — does not exist. Nobody says αποφασίζομαι or αποφασίζεσαι: a person cannot be decided, so αποφασίζεται, αποφασίστηκε and να αποφασιστεί are all about a matter. A person fills only the periphrastic είμαι αποφασισμένος — and there the meaning is resolved, not decided.
- αποφασισμένος in the sense "decided, settled" — does not exist in ordinary use. For that, Greek uses the passive perfect: έχει αποφασιστεί, or είναι ειλημμένη απόφαση (formal).
Government
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
να
| Αποφάσισα να φύγω. | the decision itself — the default frame |
ότι / πως
| Αποφάσισα ότι δεν αξίζει. | reports a conclusion already reached |
| bare accusative | Αποφασίσαμε την ημερομηνία. | settle a specific point |
για
| Δεν αποφασίζεις εσύ για μένα. | decide about something, or on someone's behalf |
| no complement | Δύσκολα αποφασίζει. | be decisive, or not |
The first two are where English gives no help, because I decided to leave and I decided that I would leave feel interchangeable. In Greek they are not. να is the deciding; ότι merely tells you what the decision was.
Το σκεφτήκαμε πολύ και τελικά αποφασίσαμε να μη μετακομίσουμε.
to skeftíkame polí ke teliká apofasísame na mi metakomísume
We thought about it a lot and in the end decided not to move.
Αποφάσισα ότι δεν αξίζει τον κόπο και το άφησα.
apofásisa óti dhen aksízi ton kópo ke to áfisa
I concluded it wasn't worth the trouble and let it go.
για is the frame that misfires most. It never introduces the thing you are choosing to do — that is always να. It introduces the territory the decision covers, which is why it is the frame of choice for a row about who gets to say.
Δεν αποφασίζεις εσύ για μένα, είμαι μεγάλος άνθρωπος.
dhen apofasízis esí ya ména, íme meghálos ánthropos
You don't get to decide for me, I'm a grown adult.
Αποφασίσαμε την ημερομηνία, μένει να βρούμε αίθουσα.
apofasísame tin imerominía, méni na vrúme éthusa
We've settled the date, now we just need to find a room.
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| παίρνω (μια) απόφαση | make a decision — commoner than the verb itself |
| το πήρα απόφαση (informal) | I've come to terms with it, I've accepted it |
| αποφασίζω μια για πάντα | decide once and for all |
| Αποφάσισε επιτέλους! | Make up your mind, will you! |
| ό,τι αποφασιστεί | whatever gets decided |
| δύσκολα αποφασίζει | he's hopeless at making up his mind |
| αποφασισμένος για όλα | ready for anything, past caring |
The noun collocation deserves the first line for a reason: in speech Greeks reach for παίρνω απόφαση at least as often as for the verb, and the two are not stylistically equal — the verb states, the collocation dramatises. The same verb in its idiom το πήρα απόφαση flips to resignation: not a choice made, but a fact accepted. More of παίρνω's collocations sit on its own card.
Πάρε επιτέλους μια απόφαση, μας έχεις τρελάνει.
páre epitélus mia apófasi, mas échis treláni
Make a decision, for heaven's sake — you're driving us mad.
Το πήρα απόφαση ότι δεν θα γυρίσει.
to píra apófasi óti dhen tha yirísi
I've accepted that he isn't coming back. (informal)
Key Takeaways
- αποφασίζω · αποφάσιζα · αποφάσισα · να αποφασίσω · αποφάσισε / αποφασίστε · έχω αποφασίσει · αποφασίζοντας. No augment anywhere — the verb is long enough without one.
- αποφασισμένος = a resolved person; αποφασίστηκε / έχει αποφασιστεί = a settled matter. Never swap them.
- The synthetic mediopassive is third person only; a person turns up only in είμαι αποφασισμένος, where it means resolved.
- να decides, ότι reports, bare accusative settles a point, για marks whose business it is.
- In speech, παίρνω απόφαση often beats the verb; το πήρα απόφαση means you have made your peace with something.
Related Topics
- παίρνω (to take/get)A2 — The verb Greek reaches for wherever English says take, get, buy, pick up, catch or call — with the aorist πήρα and the dependent πάρω among the verb forms you will hear most often, and one genuinely ambiguous frame worth learning on purpose: Του πήρα ένα δώρο is either 'I bought him a present' or 'I took a present off him'.
- θέλω (to want)A2 — The full inventory of θέλω — present, the ή- imperfect ήθελα, the rare aorist θέλησα that does not normally render plain 'I wanted', the slots this verb leaves empty, its four complement frames, and the politeness ladder θέλω → ήθελα → θα ήθελα.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.
- να After Modal VerbsA2 — The everyday frame [modal + να + verb] — θέλω να, μπορώ να, πρέπει να, ξέρω να, πάω να, αρχίζω να — where the second verb is person-marked and personal main verbs conjugate too.
- Impersonal and Agentless PassivesB2 — The two routes Greek uses to keep the doer out of the sentence: mediopassive forms in signs, notices and reports — including completed agentless events such as Ανακοινώθηκε and Δόθηκε — and the everyday subjectless third-person plural (Μου έκλεψαν το πορτοφόλι, Λένε ότι…).
- Verb + Noun CollocationsB1 — A practical reference to the Greek verbs conventionally used with everyday activities, decisions, exams, promises, calls, and photographs.