δείχνω is two verbs wearing one set of endings. One is ditransitive — you show a thing to a person, and the person turns up as a genitive clitic. The other is copular — the subject looks a certain way, and the complement is a nominative adjective agreeing with it. Nothing in the form tells you which is running; the frame does.
Principal parts
| Slot | Forms | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present | δείχνω, δείχνεις, δείχνει, δείχνουμε, δείχνετε, δείχνουν(ε) | show; look, seem |
| Imperfect | έδειχνα, έδειχνες, έδειχνε, δείχναμε, δείχνατε, έδειχναν | stress-driven augment, as usual |
| Aorist | έδειξα, έδειξες, έδειξε, δείξαμε, δείξατε, έδειξαν | the -χν- collapses into ξ |
| Dependent | δείξω — θα δείξω, να δείξω | |
| Imperative | δείξε / δείξτε (also δείχτε) | imperfective δείχνε is rare |
| Perfect | έχω / είχα δείξει | |
| Gerund | δείχνοντας | showing, by showing |
| Mediopassive | δείχνομαι, aorist δείχτηκα | not a general passive — two senses only (below) |
| -μένος participle | δειγμένος | in the paradigm, all but absent from real use |
Two absences worth stating outright. There is no ×έδειχσα: the -σ- that builds most Greek aorists never gets a chance here, because -χν- has already fused to ξ (the perfective consonant changes own the rule). And δειγμένος, though the dictionaries list it, is not what Greek says for "shown" — a caption writes όπως φαίνεται στον χάρτη, and "proven" is αποδεδειγμένο (formal), from the learned twin αποδεικνύω. That twin, δεικνύω (formal, academic), is where the whole family lives: αποδεικνύω "prove", υποδεικνύω "point out", επιδεικνύω "display".
The mediopassive is not the passive of "show" either — it is two narrow things. δείχνομαι (informal) is show off, of a person who wants to be seen: Δεν χάνει ευκαιρία να δείχνεται. And δείχτηκε with a predicate adjective is proved to be: Δείχτηκε πιο δυνατός απ' ό,τι περιμέναμε.
Two verbs in one
Ditransitive — thing in the accusative, person as a genitive clitic:
Μου έδειξε τον δρόμο για το λιμάνι χωρίς να τον ρωτήσω.
mu édhikse ton dhrómo ya to limáni chorís na ton rotíso
He showed me the way to the harbour without my even asking.
Copular — no object at all, and a nominative adjective that agrees with the subject:
Δείχνεις κουρασμένη σήμερα — κοιμήθηκες καθόλου;
dhíchnis kurazméni símera — kimíthikes kathólu;
You look tired today — did you sleep at all?
Δείχνει μικρότερος από ό,τι είναι και του ζητάνε συνέχεια ταυτότητα.
dhíchni mikróteros apó óti íne ke tu zitáne sinéchia taftótita
He looks younger than he is, so they're forever asking him for ID.
Because the adjective is a predicate of the subject and not an object, it agrees in gender and number and stays nominative throughout: Δείχνει κουρασμένη of a woman, Δείχνει κουρασμένο of a child, Δείχνουν κουρασμένοι of a group. There is no invariable form to fall back on, and an accusative there is simply the wrong case. The same slot also takes an adverb (Δείχνεις καλά) and a να-clause:
Δείχνει να μη βιάζεται καθόλου, ενώ εμείς έχουμε αργήσει.
dhíchni na mi viázete kathólu, enó emís échume aryísi
He doesn't look like he's in any hurry, and we're already late.
Government
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| accusative thing + genitive person | Μου έδειξε τη φωτογραφία. | show something to somebody |
| two clitics, genitive first | Μου το έδειξε. / Δείξε μού το. | see double clitics |
| accusative person alone | Με έδειξε. | pointed at me — not "showed me" |
| σε + accusative | Έδειξε στον χάρτη. | point at, indicate on |
| δείχνω ότι + clause | Τα νούμερα δείχνουν ότι… | evidence, data |
| nominative predicate | Δείχνουν χαρούμενοι. | look, seem |
| abstract noun, no article | δείχνω ενδιαφέρον / κατανόηση | show interest / understanding |
The third row is the one to slow down on. Με έδειξε is perfectly good Greek — it just means he pointed at me, because that accusative is the thing indicated, not the recipient. The recipient of a showing is always genitive, exactly as with δίνω and στέλνω (double-object case).
