Two things make γυρίζω worth a card of its own. It has two complete presents from two different conjugation classes, and the imperative you will hear every day — Γύρνα πίσω! — does not come from the headword at all. On top of that it carries five distinct meanings that English hands to five different verbs.
Principal parts
| Slot | Forms | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present, Class Α | γυρίζω, γυρίζεις, γυρίζει, γυρίζουμε, γυρίζετε, γυρίζουν(ε) | the headword |
| Present, Class Β | γυρνάω / γυρνώ, γυρνάς, γυρνάει / γυρνά, γυρνάμε, γυρνάτε, γυρνάνε / γυρνούν(ε) | equally standard, slightly more colloquial |
| Imperfect | γύριζα — or γυρνούσα / γύρναγα | each present keeps its own imperfect |
| Aorist | γύρισα, γύρισες, γύρισε, γυρίσαμε, γυρίσατε, γύρισαν | one aorist for both presents |
| Dependent | γυρίσω — θα γυρίσω, να γυρίσω | likewise shared |
| Imperative | perfective γύρισε / γυρίστε; imperfective γύρνα / γυρνάτε | γύρνα comes from the Β twin |
| Perfect | έχω / είχα γυρίσει | |
| Gerund | γυρίζοντας — or γυρνώντας | |
| Mediopassive | γυρίζομαι, aorist γυρίστηκα | alive chiefly of films: Η ταινία γυρίστηκε… |
| -μένος participle | γυρισμένος, -η, -ο | turned over, folded back |
Two presents, one past
The Class Β twin is not a dialect form or a sloppy variant — it is standard Greek that any speaker will produce, and it is fully conjugated. What it does not have is a past of its own: there is no ×γύρνησα and no ×γύρναξα. Both presents feed the single aorist γύρισα, taken from the -ίζω side (the -ζω → -σα route, on consonant merges). Second-conjugation irregulars names this pair and κοιτάω/κοιτάζω as the two live examples of the pattern.
The practical consequence is the imperative. Γύρνα is by a wide margin the commonest 2nd-person singular command from this verb, and it is built on the Β stem; γύρισε is the perfective form built on the Α stem.
Γύρνα πίσω, ξέχασες το κινητό σου στο τραπέζι!
yírna píso, kséchases to kinitó su sto trapézi
Come back, you've left your phone on the table!
Γύρισε το κλειδί δύο φορές, αλλιώς δεν κλειδώνει.
yírise to klidhí dhío forés, aliós dhen klidhóni
Turn the key twice, otherwise it doesn't lock.
Government
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| intransitive + σε / από | Γύρισα από τη δουλειά. | come back, get back |
| intransitive + bare adverb | Γύρισα σπίτι. | σπίτι takes no preposition |
| accusative object | Γύρισε το κλειδί / σελίδα. | turn something |
| accusative + genitive clitic | Θα σου γυρίσω τα λεφτά. | give back what you borrowed |
| bare accusative of place | Γυρίσαμε όλη την Πελοπόννησο. | travel all over somewhere |
| intransitive, no goal | Πού γυρνάς; | wander, be out and about |
| accusative: film | γυρίζω ταινία | shoot a film |
Two details in that table repay attention. σπίτι needs no preposition — Γύρισα σπίτι is the default for going home, and Γύρισα στο σπίτι is equally good Greek: the preposition comes back the moment you point at a particular house, στο σπίτι μου, στο σπίτι της γιαγιάς. σε explains which nouns behave this way. And the bare accusative in Γυρίσαμε όλη την Πελοπόννησο is not an object being turned: it marks ground covered, the way English says "we did the whole Peloponnese".
Γύρισα από τη δουλειά κατάκοπος και έπεσα αμέσως για ύπνο.
yírisa apó ti dhuliá katákopos ke épesa amésos ya ípno
I got back from work shattered and went straight to bed.
Γυρίσαμε όλη την Πελοπόννησο σε πέντε μέρες.
yirísame óli tin Pelopóniso se pénde méres
We went all over the Peloponnese in five days.
Πού γυρνάς τέτοια ώρα; Σε παίρνω από τις δέκα.
pu yirnás tétia óra; se pérno apó tis dhéka
Where are you wandering about at this hour? I've been ringing you since ten.
Η ταινία γυρίστηκε ολόκληρη στη Σύρο, μέσα σε έξι εβδομάδες.
i tenía yirístike olókliri sti Síro, mésa se éksi evdhomádhes
The film was shot entirely on Syros, in six weeks.
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Γύρνα πίσω! | come back! |
| γυρίζω σελίδα | turn the page, move on |
| γυρίζω την πλάτη σε κάποιον | turn my back on someone |
| μου γυρίζει το στομάχι | it turns my stomach |
| τα γυρίζω | backtrack, change my story (informal) |
| γύρισε ο τροχός | the wheel has turned — fortunes have reversed |
| γυρίζω τον κόσμο | travel the world |
| γυρίζω ταινία | shoot a film |
Μου γύρισε την πλάτη τη στιγμή που τον χρειαζόμουν.
mu yírise tin pláti ti stighmí pu ton chriazómun
He turned his back on me the moment I needed him.
Μου γυρίζει το στομάχι μόνο που το σκέφτομαι.
mu yirízi to stomáchi móno pu to skéftome
It turns my stomach just to think about it.
Τα γύρισε μόλις κατάλαβε ότι δεν τον πιστεύαμε.
ta yírise mólis katálave óti dhen ton pistévame
He backtracked as soon as he realised we didn't believe him.
Γύρισε ο τροχός και τώρα ζητάει αυτός βοήθεια.
yírise o trochós ke tóra zitái aftós voíthia
The wheel has turned, and now he's the one asking for help.
Γυρίζοντας σπίτι, πέρασα από τον φούρνο για ψωμί.
yirízondas spíti, pérasa apó ton fúrno ya psomí
On the way home I stopped at the bakery for bread.
Key Takeaways
- γυρίζω = γυρνάω / γυρνώ: two full presents, two imperfects, but one aorist γύρισα and one dependent γυρίσω. ×γύρνησα and ×γύριξα do not exist.
- The everyday imperative γύρνα comes from the Β twin; γύρισε is the perfective from the Α stem.
- Five senses: come back, turn something, give something back, wander about, shoot a film. "Travel all over" takes a bare accusative of the place, not an object.
- The mediopassive γυρίστηκε survives mainly of films.
- Register: γυρίζω spoken, επιστρέφω written and formal.
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- επιστρέφω (to return)B1 — The formal half of the return pair: what signs, receipts and news bulletins use where speech says γυρίζω. Principal parts, the internal augment that appears in the two past tenses and nowhere else, and the 'give back' frame it shares with γυρίζω but owns in writing.
- 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.
- Aspect in the ImperativeB1 — Greek commands carry aspect too: the perfective imperative (γράψε, κλείσε, φάε) tells someone to do one thing now, while the imperfective imperative (γράφε, πρόσεχε, να τρως) tells them to do it habitually, continuously, or as a standing rule. This distinction is almost never taught to English speakers — here it is, with the Πες μου / Λέγε contrast at its centre.