The forms of φέρνω are easy; choosing it is not. English bring and take split three ways in Greek, and the split is about direction relative to the speaker — so before the paradigm, the question the verb actually asks.
Which way is the thing moving?
φέρνω is deictic: it moves something towards where the speaker is — or towards the person you are speaking to, which is why Θα σου φέρω το βιβλίο αύριο "I'll bring you the book tomorrow" is φέρνω even though the book is travelling away from me. Anything moving away from that centre is a different verb.
| Verb | Direction | English |
|---|---|---|
| φέρνω | towards me / towards you | bring |
| πηγαίνω / πάω | away, to a third place | take (it over there) |
| παίρνω | away, with the person leaving | take (it with you) |
Φέρε μου τον φορτιστή από το σαλόνι, δεν φτάνω.
fére mu ton fortistí apó to salóni, dhen ftáno
Bring me the charger from the living room — I can't reach.
Πήγαινε τα κλειδιά στη γιαγιά και γύρνα αμέσως.
píyene ta klidhiá sti yayá ke yírna amésos
Take the keys round to Grandma's and come straight back.
Πάρε ομπρέλα μαζί σου, λένε για μπόρα το απόγευμα.
páre ombréla mazí su, léne ya bóra to apóyevma
Take an umbrella with you — they're forecasting a shower this afternoon.
The everything-else senses of παίρνω (get, buy, catch, ring) are on παίρνω; the motion senses of πάω are on πάω. What this card owns is the moment you have to pick one of the three.
Principal parts
| Slot | Form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present | φέρνω, φέρνεις, φέρνει, φέρνουμε, φέρνετε, φέρνουν(ε) | |
| Imperfect | έφερνα | the -ν- is still there |
| Aorist | έφερα, έφερες, έφερε, φέραμε, φέρατε, έφεραν | the -ν- simply drops; nothing is added |
| Dependent (θα, να) | φέρω | looks exactly like a present tense |
| Imperative | φέρε / φέρτε | with a clitic: φέρ' το, φέρ' τα |
| Perfect / pluperfect | έχω / είχα φέρει | |
| Gerund | φέρνοντας | |
| -μένος participle | φερμένος | φερμένος από… "brought from…" |
| ×έφερσα, ×φέρσω | do not exist — φέρνω takes no perfective -σ-; the bare root φερ- is the perfective stem | |
| a passive meaning "be brought" | does not exist — φέρομαι was taken over by another meaning (below). "Was brought" is μεταφέρθηκε | |
Losing the -ν- puts φέρνω in the stem-alternating group; the clitic form φέρ' το is one of the elided imperatives on imperatives with weak pronouns.
Κάθε Κυριακή μας έφερνε γλυκά, αλλά την τελευταία φορά μας έφερε και λουλούδια.
káthe Kiriakí mas éferne ghliká, alá tin teleftéa forá mas éfere ke lulúdhia
Every Sunday she'd bring us cakes, but the last time she brought flowers as well.
Τα φρούτα είναι φερμένα από το χωριό, γι' αυτό μυρίζουν έτσι.
ta frúta íne ferména apó to chorió, yaftó mirízun étsi
The fruit was brought up from the village — that's why it smells like that.
Government
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| accusative | Έφερα το φάρμακο. | the thing brought |
| genitive clitic | Μου έφερε νερό. | the person it is brought to |
σε
| Το έφερα στο γραφείο. | destination |
από
| Τα έφερα από την αποθήκη. | source |
| accusative + σε + accusative | Με έφερε σε δύσκολη θέση. | put someone into a state |
The recipient clitic is genitive, as it is for every giving-and-bringing verb — the system is worked out on double-object case, and φέρνω simply joins it.
Της έφερα το φάρμακο από το φαρμακείο πριν κλείσει.
tis éfera to fármako apó to farmakío prin klísi
I brought her the medicine from the chemist before it shut.
Με έφερε σε πολύ δύσκολη θέση μπροστά σε όλο το γραφείο.
me éfere se polí dhískoli thési brostá se ólo to ghrafío
He put me in a really awkward position in front of the whole office.
φέρομαι is a different verb
The mediopassive has drifted so far that treating it as "the passive of φέρνω" will mislead you every time. φέρομαι means behave — aorist φέρθηκα — and it takes σε + accusative for the person on the receiving end. Why a middle voice ends up meaning this rather than "be carried" is the subject of middle-voice semantics.
