καθιστώ means “render, cause to become” in legal, academic, official, and editorial prose. Its everyday equivalent is κάνω. In casual conversation, καθιστώ usually sounds as though the speaker is reading from a contract; its value is mainly accurate reading and formal writing.
Η καθυστέρηση καθιστά αδύνατη την έγκαιρη παράδοση.
i kathistérisi kathistá adhínati tin énkeri parádhosi
The delay makes timely delivery impossible. (formal)
Η καθυστέρηση κάνει αδύνατη την έγκαιρη παράδοση.
i kathistérisi káni adhínati tin énkeri parádhosi
The delay makes timely delivery impossible. (informal)
Principal parts
| Slot | Form | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Present | καθιστώ, καθιστάς, καθιστά, καθιστούμε, καθιστάτε, καθιστούν | (formal) |
| Imperfect | καθιστούσα | |
| Active aorist | κατέστησα | internal augment |
| Dependent / perfect | να καταστήσω / έχω καταστήσει | |
| Mediopassive present | καθίσταται / καθίστανται | predominantly third person |
| Mediopassive aorist | κατέστη / κατέστησαν | athematic learned forms |
| Imperative | κατάστησε / καταστήστε | real but restricted to formal instructions |
| Regular passive aorist in -θήκα | Does not exist: use κατέστη, not ×καθιστάθηκε | |
| Perfect participle | κατεστημένος, -η, -ο | also nominalised |
The two aorists keep voice apart: transitive κατέστησα means “I rendered,” while intransitive κατέστη means “became/was rendered.” This inherited contrast is arbitrary for a modern learner and must be memorized; ordinary -θηκα formation does not predict it.
The stressed internal έ is not a detachable prefix. It marks the past inside the learned compound: κατ-έ-στησα, κατ-έ-στη. Unstressed dependent forms return to καταστ-: να καταστήσω, να καταστεί. The broader historical pattern is covered on the internal augment, but this card's practical chain is simply one to memorize.
Η επιτροπή κατέστησε σαφείς τους όρους πριν από την ψηφοφορία.
i epitropí katéstise safís tus órus prin apó tin psifoforía
The committee made the terms clear before the vote. (formal)
Κατέστη σαφές ότι η συμφωνία δεν θα υπογραφεί.
katésti safés óti i simfonía dhen tha ipoghrafí
It became clear that the agreement would not be signed. (formal)
Despite its learned paradigm, καθιστώ has a genuine formal imperative: Καταστήστε σαφές… is natural in instructions, although nobody reaches for it in relaxed conversation.
Καταστήστε σαφές ποιος είναι υπεύθυνος για κάθε στάδιο.
katastíste safés pios íne ipéfthinos ya káthe stádhio
Make it clear who is responsible for each stage. (formal)
Government
Active καθιστώ takes accusative object + agreeing accusative predicate. In the mediopassive, that object becomes a nominative subject, so its predicate is nominative too. English uses make/render X Y without visible case; Greek exposes the relationship through agreement.
The two accusatives do different jobs: τη Μαρία identifies the affected person, while υπεύθυνη assigns her resulting role. Word order can put the predicate before or after the object without changing its case. This compact frame is related to, but not the same as, two independent objects; double-object case sets out the distinction.
Η απόφαση καθιστά τη Μαρία υπεύθυνη για τον έλεγχο.
i apófasi kathistá ti María ipéfthini ya ton élencho
The decision makes Maria responsible for the inspection. (formal)
Χωρίς φωτισμό, ο δρόμος καθίσταται επικίνδυνος τη νύχτα.
chorís fotizmó, o dhrómos kathístate epikíndhinos ti níchta
Without lighting, the road becomes dangerous at night. (formal)
Set phrases
καθιστά αναγκαίο “makes necessary”; καθιστά δυνατή τη συνέχεια “makes continuation possible”; κατέστη σαφές “it became clear”; καθιστώ κάποιον υπεύθυνο “make someone responsible”; καθιστώ γνωστό ότι “make it known that.”
The participle escapes officialese in το κατεστημένο, “the establishment,” now an ordinary political and social noun.
κατεστημένος also survives adjectivally for something established and entrenched, especially in κατεστημένες αντιλήψεις “entrenched views.” Unlike the finite verb, neither this adjective nor the noun automatically sounds like bureaucratic drafting.
Οι νέοι αμφισβήτησαν το πολιτικό κατεστημένο.
i néi amfizvítisan to politikó katestiméno
The young people challenged the political establishment.
Common Mistakes
❌ Η καθυστέρηση καθιστά αδύνατο τη λύση.
Incorrect — the predicate must agree with feminine accusative τη λύση.
✅ Η καθυστέρηση καθιστά αδύνατη τη λύση.
i kathistérisi kathistá adhínati ti lísi
The delay makes the solution impossible. (formal)
Key Takeaways
- καθιστώ · καθιστούσα · κατέστησα · καταστήσω; mediopassive καθίσταται · κατέστη.
- Active predicates agree in the accusative; mediopassive predicates agree in the nominative.
- κατάστησε / καταστήστε exists (formal), and το κατεστημένο is fully current outside official prose.
Related Topics
- κάνω (to do/make)A1 — The verb whose aspect contrast collapsed — present, imperfect, aorist and dependent are all κάνω/έκανα — plus its life as Greek's biggest light verb, the frames it appears in (weather, price, pretence, duration) and the passive it borrows from γίνομαι.
- γίνομαι (to become/happen)A2 — One Greek verb covers become, happen and be-possible: Έγινε γιατρός, Τι έγινε;, Γίνεται; This card gives the paradigm — including the active-shaped aorist έγινα — the nominative predicate, the impersonal γίνεται, and the forms γίνομαι does not have.
- 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.
- Legal and Official LanguageC1 — Decode the learned participles, inherited prepositions, passives, and fixed formulas of Greek laws, forms, contracts, and notices.
- Internal and η- AugmentB2 — How inherited compounds place a visible augment inside the word (υπέγραψα, προέβλεψα) or use stress retraction without a new vowel (ανέβηκα, κατάλαβα, περίμενα), and how four frequent past forms begin with η- (ήθελα, ήξερα, ήπια, ήρθα) — with augment position kept distinct from stem irregularity.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.