The laughing is the easy part. What earns γελάω a card is that the same stem, with an object or in the mediopassive, stops meaning laugh altogether and starts meaning deceive and be mistaken — so Με γέλασε is "he tricked me", not "he laughed at me", and Γελιέσαι is "you're wrong", not "you're being laughed at". Two false friends in one paradigm, and both are everyday words.
Principal parts
| Slot | Forms | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present | γελάω/γελώ, γελάς, γελάει/γελά, γελάμε, γελάτε, γελάνε/γελούν | -άω (informal) beside -ώ (formal) |
| Imperfect | γελούσα — also γέλαγα (informal) | |
| Aorist | γέλασα, γέλασες, γελάσαμε | -ασ- with πείνασα, δίψασα, πέρασα |
| Dependent (θα, να) | γελάσω | |
| Imperative | γέλα / γελάτε · γέλασε / γελάστε | |
| Perfect | έχω γελάσει | |
| Gerund | γελώντας | |
| Mediopassive | γελιέμαι, aorist γελάστηκα | only in the "be fooled" sense |
| Participle | γελασμένος | fooled, mistaken — not "laughing" |
| Related | χαμογελάω (smile), το γέλιο, γελαστός |
The -ασ- linking vowel is the small family on the Class Β aorist: ×γέλησα is not a form. Which member of each present doublet you use is register, not correctness.
Government
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| no complement | Γελάσαμε πολύ. | plain laughing |
με
| Γελάω με το παραμικρό. | what amuses you |
με / μαζί με
| Γελάνε μαζί σου. | mockery — they are laughing at you |
σε βάρος
| Γελούσαν σε βάρος του. | at his expense, explicitly |
| genitive clitic | Μου γέλασε. | smiled at me |
| accusative object | Τον γέλασαν. | they tricked him |
Rows two and three are the split English hides. με plus a joke, a film or a situation is harmless amusement; με or μαζί με plus a person is mockery, and Greek hears it that way without further marking. Watch the middle ground: a με-phrase naming something that belongs to the person lands on the person too, so γελάει με τα καμώματά σου is mockery just as squarely as γελάει μαζί σου. Use κοροϊδεύω when the mockery is what you mean, and name a joke, a film or a situation when it is not.
Γελάει με το παραμικρό, γι' αυτό τη συμπαθούν όλοι στο γραφείο.
yelái me to paramikró, y' aftó ti simbathún óli sto ghrafío
She laughs at the slightest thing, which is why everyone in the office likes her.
Αν το πεις έτσι στη δουλειά, θα γελάνε μαζί σου για μήνες.
an to pis étsi sti dhuliá, tha yeláne mazí su ya mínes
If you put it like that at work, they'll be laughing at you for months.
Με πέτυχε στο ασανσέρ και μου γέλασε, χωρίς να πει κουβέντα.
me pétiche sto asansér ke mu yélase, chorís na pi kuvénda
She ran into me in the lift and smiled at me, without saying a word.
The deceiving half
With an accusative object the verb means εξαπατώ: cheat, take somebody in. It is unremarkable spoken Greek, especially about shopping, bargains and promises.
Τον γέλασαν στο παζάρι και πλήρωσε μια απομίμηση σαν αυθεντική.
ton yélasan sto pazári ke plírose mia apomímisi san afthendikí
They took him in at the market and he paid for a fake as if it were the real thing.
Τι ώρα ανοίγει το μουσείο; — Θα σε γελάσω, καλύτερα ρώτα στην υποδοχή.
ti óra aníyi to musío; — tha se yeláso, kalítera róta stin ipodhochí
What time does the museum open? — Don't take my word for it, better ask at reception.
γελιέμαι is not "I am laughed at"
The mediopassive exists only for the deceiving sense. γελιέμαι is I am wrong, I am kidding myself, and its aorist γελάστηκα is I got it wrong. There is no passive at all for the laughing sense: for "I was laughed at" Greek says με κορόιδεψαν, με περιγέλασαν (formal), or έγινα ρεζίλι (informal).
Μη γελιέσαι, δεν αλλάζει άνθρωπος στα πενήντα του.
mi yeliése, dhen alázi ánthropos sta penínda tu
Don't kid yourself — nobody changes at fifty.
Γελάστηκα, νόμιζα ότι η συνάντηση ήταν την Πέμπτη.
yelástika, nómiza óti i sinándisi ítan tin Pémpti
I got it wrong — I thought the meeting was on Thursday.
The whole -ιέμαι present is on Class Β1 in the passive; what belongs to this card is the meaning, which no rule would let you predict.
γελαστός against γελασμένος
Two adjectives from one root, and they are not near each other in meaning. γελαστός is smiling, cheerful — the -τός adjective, alive and complimentary. γελασμένος is the participle of the deceiving sense: taken in, mistaken.
Είναι πάντα γελαστή στη δουλειά, ακόμα και Δευτέρα πρωί.
íne pánda yelastí sti dhuliá, akóma ke Dheftéra proí
She's always cheerful at work, even on a Monday morning.
Βγήκα γελασμένος στους υπολογισμούς μου και δεν έφτασαν τα λεφτά.
vyíka yelazménos stus ipoloyizmús mu ke dhen éftasan ta leftá
My sums turned out to be wrong and the money didn't stretch.
The emotional counterpart, κλαίω, is a Class Α verb with a vowel-final stem and shares none of this behaviour.
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| γελάω με την καρδιά μου | laugh wholeheartedly |
| με πιάνουν τα γέλια | I get the giggles |
| γελούν και τα μουστάκια του | he's beaming, he can't hide it |
| θα γελάσει και το παρδαλό κατσίκι | it's laughable — even the goat will laugh |
| Γελάει καλύτερα όποιος γελάει τελευταίος. | He who laughs last laughs longest. (proverb) |
| δεν είναι παίξε γέλασε | it's no joke, it's serious |
| Μη γελιέσαι! | Don't kid yourself! |
Αν το προτείνεις αυτό στη συνέλευση, θα γελάσει και το παρδαλό κατσίκι.
an to protínis aftó sti sinélefsi, tha yelási ke to pardhaló katsíki
If you propose that at the meeting, you'll be the joke of the evening.
Key Takeaways
- γελάω · γελούσα · γέλασα · γελάσω · γέλα / γελάστε · έχω γελάσει · γελώντας.
- με
- a joke or a situation is amusement; με / μαζί με
- a person — or something of theirs — is mockery. σε βάρος κάποιου spells it out.
- a joke or a situation is amusement; με / μαζί με
- With an accusative object the verb means deceive: Με γέλασε = he tricked me.
- γελιέμαι / γελάστηκα = be mistaken. There is no passive of the laughing sense — that is με κορόιδεψαν.
- γελαστός = smiling; γελασμένος = fooled. Same root, opposite worlds.
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- Present Mediopassive: -ιέμαιB1 — How the -άω verbs (Conjugation Β1, like αγαπάω) build their mediopassive present — αγαπιέμαι, αγαπιέσαι, αγαπιέται — where the -ι- glide comes from, the synizesis that keeps it one syllable, and the reciprocal 'kiss/love each other' meaning that makes -ιούνται so common.
- Irregular Class Β VerbsB2 — Class Β has the most regular aorist in Greek — and a short list of everyday verbs that refuse it. The -νάω group that drops its ν (περνάω → πέρασα, ξεχνάω → ξέχασα), the velar group that gives -ηξα / -αξα instead of -ησα (φυσάω → φύσηξα, πετάω → πέταξα, κοιτάω → κοίταξα) and pays off again in the passive (τραβήχτηκε), plus ζω, the one Class Β verb that is irregular in the present.
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