Φέρθηκε πολύ άσχημα στη μητέρα του και δεν ζήτησε ούτε συγγνώμη.
férthike polí áschima sti mitéra tu ke dhen zítise úte sighnómi
He behaved appallingly towards his mother and didn't even apologise.
A second life of the same forms belongs to the news: third-person φέρεται να… is how Greek journalism reports something unverified, and the participle φερόμενος ως is "the alleged, the supposed" (formal).
Ο πρόεδρος φέρεται να έχει ήδη υπογράψει τη συμφωνία.
o próedhros férete na échi ídhi ipoghrápsi ti simfonía
The chairman is reported to have already signed the agreement. (formal)
Ο φερόμενος ως δράστης παραδόθηκε στην αστυνομία το πρωί.
o ferómenos os dhrástis paradhóthike stin astinomía to proí
The alleged perpetrator turned himself in to the police this morning. (formal)
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| τα φέρνω βόλτα | manage, make ends meet (informal) |
| φέρνω αποτελέσματα | produce results |
| φέρνω κάποιον σε δύσκολη θέση | put someone on the spot |
| φέρνει βροχή | it brings rain — of a wind |
| πώς τα φέρνει η ζωή | the way life works out |
| φέρνω κοντά | bring people closer together |
| φέρνω σε (informal) | verge on — of a colour or a taste: φέρνει σε ξίδι |
| φέρομαι καλά / άσχημα σε κάποιον | treat someone well / badly |
Τα φέρνουμε βόλτα με έναν μισθό, αλλά χωρίς περιθώρια.
ta férnume vólta me énan misthó, alá chorís perithória
We get by on one salary, but with nothing to spare.
Δες πώς τα φέρνει η ζωή, βρεθήκαμε στην ίδια πόλη μετά από είκοσι χρόνια.
dhes pos ta férni i zoí, vrethíkame stin ídhia póli metá apó íkosi chrónia
Look at the way life works out — we ended up in the same city twenty years on.
Common Mistakes
Giving φέρομαι an accusative person. Treat someone badly has a direct object in English; in Greek the person is reached through σε.
❌ Φέρθηκα καλά τον καινούριο συνάδελφο.
Incorrect — φέρομαι takes σε + accusative for the person: φέρθηκα καλά στον καινούριο συνάδελφο.
✅ Φέρθηκα καλά στον καινούριο συνάδελφο, αλλά δεν το εκτίμησε.
férthika kalá ston kenúrio sinádhelfo, alá dhen to ektímise
I was good to the new colleague, but he didn't appreciate it.
Key Takeaways
- The whole verb: φέρνω · έφερνα · έφερα · να φέρω · φέρε · έχω φέρει · φέρνοντας · φερμένος.
- The aorist έφερα is the present minus its -ν-, with nothing added — which is why it looks like a present tense. One letter separates it from the imperfect έφερνα, and the stress moves in the plural: έφερα but φέραμε.
- Direction decides the verb: φέρνω here, πηγαίνω there, παίρνω away with you.
- Frames: accusative thing, genitive clitic recipient, σε destination, από source, and φέρνω κάποιον σε
- accusative for putting someone in a state.
- φέρομαι means "behave", not "be brought" — φέρθηκε άσχημα στη μητέρα του. For "was brought", Greek uses μεταφέρθηκε.
- In news Greek the same forms do a second job: φέρεται να… "is reported to", ο φερόμενος ως… "the alleged…" (formal).
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- 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'.
- πάω / πηγαίνω (to go)A1 — One verb with two presents: πάω is what people say, πηγαίνω is what carries the imperfect πήγαινα and the command πήγαινε. This card shows which form owns which slot, the aorist πήγα (with γ), the empty imperative slot on the πα- side, and the prepositions the verb takes.
- Stem-Alternation Verbs (στέλνω→έστειλα)B2 — In στέλνω → έστειλα → στάλθηκε the root vowel itself is doing the grammar: ε in the present, ει in the perfective, α in the passive. This page works through the whole alternating set — στέλνω, πλένω, σπέρνω, δέρνω, μένω, φεύγω, πεθαίνω, φέρνω — with their dependents, commands and participles, and explains why these dependents (στείλω, πλύνω, μείνω) are more dangerous than δω or πω.
- Clitics With the ImperativeB1 — Why weak pronouns jump to the far side of a positive command (Πες μου, Δώσε μού το) — the enclitic order, the second accent, the apostrophe contraction, and the way the negative flips them straight back in front.
- 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.