κάθομαι covers three English verbs: sit, stay, and live. A chair is only one possibility. The common question Πού κάθεσαι; usually asks where somebody lives, while Κάτσε να δω uses the command as “hold on.”
Πού κάθεσαι τώρα; Ακόμα στην Κυψέλη;
pu káthese tóra; akóma stin Kipséli;
Where do you live now? Still in Kypseli?
Κάτσε να δω αν έχω τα κλειδιά μαζί μου.
kátse na dho an écho ta klidhiá mazí mu
Hold on, let me see whether I've got my keys with me.
Principal parts
κάθομαι is deponent: it has mediopassive form but active meaning. The shared endings and the absence of an active twin are handled on deponent verbs.
| Slot | Forms | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present | κάθομαι, κάθεσαι, κάθεται, καθόμαστε, κάθεστε / καθόσαστε, κάθονται | καθόσαστε (informal) |
| Imperfect | καθόμουν | |
| Aorist | κάθισα / έκατσα | έκατσα (informal); both fully current |
| Dependent | καθίσω / κάτσω | να / θα… |
| Imperative | κάθισε / κάτσε · καθίστε | κάτσε (informal) |
| Perfect | έχω καθίσει / κάτσει | |
| Participle | καθισμένος, -η, -ο | seated |
| Gerund | κάθοντας | marginal (literary/colloquial); use a finite clause in neutral prose |
Έκατσα λίγο στο μπαλκόνι και μου πέρασε ο πονοκέφαλος.
ékatsa lígho sto balkóni ke mu pérase o ponokéfalos
I sat on the balcony for a while and my headache went away. (informal)
Ήταν καθισμένη στο παγκάκι και περίμενε το λεωφορείο.
ítan kathizméni sto pagáki ke perímene to leoforío
She was sitting on the bench waiting for the bus.
Greek does not need separate basic verbs for the posture and the movement into it. Aspect supplies the viewpoint. Κάθομαι presents the sitting as a state or activity in progress; κάθισα / έκατσα presents the act as a bounded whole; the perfective κάτσε! asks the listener to enter that state. This is why a direct “sit down!” does not use the present form. The choice is irregular in shape, but its meaning follows the ordinary aspect contrast.
Κάτσε δίπλα μου να σου δείξω τις φωτογραφίες.
kátse dhípla mu na su dhíkso tis fotoghrafíes
Sit beside me so I can show you the photos.
καθίζω is a separate transitive verb, “seat somebody” or “settle something.” Its aorist κάθισε happens to look like a form of κάθομαι, so identify the subject and object rather than trusting the spelling alone.
Η δασκάλα κάθισε τα παιδιά σε κύκλο.
i dhaskála káthise ta pedhiá se kíklo
The teacher seated the children in a circle.
Government
| Frame | Job | Example |
|---|---|---|
σε
| seat or place | κάθισε στην καρέκλα |
| bare place adverbial | stay somewhere | κάθομαι σπίτι |
να
| pause or sit in order to act | κάτσε να φάμε |
Κάθομαι σπίτι απόψε γιατί είμαι πτώμα.
káthome spíti apópse yatí íme ptóma
I'm staying home tonight because I'm exhausted. (informal)
Καθίστε, παρακαλώ· ο γιατρός θα σας δει σε λίγο.
kathíste, parakaló; o yatrós tha sas dhi se lígho
Please take a seat; the doctor will see you shortly. (polite)
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Κάτσε καλά! (informal) | behave yourself; don't be ridiculous |
| κάτσε φρόνιμα | sit still; behave |
| δεν κάθεται ήσυχος | he cannot keep still |
| κάθομαι με σταυρωμένα χέρια | sit idly by |
| Πού κάθεσαι; | Where do you live? |
Δεν θα κάθομαι με σταυρωμένα χέρια όσο διαλύεται η ομάδα.
dhen tha káthome me stavroména chéria óso dhialíete i omádha
I won't sit idly by while the team falls apart.
Δεν κάθεται ήσυχος ούτε πέντε λεπτά.
dhen káthete ísichos úte pénde leptá
He can't sit still for even five minutes.
The opposite movement, “get up,” belongs to σηκώνομαι, not to this paradigm.
Common Mistakes
The active-looking ×κάθω is not the verb; use κάθομαι. For a direct command say κάτσε / κάθισε, never ×κάθισου. Use καθίζω only when somebody seats another person or settles something.
Key Takeaways
- κάθομαι · καθόμουν · κάθισα/έκατσα · να καθίσω/κάτσω · κάθισε/κάτσε · έχω καθίσει/κάτσει.
- The same verb means sit, stay, or reside; Πού κάθεσαι; commonly asks where you live.
- Κάτσε να… is the everyday “hold on / let me…,” not necessarily a request to use a chair.
- καθισμένος is the live adjective “seated”; transitive καθίζω is a separate verb.
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- Deponent Verbs (-ομαι only)B1 — Verbs with no corresponding active present but an active meaning — έρχομαι (come), κάθομαι (sit), γίνομαι (become), θυμάμαι (remember), φοβάμαι (fear), σκέφτομαι (think), εργάζομαι (work) — their mediopassive present and imperfect, and their unpredictable active-type or mediopassive-type perfective forms.
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- Present Mediopassive: -ομαιA2 — The present of the -ομαι mediopassive — πλένομαι, έρχομαι, γίνομαι — its full six-person paradigm, the passive, reflexive and deponent meanings it carries, and the fixed αι-spelling that makes -εται sound exactly like the active -ετε.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.