A lookup card. Possession, the existential έχει and the age trap are taught on the present of έχω, the past on the imperfect of έχω. What this page adds is the full inventory in one glance, the list of slots έχω leaves empty, and the one construction no other page owns — έχω να.
Every form έχω has
| Slot | Forms | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| Present | έχω, έχεις, έχει, έχουμε, έχετε, έχουν(ε) | have, has |
| Past (imperfect) | είχα, είχες, είχε, είχαμε, είχατε, είχαν(ε) | had — note the ει-, never ×ήχα |
| Future | θα έχω | will have |
| να-form | να έχω | after θέλω, πρέπει, μπορεί |
| Imperative | έχε / έχετε — fixed phrases only | have (patience, farewell, an eye on…) |
| Gerund | έχοντας | having, since one has |
| Auxiliary | έχω / είχα / θα έχω + the -ει form | builds every perfect tense |
The auxiliary row is the whole of έχω's second job and nothing more: it supplies person and tense while the invariable -ει form supplies the meaning. The tenses themselves are on the present perfect and the pluperfect.
Every form έχω does not have
| Slot | Status |
|---|---|
| Aorist | Does not exist. There is no ×έχεσα to build. είχα is the only past this verb has, and it does duty for both "I had" and "I had had". |
| Perfective (dependent) stem | Does not exist. θα έχω and να έχω run on the present stem, so — as with είμαι — there is no aspect choice to make. |
| Perfect of itself | Does not exist. ×έχω έχει and ×είχα έχει are not Greek; for "I have had" Greek falls back on είχα. |
| Mediopassive | Does not exist in the modern paradigm — έχω has no passive forms and no passive meaning. |
| Participle in -μένος | Does not exist. |
Two survivors deserve a closer look. The imperative έχε / έχετε is alive, but only inside a short list of set phrases with abstract objects — patience, greetings, an eye on something. You cannot use it to hand someone a glass of water; that is πάρε.
Έχε γεια, φίλε μου, και καλό ταξίδι.
éche ya, fíle mu, ke kaló taksídhi
Farewell, my friend, and have a good trip.
Έχετε υπομονή, ο γιατρός θα σας δει σε δέκα λεπτά.
échete ipomoní, o yatrós tha sas dhi se dhéka leptá
Please be patient — the doctor will see you in ten minutes.
The gerund έχοντας is fully productive and common in careful speech and writing:
Έχοντας λίγο χρόνο, προτίμησα να πάρω ταξί.
échondas lígho chróno, protímisa na páro taksí
Having little time, I preferred to take a taxi.
What έχω takes
- A direct object in the accusative — Έχω δύο αδέρφια, Δεν έχω χρόνο.
- Impersonal έχει + accusative for "there is / there are" (informal) — always third person singular, whatever follows: Έχει κόσμο.
- Nothing for age. Age is είμαι + χρονών.
έχω να — two opposite readings
This is the one έχω pattern worth developing here, because it is genuinely ambiguous and no other page carries it. έχω να + verb means either I have something to do or I have not done something in a long time — and the shape of the verb is identical in both.
Έχω να πάω στην τράπεζα και μετά στο φαρμακείο.
écho na páo stin trápeza ke metá sto farmakío
I have to go to the bank and then to the pharmacy.
Έχω να πάω στο χωριό μου τρία χρόνια.
écho na páo sto chorió mu tría chrónia
I haven't been to my village in three years.
What separates them is a time span. Add a stretch of time — τρία χρόνια, μήνες, από πέρσι — and the sentence measures how long it has been since you last did the thing; the Greek stays in the present because the not-doing is still going on, where English switches to a perfect ("I haven't been"). With no time span, the sentence is a plain obligation, close to πρέπει να. The elapsed-time reading is the one you can turn into a question, and πόσο καιρό is how you do it:
Πόσο καιρό έχεις να τον δεις;
póso keró échis na ton dhis;
How long has it been since you saw him?
Phrases that live on this verb
έχω δίκιο / άδικο (be right / wrong), τι έχεις; (what's the matter?), δεν έχει σημασία (it doesn't matter), έχει πλάκα (it's funny), τα έχω με κάποιον (informal, be seeing someone), δεν έχω ιδέα (no idea), πόσο έχει; (how much is it?), έχει ο Θεός (informal, something will turn up).
Δεν έχει σημασία τι λένε οι άλλοι, εσύ κάνε ό,τι νιώθεις.
dhen échi simasía ti léne i áli, esí káne óti nióthis
It doesn't matter what other people say — you do what you feel.
Έχει πλάκα που όλοι νόμιζαν ότι ήμασταν αδέρφια.
échi pláka pu óli nómizan óti ímastan adhérfia
It's funny that everyone thought we were siblings.
Τα έχει με μια κοπέλα από τη Λάρισα εδώ και έξι μήνες.
ta échi me mia kopéla apó ti Lárisa edhó ke éksi mínes
He's been seeing a girl from Larisa for six months now.
Πόσο έχει το εισιτήριο για τη Σαντορίνη;
póso échi to isitírio ya ti Sandoríni;
How much is the ticket to Santorini?
Μην ανησυχείς για τα λεφτά, έχει ο Θεός.
min anisichís ya ta leftá, échi o Theós
Don't worry about the money — something will turn up.
Key Takeaways
- The past is είχα, spelled ει-. It is the only past: there is no aorist to contrast it with.
- No perfective stem, no perfect of itself, no passive, no participle — θα έχω and να έχω simply reuse the present.
- έχε / έχετε survives in set phrases only; έχοντας is fully alive.
- έχω να + verb = an obligation, unless a time span turns it into "I haven't … in ages."
- έχω is the auxiliary of every perfect tense, and contributes nothing there but person and tense.
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- The Present of έχω (to have)A1 — έχω, έχεις, έχει, έχουμε, έχετε, έχουν — a perfectly regular Class Α present that does three big jobs in Greek: possession, the colloquial existential έχει ('there is/are'), and, above all, the auxiliary that builds every perfect tense (έχω γράψει).
- Imperfect of έχω (είχα)A2 — The single past of έχω — είχα, είχες, είχε, είχαμε, είχατε, είχαν — covering everything English does with 'had,' and doubling as the auxiliary that builds the pluperfect (είχα γράψει).
- Future of είμαι and έχωA2 — The two most frequent verbs in Greek keep their present stem in the future: θα είμαι 'I will be' and θα έχω 'I will have'. Neither has a perfective aorist stem, so there is no aspect choice to make — one form covers all future reference. θα έχω also doubles as the auxiliary of the future perfect (θα έχω γράψει).
- The Present Perfect (έχω γράψει)B1 — έχω plus the invariable -ει form reports a completed action whose result or relevance reaches into the present — Έχω διαβάσει το βιβλίο ('I've read the book'), Δεν έχω πάει ποτέ στην Κρήτη ('I've never been to Crete'). It overlaps with English 'have done', but Greek leans on the plain aorist far more, and a stated time forces the aorist outright.