κατεβαίνω (to go down) | Greek Grammar

Morphologically this verb is ανεβαίνω with the other prefix, and everything said there about the -ηκα aorist and the intransitive/causative split holds here unchanged. What makes κατεβαίνω worth its own card is that it has picked up two everyday senses its sibling does not mirror, and one of them is probably the most useful sentence a visitor to Greece learns.

Principal parts

Slot	Form	Note
Present	κατεβαίνω, -νεις, -νει, -νουμε, -νετε, -νουν(ε)	go down, come down, get off
Imperfect	κατέβαινα	plural κατεβαίναμε, κατεβαίνατε
Aorist	κατέβηκα, -ηκες, -ηκε, κατεβήκαμε, κατεβήκατε, κατέβηκαν	active, despite the -ηκα
After θα / να	κατεβώ, κατεβείς, κατεβεί, κατεβούμε, κατεβείτε, κατεβούν — also κατέβω, κατέβεις, κατέβει…	both paradigms are current
Command	κατέβα / κατεβείτε	bare -α in the singular, no -ς and no -ε
Perfect / pluperfect	έχω / είχα κατέβει	also κατεβεί
Gerund	κατεβαίνοντας	on the way down
Causative twin	κατεβάζω → κατέβασα, να κατεβάσω, κατεβασμένος	bring down, lower, download

A passive — does not exist. No κατεβαίνομαι; the passive belongs to κατεβάζω (κατεβάστηκε).
A -μένος participle — does not exist for κατεβαίνω. κατεβασμένος is κατεβάζω's: lowered, taken down, downloaded.

The singular command κατέβα takes neither the -ς of κατέβεις nor the -ε of an ordinary imperative, which is why it is filed with the irregular commands alongside μπες, βγες and ανέβα.

Getting off

English get off gives no hint that the Greek verb means "go down", and this is the sense you will need first and most often. On a bus or the metro, the phrasing is fixed.

Κατεβαίνω στην επόμενη, με συγχωρείτε.

katevéno stin epómeni, me sinchoríte

I'm getting off at the next stop, excuse me.

Συγγνώμη, κατεβαίνετε;

sighnómi, katevénete;

Excuse me — are you getting off? (what you ask the person blocking the door)

Κατέβηκα από το λεωφορείο δύο στάσεις νωρίτερα.

katévika apó to leoforío dhío stásis norítera

I got off the bus two stops early.

💡

Do not reach for φεύγω or βγαίνω here. φεύγω is leaving in general — it says nothing about the bus — and βγαίνω is coming out of an enclosed space, which is what you do from a lift or a shop. Public transport in Greek is something you climb onto and climb down from, so the pair is ανεβαίνω / κατεβαίνω.

Standing, striking, and taking to the streets

The second sense has nothing to do with height. κατεβαίνω is the ordinary verb for entering a contest — an election, a race, a competition — and, with στους δρόμους, for a crowd going out to protest. It is everywhere in the news and in ordinary political talk.

Κατεβαίνει υποψήφιος στις επόμενες εκλογές.

katevéni ipopsífios stis epómenes ekloyés

He's standing as a candidate in the next election.

Κατέβηκε ο κόσμος στους δρόμους μετά την ανακοίνωση.

katévike o kózmos stus dhrómus metá tin anakínosi

People took to the streets after the announcement.

The thread running through all of these is stepping down into the arena: a candidate κατεβαίνει into the race, a union κατεβαίνει σε απεργία, a team κατεβαίνει with a particular line-up. Once you hear that image, the sense stops looking like a separate word.

Government

Frame	Example	Reading
από accusative	Κατέβηκα από το τρένο.	the source — what you came off or out of
σε accusative	Κατεβαίνω στο Σύνταγμα.	the stop or the destination
bare accusative	Κατέβηκα τις σκάλες.	the route travelled
bare place name (informal)	Κατεβαίνω Αθήνα.	travel south, or down into town
no complement	Κατέβηκε ο πυρετός.	fever, prices, water level, volume

The bare place name is worth knowing because it encodes geography. Greeks κατεβαίνουν to Athens from the north and ανεβαίνουν to Thessaloniki from the south, and villagers κατεβαίνουν into the nearest town regardless of the compass. The article-less construction is informal; with the preposition back in — κατεβαίνω στην Αθήνα — it is neutral in any register. The preposition itself is on σε.

Κατεβαίνω Αθήνα το Σαββατοκύριακο για τα γενέθλια της αδερφής μου.

katevéno Athína to Savatokíriako ya ta yenéthlia tis adherfís mu

I'm going down to Athens at the weekend for my sister's birthday. (informal)

κατεβάζω

The causative twin carries the modern counterweight to ανεβάζω = upload: κατεβάζω = download. It also does the everyday work of lowering things — a price, a voice, a volume, a shutter.

Κατέβασα την ταινία αλλά δεν έχει υπότιτλους.

katévasa tin tenía alá dhen échi ipótitlus

I downloaded the film but it has no subtitles.

Κατέβασε λίγο τη μουσική, μιλάω στο τηλέφωνο.

katévase lígho ti musikí, miláo sto tiléfono

Turn the music down a bit, I'm on the phone.

Set phrases

Phrase	Meaning
Κατεβαίνετε;	Are you getting off? — the crowded-bus question
κατεβαίνω στους δρόμους	take to the streets
κατεβαίνω σε απεργία	come out on strike
κατεβάζω ρολά	shut up shop, close down for good
δεν το κατεβάζει ο νους μου	I can't get my head round it; it would never occur to me
μου κατέβηκε μια ιδέα (informal)	an idea came to me out of nowhere
Κατέβα κάτω!	Come down here!

Δεν το κατεβάζει ο νους μου να πούλησαν το μαγαζί.

dhen to katevázi o nus mu na púlisan to maghazí

I can't get my head round them having sold the shop.

Κατέβα κάτω, σε περιμένουμε.

katéva káto, se periménume

Come down, we're waiting for you.

Key Takeaways

κατεβαίνω · κατέβαινα · κατέβηκα · να κατεβώ (κατέβω) · κατέβα / κατεβείτε · έχω κατέβει · κατεβαίνοντας.
Getting off transport is κατεβαίνω, not φεύγω and not βγαίνω. Κατεβαίνετε; is the question you will be asked.
It also means standing for election and, with στους δρόμους, protesting.
από for the source, σε for the stop, bare accusative for the route, bare place name (informal) for travelling south or into town.
κατεβάζω = bring down, lower, and download — the counterpart of ανεβάζω = upload.

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