δίνω is where two objects arrive in the same sentence for the first time — a thing given and a person given it — so it is the verb on which Greek's case system stops being theory. Before that, one warning about its shape: it runs on three stems, and a learner who has only met δίνω and έδωσα will invent the third.
Three stems
| Stem | Where it turns up | Forms |
|---|---|---|
| διν- — imperfective | present, imperfect, gerund, mediopassive present | δίνω, έδινα, δίνοντας, δίνομαι / δίνεται |
| δωσ- — perfective | aorist, dependent, imperative, perfect | έδωσα, (θα/να) δώσω, δώσε / δώστε, έχω δώσει |
| δοθ- — passive perfective | passive aorist, -μένος participle | δόθηκα, δόθηκε, δοσμένος |
| ×έδινσα | does not exist — the -ν- of δίνω never crosses into the perfective half — the imperfect έδινα keeps it | |
| ×δινήθηκα | does not exist — the passive is built on δοθ-, not on the present stem | |
Most -νω verbs simply drop the nasal and take the ordinary -σ- (φτάνω → έφτασα, χάνω → έχασα). δίνω does that and recolours its root vowel from ι to ω, which is why it sits awkwardly between nasal stems and the stem-changing group. Learn the three stems as three separate words and the awkwardness disappears.
Μας έδινε πάντα τα παλιά της βιβλία όταν τελείωνε τη χρονιά.
mas édhine pánda ta paliá tis vivlía ótan telíone ti chroniá
She always used to give us her old books when the school year ended.
Η απάντηση δόθηκε γραπτώς μέσα σε τρεις μέρες.
i apándisi dhóthike ghraptós mésa se tris méres
The answer was given in writing within three days. (formal)
Είναι δοσμένος με την ψυχή του σε αυτή τη δουλειά.
íne dhozménos me tin psichí tu se aftí ti dhuliá
He's devoted heart and soul to this job.
The δοθ- stem also does one job that the other two cannot: it is how official Greek announces that something was granted without naming who granted it — δόθηκε εντολή, δόθηκε παράταση, δόθηκαν οδηγίες. In that register the agent is left out on purpose, and the impersonal passive is doing the work.
Δόθηκε παράταση δύο εβδομάδων για τις αιτήσεις.
dhóthike parátasi dhío evdhomádhon ya tis etísis
A two-week extension was granted for the applications. (formal)
Government
| Frame | Example | Note |
|---|---|---|
| accusative — the thing | Έδωσα το βιβλίο. | always accusative |
| genitive clitic — the person | Του έδωσα το βιβλίο. | the everyday recipient |
| genitive full noun — the person | Έδωσα του Γιάννη το βιβλίο. | (formal), and only before the thing |
σε
| Το έδωσα στον Γιάννη. | equally standard, and the safer default |
| two clitics at once | Μου το έδωσε. | genitive first, always |
| δίνω + accusative + να | Του έδωσα να φάει. | gave him something to eat |
Two things carry over to every other giving verb in the language. First, the recipient clitic is genitive — μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους — and it never appears in the accusative in the standard language. Second, when a full noun takes the genitive instead of σε — which reads (formal), so σε is the everyday choice — word order stops being free: Έδωσα του Γιάννη το βιβλίο is correct, but move the genitive behind the thing and it is read as possession instead. The rules live on double-object case; the two-clitic cluster is on double clitics.
Του έδωσα τα κλειδιά του σπιτιού για όσο θα λείπουμε.
tu édhosa ta klidhiá tu spitiú ya óso tha lípume
I gave him the keys to the flat for however long we're away.
Το έδωσα στον Γιάννη να το διαβάσει πρώτος.
to édhosa ston Yáni na to dhiavási prótos
I gave it to Yannis to read first.
Της τα έδωσα όλα και δεν πήρα τίποτα πίσω.
tis ta édhosa óla ke dhen píra típota píso
I gave her everything and got nothing back.
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| δίνω εξετάσεις | sit an exam — Greek gives it |
| δίνω σημασία (σε) | pay attention to, take notice of |
| δίνω τον λόγο μου | give my word |
| δίνω ένα χεράκι | lend a hand (informal) |
| δώσε βάση | listen up, pay attention (informal) |
| μου δίνει στα νεύρα | it gets on my nerves (informal) |
| δίνω τα ρέστα μου | give it everything I've got |
| δίνει και παίρνει | it's in full swing — of a party, or of gossip |
Έδωσα εξετάσεις τον Ιούνιο και πέρασα με το ζόρι.
édhosa eksetásis ton Iúnio ke pérasa me to zóri
I sat my exams in June and scraped through.
Μη δίνεις σημασία σε ό,τι λέει, είναι θυμωμένος.
mi dhínis simasía se ó,ti léi, íne thimoménos
Don't take any notice of what he's saying, he's angry.
Μου δίνει στα νεύρα που αργεί πάντα μισή ώρα.
mu dhíni sta névra pu aryí pánda misí óra
It gets on my nerves that he's always half an hour late.
Μου έδωσε ένα χεράκι με τη μετακόμιση και τελειώσαμε σε μια μέρα.
mu édhose éna cheráki me ti metakómisi ke teliósame se mia méra
He gave me a hand with the move and we were done in a day.
Key Takeaways
- Three stems: διν- (δίνω, έδινα, δίνοντας), δωσ- (έδωσα, δώσω, δώσε, έχω δώσει), δοθ- (δόθηκε, δοσμένος). No form is built on διν- outside the imperfective half.
- The thing given is accusative; the recipient is a genitive — the clitic always, a full noun only in (formal) register — or σε + accusative, which is the everyday default.
- The recipient clitic is always genitive — του, της, τους — never accusative, in the standard language.
- With two clitics the order is genitive then accusative: Μου το έδωσε.
- A full-noun genitive recipient must come before the thing given, or it will be read as possession.
- δίνω εξετάσεις — the exam is given by the person sitting it.
Now practice Greek
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- 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.
- 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'.
- στέλνω (to send)A2 — Three stems and two objects. στελν- for the present, στειλ- for έστειλα and στείλω, σταλ- for the passive στάλθηκε and σταλμένος — and the recipient frames a learner needs in week one: Σου έστειλα μήνυμα, Το έστειλα στον Γιάννη, Σου το έστειλα, with the word-order trap that turns Έστειλα τα χαρτιά του Γιάννη into somebody else's papers.