Δείξε μού το πριν το στείλεις, να το δούμε μαζί.
dhíkse mú to prin to stílis, na to dhúme mazí
Show it to me before you send it, let's look at it together.
Έδειξε στον χάρτη πού ακριβώς συνέβη το ατύχημα.
édhikse ston chárti pu akrivós sinévi to atíchima
He pointed on the map to exactly where the accident happened.
Τα νούμερα δείχνουν ότι φέτος πήγαμε καλύτερα.
ta númera dhíchnun óti fétos píghame kalítera
The figures show that we did better this year.
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| δείξε μου | let's see it, show me |
| δείχνω τον δρόμο | show the way — literal and figurative |
| μου έδειξε την πόρτα | showed me the door, threw me out |
| δείχνω ενδιαφέρον / κατανόηση / εμπιστοσύνη | show interest / understanding / trust |
| δείχνω με το δάχτυλο | point the finger, single out for blame |
| δείχνω τα δόντια μου | bare my teeth, get tough (informal) |
| Τι ώρα δείχνει το ρολόι; | what does the clock say? |
| Ο χρόνος θα δείξει. | time will tell |
Του έδειξε την πόρτα και δεν ξαναμίλησαν ποτέ.
tu édhikse tin pórta ke dhen ksanamílisan poté
She showed him the door and they never spoke again.
Δεν έδειξε καμία κατανόηση, ούτε καν ρώτησε τι έγινε.
dhen édhikse kamía katanóisi, úte kan rótise ti éyine
He showed no understanding at all — he didn't even ask what had happened.
Τι ώρα δείχνει το ρολόι σου; Το δικό μου πάει πίσω.
ti óra dhíchni to rolói su; to dhikó mu pái píso
What time does your watch say? Mine's slow.
Ο χρόνος θα δείξει αν άξιζε τόση φασαρία.
o chrónos tha dhíksi an áksize tósi fasaría
Time will tell whether it was worth all that fuss.
Key Takeaways
- δείχνω · έδειχνα · έδειξα · δείξω · δείξε · έχω δείξει. The aorist is έδειξα because -χν- fuses to ξ; there is no ×έδειχσα.
- The showing frame is accusative thing + genitive person: Μου το έδειξε, Δείξε μού το. An accusative person means pointed at, not shown to.
- The "seem" frame takes a nominative predicate agreeing with the subject — Δείχνει κουρασμένη, Δείχνουν χαρούμενοι — plus an adverb or a να-clause.
- Split with φαίνομαι: δείχνω is the visible surface, φαίνομαι the impression, and only φαίνομαι takes μου.
- δείχνομαι is no general passive: (informal) show off, or — in the aorist with a predicate — prove to be. δειγμένος is in the paradigm and out of circulation.
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- βλέπω (to see)A2 — One verb for see, watch and look at — and three different complements that mean three different things: Τον βλέπω να τρέχει (an event in progress), Τον είδα που έφευγε (a sighting), Βλέπω ότι δεν κατάλαβες (a conclusion, not a sight at all). Plus the full inventory of βλεπ- and δ- forms, and why Greek sees a dream rather than having one.
- Two Objects: Case AssignmentB1 — What happens when a verb has both a thing and a person — the thing is always accusative, the person is genitive or σε — plus the fixed genitive-before-accusative order of a double clitic, the second accent in Δώσε μού το, and the word-order trap that turns an indirect object into a possessor.
- Two Clitics TogetherB1 — Greek stacks the indirect and the direct object in front of the verb as a single block — Μου το έδωσε, Σου τα άφησα, Της την πήρε — in the fixed order genitive then accusative, the mirror image of English 'gave it to me'. The order, the everyday clusters worth memorising whole, and why nothing may ever slip between the two little words.