αρχίζω is a phase verb — it does not name an event of its own, it names the edge of somebody else's. That is why it earns a reference card: the interesting facts about it are not in its endings but in what it does to the words around it. Its opposite number is τελειώνω.
What follows αρχίζω να
Greek verbs after να come in two aspects, but the phase verb αρχίζω selects the imperfective. Its complement presents the activity from the inside at the point where it begins — rain starting to fall, reading starting to unfold. This is a lexical selection rule of the phase-verb frame, not a general claim that perfective means "completed in reality."
Άρχισε να βρέχει μόλις βγήκαμε από το σπίτι.
árchise na vréchi mólis vyíkame apó to spíti
It started raining just as we left the house.
Άρχισα να καταλαβαίνω τα ελληνικά μόνο όταν σταμάτησα να μεταφράζω.
árchisa na katalavéno ta eliniká móno ótan stamátisa na metafrázo
I only started understanding Greek when I stopped translating.
Government
Five frames, and all five are everyday.
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| accusative object | Αρχίζω τη δουλειά. | begin a thing |
να
| Άρχισε να τραγουδάει. | begin doing |
| no object | Το μάθημα αρχίζει στις εννιά. | the thing itself begins |
με
| Ας αρχίσουμε με ένα παράδειγμα. | begin with — the first item |
από
| Αρχίζω από την αρχή. | begin from — the starting point |
Αρχίζω καινούρια δουλειά τη Δευτέρα και έχω αγχωθεί.
archízo kenúria dhuliá ti Dheftéra ke écho anchothí
I start a new job on Monday and I'm stressed about it.
Το μάθημα αρχίζει στις εννιά, μην αργήσεις πάλι.
to máthima archízi stis eniá, min aryísis páli
The class starts at nine — don't be late again.
Ας αρχίσουμε με ένα παράδειγμα και μετά βλέπουμε.
as archísume me éna parádhighma ke metá vlépume
Let's start with an example and see how it goes.
Principal parts
| Slot | Form |
|---|---|
| Present | αρχίζω, αρχίζεις, αρχίζει, αρχίζουμε, αρχίζετε, αρχίζουν |
| Imperfect | άρχιζα — plural αρχίζαμε, αρχίζατε |
| Aorist | άρχισα, άρχισες, άρχισε, αρχίσαμε, αρχίσατε, άρχισαν |
| After θα / να | αρχίσω, αρχίσεις, αρχίσει, αρχίσουμε, αρχίσετε, αρχίσουν |
| Command | άρχισε / αρχίστε |
| Perfect / pluperfect | έχω / είχα αρχίσει |
| Gerund | αρχίζοντας — αρχίζοντας από… "starting from…" |
| Related noun | η αρχή — beginning; also principle, authority |
The -ζω verbs split two ways in the aorist and give no warning which way a given verb goes. αρχίζω is in the -σα half, alongside διαβάζω → διάβασα and γνωρίζω → γνώρισα; the other half (παίζω → έπαιξα) takes ξ. The split is set out on aorist consonant merges.
What αρχίζω does not have
| ×άρχιξα | does not exist — wrong half of the -ζω class; the aorist is άρχισα |
| a mediopassive αρχίζομαι | does not exist in the standard modern paradigm. The active works both transitively and intransitively: Άρχισαν το μάθημα / Άρχισε το μάθημα |
| the meanings “set off” and “start an engine” | do not belong to αρχίζω — use ξεκινάω for a departure and βάζω μπροστά for an engine. A journey can still be the subject of ordinary “begin”: Το ταξίδι αρχίζει εδώ. See the separate card for ξεκινάω |
άρχισε or άρχιζε
One consonant apart on the page — σ against ζ — and one sound apart in the mouth, [s] against [z]. άρχισε is the aorist: it presents the onset as a bounded whole. άρχιζε is the imperfect: it was starting, or it kept starting, over and over. Neither event count nor whether the time is known defines the contrast. Both forms are common, and mistaking one for the other rewrites the sentence rather than merely spoiling it.
Άρχισε να μιλάει και δεν σταματούσε με τίποτα.
árchise na milái ke dhen stamatúse me típota
He started talking and nothing could stop him.
Κάθε φορά που τον έβλεπε, άρχιζε τα ίδια και τα ίδια.
káthe forá pu ton évlepe, árchize ta ídhia ke ta ídhia
Every time she saw him she'd start on the same old thing.
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| αρχίζω δουλειά | start work; start a job |
| Άρχισε πάλι! (informal) | Here we go again. |
| Άρχισαν τα όργανα! (informal) | Now the trouble starts. |
| Από πού να αρχίσω; | Where do I even begin? |
| αρχίζοντας από… | starting from… |
| αρχίζω να καταλαβαίνω | I'm beginning to see |
Άρχισαν τα όργανα, θα φωνάζουν όλο το βράδυ.
árchisan ta órghana, tha fonázun ólo to vrádhi
Here we go — they'll be shouting all night.
Από πού να αρχίσω; Έχω τόσα να σου πω.
apó pu na archíso; écho tósa na su po
Where do I even begin? I've got so much to tell you.
Key Takeaways
- αρχίζω · άρχιζα · άρχισα · να αρχίσω · άρχισε / αρχίστε · έχω αρχίσει · αρχίζοντας.
- The aorist takes σ, not ξ: αρχίζω belongs with διαβάζω → διάβασα.
- As a phase verb it pulls its να-complement towards the imperfective: Άρχισε να βρέχει, Άρχισα να διαβάζω.
- Five frames: accusative object, να
- verb, no object, με for the first item, από for the starting point.
- άρχισε (aorist, it started) against άρχιζε (imperfect, it kept starting) — σ against ζ, and audibly different.
- For set off, use ξεκινάω; for start an engine, use βάζω μπροστά. This does not prevent a journey itself from beginning with αρχίζω.
Related Topics
- τελειώνω (to finish)A2 — The model of the productive -ώνω class, whose aorist is always a plain -ωσα (τελείωσα, μεγάλωσα, σήκωσα). Three frames and three meanings on one form: Τελείωσα τη δουλειά (finished it), Τελείωσε το γάλα (ran out), Τελείωσα με αυτόν (done with him) — plus Τελείωσα το πανεπιστήμιο for graduating and the impatient imperative Τελείωνε!
- ξεκινάω/ξεκινώ (to start/set off)A2 — Not a synonym of αρχίζω: ξεκινάω has a motion sense αρχίζω lacks — cars, journeys and prices all ξεκινάνε. Principal parts, the six complement frames, and why the aspect after να does not tell you which ξεκινάω you are looking at.
- 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.
- Aspect After ναB1 — A decision guide for να γράφω versus να γράψω: choose an internal process or open habit with the imperfective, and package one occurrence or a finite series as bounded with the perfective; time expressions are cues, not switches.
- Aorist Consonant Merges (-ψα, -ξα, -σα)B1 — The reading skill that unlocks the aorist: every aorist hides the same perfective -σα, and the ending you see (-ψα, -ξα or -σα) tells you what consonant it landed on. Read the merge backwards — -ψα points to a labial verb, -ξα to a velar, -σα to a dental or -νω verb — and you can recover the present of an aorist you've never met. Includes the honest -ζω split (παίζω → έπαιξα but νομίζω → νόμισα).