γυρίζω has two complete presents from different conjugation classes, and everyday Γύρνα πίσω! comes from its γυρνάω twin. It also covers five meanings that English divides among 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 perfective past
The Class Β twin is Standard and supplies imperfect γυρνούσα / γύρναγα. It has no separate perfective stem: ×γύρνησα and ×γύρναξα do not exist. Both presents use aorist γύρισα, from the -ίζω side; consonant merges explains -ζω → -σα, and second-conjugation irregulars maps this cross-class pair. Its common singular commands are imperfective γύρνα and perfective γύρισε.
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 |
Bare σπίτι needs no preposition for "home"; στο σπίτι μου identifies a particular house. In Γυρίσαμε όλη την Πελοπόννησο, the bare accusative marks ground covered, not an object being turned. σε gives the wider pattern.
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) |
| 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.
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.
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 imperfective imperative γύρνα comes from the Β twin; γύρισε is perfective. The contrast is viewpoint, not a mechanical one-event-versus-repetition switch.
- 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 is the conversational default for coming back; επιστρέφω is especially common in formal and institutional settings.
Related Topics
- 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.
- έρχομαι (to come)A2 — A deponent whose past is shaped like an active verb and whose command comes from a third root: this card lists έρχομαι, ήρθα, έρθω, έλα and ερχόμενος in one place, names the four slots the verb leaves empty, and sets out the frames it takes — including μου έρχεται να, where the person is a genitive clitic.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.
- 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 — Where a verb supplies the contrast, Greek commands carry aspect too: the perfective imperative (γράψε, κλείσε, φάε) packages an instruction as a bounded whole, while the imperfective imperative (γράφε, πρόσεχε, να τρως) presents an activity internally or as an open habit.
- σε: to, at, in, onA1 — How σε covers both location and direction, fuses with the definite article, and marks recipients and clock time.