φαίνομαι first means “be visible” or “show up.” It also has two grammatical jobs: a personal copular verb meaning “seem,” with a predicate agreeing with its subject, and an impersonal evidential φαίνεται meaning “it appears.” English uses seem/appear for all three and hides the Greek agreement.
Principal parts
| Slot | Form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present | φαίνομαι, φαίνεσαι, φαίνεται, φαινόμαστε, φαίνεστε, φαίνονται | |
| Imperfect | φαινόμουν | |
| Aorist | φάνηκα | |
| Dependent | φανώ | να / θα φανώ |
| Perfect | έχω φανεί | |
| Active ×φαίνω | does not exist as the active twin in Standard Modern Greek | |
The inherited command φάνου “appear” is a rare relic (archaic), not a productive everyday imperative to put beside the principal parts; ordinary speech recasts the exhortation with another verb. Despite its mediopassive form, φαίνομαι has no corresponding Modern Greek active verb; see the broader category on deponent verbs.
Visible or present
Here the verb makes no claim about an impression. Something can be seen, becomes visible, or finally appears somewhere.
Από το σπίτι μου φαίνεται όλη η πόλη.
apó to spíti mu fénete óli i póli
The whole city is visible from my house.
Έχει καιρό να φανεί στη γειτονιά μας.
échi keró na faní sti yitoniá mas
He hasn't shown up in our neighbourhood for a long time.
Μόλις έφυγαν τα σύννεφα, φάνηκε η κορυφή.
mólis éfighan ta sínefa, fánike i korifí
As soon as the clouds cleared, the summit appeared.
Personal “seem”: agreement is visible
With a personal subject, the predicate is nominative and agrees in gender and number. English you seem tired does not change tired; Greek must choose κουρασμένος, κουρασμένη, κουρασμένοι or κουρασμένες. The general case rule is on nominative predicates.
Φαίνεσαι κουρασμένος· θέλεις να σταματήσουμε;
fénese kurazménos; thélis na stamatísume;
You look tired; do you want us to stop? (said to a man)
Η Μαρία φαίνεται κουρασμένη αλλά ήρεμη.
i María fénete kurazméni alá íremi
Maria seems tired but calm.
Impersonal φαίνεται: evidence, not a person
When a whole ότι / πως / να clause is presented as an inference, the verb is frozen in third-person singular. There is no referential “it”; φαίνεται marks the speaker's conclusion from evidence.
Φαίνεται ότι θα βρέξει πριν το βράδυ.
fénete óti tha vréksi prin to vrádhi
It looks as though it will rain before evening.
Φαίνεται να υπάρχει πρόβλημα με την κράτηση.
fénete na ipárchi próvlima me tin krátisi
There appears to be a problem with the booking.
This impersonal φαίνεται να is one of the frames compared on impersonal να constructions.
Government
| Frame | Reading | Model |
|---|---|---|
| nominative predicate | personal impression | φαίνεται λογικός |
| genitive experiencer | impression to someone | μου φαίνεται περίεργο |
| ότι / πως / να | evidential inference | φαίνεται ότι αργεί |
σαν
| likeness; nominative or accusative | φαίνεται σαν όνειρο |
Μου φαίνεται περίεργο που δεν απάντησε ακόμα.
mu fénete períergho pu dhen apándise akóma
It seems strange to me that she still hasn't replied.
The clitic marks the experiencer, not an agent of a passive; compare genitive experiencers.
Set phrases
The word family includes το φαινόμενο “phenomenon,” φαινομενικός “apparent,” and φαινομενικά “apparently.” Common frames are απ' ό,τι φαίνεται, καθώς φαίνεται, έτσι φαίνεται, δεν φαίνεται, φαίνεσαι χάλια, φάνηκε η αλήθεια, and δεν φάνηκε ποτέ “he never showed up.”
Common Mistakes
Do not freeze the personal predicate: Φαίνεσαι κουρασμένος to a man and Φαίνεσαι κουρασμένη to a woman are both grammatical and show required agreement.
❌ Φαίνομαι ότι θα αργήσουμε.
Incorrect — a whole-clause evidential uses impersonal third-person singular.
✅ Φαίνεται ότι θα αργήσουμε.
fénete óti tha aryísume
It looks as though we will be late.
Key Takeaways
- φαίνομαι · φαινόμουν · φάνηκα · να φανώ · έχω φανεί; no active ×φαίνω.
- First meaning: be visible or show up. Personal meaning: seem + agreeing nominative predicate.
- Impersonal φαίνεται ότι / πως / να presents an inference; μου marks the experiencer.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- δείχνω (to show)B1 — One verb doing two unrelated jobs — the ditransitive 'show X to Y', where the person is a genitive clitic, and the copular 'look, seem', where the complement is a nominative adjective. Principal parts, the χν → ξ aorist, and the line between δείχνω and φαίνομαι.
- νιώθω (to feel)A2 — How νιώθω combines with sensations, agreeing predicate adjectives, adverbs, and clauses—and why its active voice must be learned as part of the verb.
- Experiencer Clitics: μου αρέσειA2 — Μου αρέσουν τα λουλούδια is 'the flowers please me' — the thing is the subject and the person is a genitive clitic. The whole αρέσει / λείπει / φαίνεται / πάει family, why μου λείπεις inverts twice, the three ways to say your head hurts, and the sister family (με νοιάζει, σε πειράζει) that takes the accusative instead.
- Nominative: Predicate and NamingA2 — Why both sides of είμαι share the nominative — Ο Γιάννης είναι δάσκαλος, Εγώ είμαι — how γίνομαι, φαίνομαι and μένω behave the same way, why Greek says Είναι γιατρός with no article, and the neat reason Με λένε Γιάννη is accusative instead.
- Deponent Verbs (-ομαι only)B1 — Verbs with no corresponding active present but an active meaning — έρχομαι (come), κάθομαι (sit), γίνομαι (become), θυμάμαι (remember), φοβάμαι (fear), σκέφτομαι (think), εργάζομαι (work) — their mediopassive present and imperfect, and their unpredictable active-type or mediopassive-type perfective forms.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.