Learners usually meet impersonal αξίζει να…, “it is worth…,” but αξίζω is also a fully personal verb: “be worth” or “deserve.” Its unusual feature is morphological, not syntactic: Standard Modern Greek gives it an imperfective stem but no productive perfective stem.
Αξίζεις κάτι καλύτερο από αυτή τη δουλειά.
aksízis káti kalítero apó aftí ti dhuliá
You deserve something better than this job.
Το ποδήλατο αξίζει τα λεφτά του.
to podhílato aksízi ta leftá tu
The bicycle is worth its price.
The live paradigm—and the gap
| Slot | Forms | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Present | αξίζω, αξίζεις, αξίζει, αξίζουμε, αξίζετε, αξίζουν | live |
| Imperfect | άξιζα, άξιζες, άξιζε, αξίζαμε, αξίζατε, άξιζαν | also carries bounded past reference |
| Continuous future | θα αξίζω / αξίζει / αξίζουν | live |
| Aorist / dependent perfective | — | Does not exist: no ×άξισα or ×αξίσω |
| Simple future / perfect | — | Does not exist: no ×θα αξίσει or ×έχω αξίσει |
| Imperative | — | No ordinary imperative is used |
| Mediopassive | — | Does not exist in the standard paradigm |
This is genuine lexical aspectual defectiveness. Most Greek verbs contrast an imperfective and a perfective stem; the system is introduced on imperfective vs perfective. Here there is no second stem to choose. άξιζε can therefore describe a continuing valuation or a completed experience whose English translation is simple “was worth.”
The defect does not make the verb impersonal. Present and imperfect forms still agree normally with their subjects: εγώ αξίζω, εσύ αξίζεις, τα κοσμήματα αξίζουν. What is absent is an aspectual column, not a set of persons. This distinction matters because many learners see frequent third-person αξίζει and mistakenly analyze the whole verb on the model of frozen πρέπει.
Άξιζε η αναμονή· η συναυλία ήταν εκπληκτική.
áksize i anamoní; i sinavlía ítan ekpliktikí
The wait was worth it; the concert was amazing.
Όταν ήταν καινούριο, το σπίτι άξιζε πολύ περισσότερο.
ótan ítan kenúrio, to spíti áksize polí perisótero
When it was new, the house used to be worth much more.
Αξίζουμε τη στήριξή σας και θα το αποδείξουμε.
aksízume ti stíriksí sas ke tha to apodhíksume
We deserve your support, and we will prove it.
Government
There are three frames. Personal αξίζω + accusative means “be worth/deserve”: αξίζει τον κόπο, αξίζεις σεβασμό. Impersonal αξίζει + να-clause is covered with other modal frames on impersonal verbs plus να. In μου αξίζει + nominative, the deserved thing is the subject and the person is a genitive experiencer.
Σου αξίζει μια δεύτερη ευκαιρία.
su aksízi mia dhéfteri efkería
You deserve a second chance.
Δεν μου άξιζε τέτοια μεταχείριση.
dhen mu áksize tétia metachírisi
I didn't deserve such treatment.
English normally makes the deserving person the subject—“you deserve a chance.” Greek can do that with an accusative object, but the very common σου αξίζει μια ευκαιρία reverses the roles. That pattern is developed under the genitive experiencer.
The two personal meanings also differ subtly. With a person as subject, αξίζω σεβασμό evaluates merit: “deserve respect.” With a product or experience as subject, αξίζει τα λεφτά / τον κόπο evaluates value relative to money, time, or effort. The morphology is identical; the complement and the kind of subject supply the interpretation.
Η διαδρομή είναι δύσκολη, αλλά αξίζει τον κόπο.
i dhiadhromí íne dhískoli, alá aksízi ton kópo
The route is difficult, but it is worth the effort.
Set phrases
- αξίζει τον κόπο — it is worth the effort
- δεν αξίζει μια δεκάρα — it is not worth a penny
- αξίζεις τα λεφτά σου — you earn/justify your pay
- μου αξίζει κάτι καλύτερο — I deserve something better
- άξιζε η αναμονή — the wait was worth it
Δεν αξίζει μια δεκάρα μετά από τόσες ζημιές.
dhen aksízi mia dhekára metá apó tósses zimiés
It isn't worth a penny after so much damage.
Αξίζει να το δεις πριν φύγει από τους κινηματογράφους.
aksízi na to dhis prin fíyi apó tus kinimatoghráfus
It's worth seeing before it leaves cinemas.
Common Mistakes
❌ Μετά την επισκευή θα αξίσει περισσότερο.
Incorrect — αξίζω has no simple-future form αξίσει.
✅ Μετά την επισκευή θα αξίζει περισσότερο.
metá tin episkeví tha aksízi perisótero
After the repair it will be worth more.
Key Takeaways
- αξίζω · άξιζα · θα αξίζω; no aorist, perfective dependent form, simple future, perfect, ordinary imperative, or mediopassive is used.
- άξιζε can carry both continuing and completed past reference.
- Separate direct-object αξίζω from experiencer μου αξίζει + nominative.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- πρέπει (must/have to)A2 — A defective-form inventory for impersonal πρέπει, kept distinct from the third-person verb πρέπω and its surviving formal active participle πρέπων.
- αρέσω (μου αρέσει — to like)A2 — The complete active paradigm behind μου αρέσει, including its overlapping past forms, subject agreement, genitive experiencer, and the separate formal verb αρέσκομαι.
- Impersonal ConstructionsB1 — Map Greek impersonal frames by the complement they select: bare weather predicates, modal and evaluative να-clauses, factual που-clauses, and propositional ότι/πως-clauses.
- Impersonal πρέπει / μπορεί ναB1 — The two invariable modal frames — πρέπει να for obligation ('must / have to') and μπορεί να for possibility ('may / might') — where the modal never changes and the person is carried by the να-verb, plus their pasts έπρεπε να and μπορεί να + past.
- Nominalized να-Clauses (το να...)B2 — Put the article το in front of a να-clause and the whole clause becomes a noun — Greek's equivalent of the English '-ing' subject or 'to'-infinitive: Το να μαθαίνεις γλώσσες ανοίγει μυαλά, Δεν μου αρέσει το να περιμένω, Με το να φωνάζεις δεν κερδίζεις τίποτα.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.