κλαίω (to cry) | Greek Grammar

κλαίω is short, common, and hides two things a learner cannot guess. Its past goes ψ where every instinct says σ, and its mediopassive means something that has nothing to do with tears.

Principal parts

Slot	Forms	Note
Present	κλαίω, κλαις, κλαίει, κλαίμε, κλαίτε, κλαίνε	2sg is a monosyllable, so no tonos; ×κλαίεις is not a form
Imperfect	έκλαιγα, έκλαιγες, έκλαιγε, κλαίγαμε, κλαίγατε, έκλαιγαν	the γ arrives, exactly as in άκουγα
Aorist	έκλαψα, έκλαψες, έκλαψε, κλάψαμε, κλάψατε, έκλαψαν	ψ, not σ; ×έκλαισα does not exist
Dependent	κλάψω — θα κλάψω, να κλάψω
Imperative	κλάψε / κλάψτε	imperfective κλαίγε / κλαίγετε, rarely needed
Perfect	έχω / είχα κλάψει
Gerund	κλαίγοντας
Mediopassive	κλαίγομαι, aorist κλαύτηκα (rare)	means whine — see below
-μένος participle	κλαμένος, -η, -ο	tear-stained; one μ, and no γ

The ψ is not arbitrary. The old stem was κλαυ-, with a labial buried in what modern spelling writes as -αι-, and κλαυ- + σα gives κλαψα — the same trick as καίω → έκαψα, with φταίω → έφταιξα going the velar way. The family is worked out on aorists of vowel-stem verbs; learn the three together and none of them will ever look irregular again. In colloquial speech you will also hear the present as κλαίγω, κλαίγεις (informal), levelled to the γ-forms — medieval in origin, and not the written standard.

Το μωρό κλαίει από τις τρεις, δεν ξέρω τι να κάνω.

to moró kléi apó tis tris, dhen kséro ti na káno

The baby's been crying since three and I don't know what to do.

Έκλαψα με το τέλος της ταινίας, δεν το περίμενα.

éklapsa me to télos tis tenías, dhen to perímena

I cried at the end of the film — I wasn't expecting it.

Κλαίγαμε από τα γέλια όλο το βράδυ.

kléghame apó ta yélia ólo to vrádhi

We were crying with laughter all evening.

κλαίγομαι does not mean "be cried"

Here is the payoff. Most Greek mediopassives sit somewhere on the passive–reflexive scale; κλαίγομαι has walked off it entirely. It means to whine, moan, complain about your lot — an attitude, not an event, and never a passive of κλαίω. That is why the vowel-final stems table glosses κλαίω's mediopassive as complain, moan rather than translating it as a passive: there is no passive one to put there.

Μη μου κλαίγεσαι, εσύ διάλεξες αυτή τη δουλειά.

mi mu kléyese, esí dhiálekses aftí ti dhuliá

Don't come whining to me — you chose this job.

Μου κλαίγεται συνέχεια για τον μισθό του.

mu kléyete sinéchia ya ton misthó tu

He's forever moaning to me about his salary.

💡

Watch the two pronouns in Μου κλαίγεται. The weak genitive μου is not the person complained about — it is the person being complained at, the unlucky listener. What the moaning is about goes on για. Greek marks both roles with one clitic and one preposition; English needs a whole extra phrase — "to me" — to say the first of them at all.

Government

Frame	Example	Reading
no object	Κλαίει πάλι.	the ordinary use
για accusative	Κλαίει για το ποδήλατό του.	what the tears are about
από accusative	Έκλαψα από τη χαρά μου.	what set them off
accusative object	Κλαίει τη μάνα της.	mourn — a person or a thing lost
κλαίγομαι για + accusative	Κλαίγεται για τον μισθό του.	whine about
κλαίγομαι + weak genitive	Μου κλαίγεται.	whine at me

Row four is the one most course books skip. κλαίω is intransitive nine times out of ten, but it takes a straight accusative in the sense mourn, and that use is fully alive — in obituaries, in folk song, and in ordinary speech about someone still grieving. It is where the phrase κλαίει τη μοίρα του comes from.

Ακόμα κλαίει τη μάνα της, πέντε χρόνια μετά.

akóma kléi ti mána tis, pénde chrónia metá

She's still mourning her mother, five years on.

Κλαίει για το ποδήλατο που του πήρε ο αδερφός του.

kléi ya to podhílato pu tu píre o adherfós tu

He's crying about the bike his brother took off him.

Set phrases

Phrase	Meaning
Μην κλαις.	don't cry
κλαίω από τα γέλια	cry laughing
Έβαλα τα κλάματα. (informal)	I burst into tears — bare accusative; the το … στα shape belongs to το 'βαλα στα πόδια
Άσε τα κλάματα. (informal)	enough of the tears
κλαίει η ψυχή μου	it breaks my heart
κλαίω με μαύρο δάκρυ (informal)	weep bitterly
κλαμένα μάτια	red, tear-stained eyes
Μη μου κλαίγεσαι. (informal)	spare me the sob story

Ήρθε στο γραφείο με κλαμένα μάτια και δεν ρώτησε κανείς τίποτα.

írthe sto ghrafío me klaména mátia ke dhen rótise kanís típota

She came into the office with red eyes and nobody asked a thing.

Έβαλε τα κλάματα μόλις είδε το αποτέλεσμα.

évale ta klámata mólis ídhe to apotélezma

He burst into tears the moment he saw the result.

Άσε τα κλάματα και λέγε.

áse ta klámata ke léye

Enough crying — out with it.

The emotional opposite, γελάω, is a Class Β verb and behaves completely differently — worth reading the pair together.

Key Takeaways

κλαίω · έκλαιγα · έκλαψα · κλάψω · κλάψε · έχω κλάψει, mediopassive κλαίγομαι.
The 2sg κλαις is a monosyllable and takes no accent; the plural is the short κλαίμε / κλαίτε / κλαίνε.
The aorist hides an old labial: έκλαψα, never ×έκλαισα — the same story as καίω → έκαψα.
A γ appears outside the present: έκλαιγα, κλαίγοντας, κλαίγομαι. The colloquial present κλαίγω levels it further.
κλαίγομαι = whine, not "be cried". The person you moan at is a weak genitive, the subject of the moaning goes on για.
κλαίω is usually intransitive, but takes a plain accusative for mourning: κλαίει τη μάνα της.
κλαμένος has one μ and means tear-stained, describing eyes and faces rather than the act.

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