If you learn one verb's forms cold, make it this one. παίρνω covers so much ground that πήρα and πάρω turn up in ordinary conversation more often than almost anything else you can conjugate — and the verb is mild as irregulars go, because the root πάρ- is visible in every perfective cell.
Principal parts
| Slot | Form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present | παίρνω, παίρνεις, παίρνει, παίρνουμε, παίρνετε, παίρνουν(ε) | |
| Imperfect | έπαιρνα | regular, on the present stem |
| Aorist | πήρα, πήρες, πήρε, πήραμε, πήρατε, πήραν | the augment is fused into πή- and stays in every person |
| Dependent (after θα, να) | πάρω | the -ν- of the present is gone |
| Imperative | πάρε / πάρτε | with a clitic: πάρ' το, πάρ' τα |
| Perfect / pluperfect | έχω / είχα πάρει | |
| Gerund | παίρνοντας | |
| Passive aorist | πάρθηκα, πάρθηκε | built on πάρ-, never on παίρν- |
| -μένος participle | παρμένος | chiefly written: παρμένο από… "taken from…" |
| Mediopassive present | παίρνεται, παίρνονται | third person mainly — "is / are taken" |
| Aorist ×έπαρα | does not exist — the stem vowel changes and the augment is absorbed | |
Where πήρα sits among the other irregular pasts is on irregular and suppletive aorists, and why παίρνω is only half suppletive is worked out under stem alternation. The choice between έπαιρνα and πήρα is ordinary past aspect — a habit against a single act — and needs nothing special from this verb.
Το απόσπασμα είναι παρμένο από το τρίτο κεφάλαιο.
to apóspazma íne parméno apó to tríto kefáleo
The extract is taken from the third chapter.
Δεν έχω πάρει ακόμα απάντηση από την τράπεζα.
dhen écho pári akóma apándisi apó tin trápeza
I still haven't had an answer from the bank.
One verb, seven English ones
| English | Greek |
|---|---|
| take (in your hands) | Πάρε την τσάντα σου. |
| get, receive | Πήρα το μήνυμά σου. |
| buy (everyday shopping) | Πήρα ψωμί και γάλα. |
| catch (a bus, a train) | Πήρα το λεωφορείο. |
| pick up, fetch | Θα πάρω τα παιδιά από το σχολείο. |
| call on the phone | Πάρε με το βράδυ. |
| take (a subject, a medicine) | Παίρνω αντιβίωση. |
Πήρα το λεωφορείο των έξι για να προλάβω τη συνάντηση.
píra to leoforío ton éksi ya na prolávo ti sinándisi
I caught the six o'clock bus so I'd make the meeting.
Πάρε ένα κιλό ντομάτες και λίγο βασιλικό από τη λαϊκή.
páre éna kiló domátes ke lígho vasilikó apó ti laikí
Get a kilo of tomatoes and some basil at the street market.
Πάρε με το βράδυ, μετά τις εννιά, να τα πούμε.
páre me to vrádhi, metá tis eniá, na ta púme
Give me a ring tonight after nine and we'll catch up.
Πήρα ψωμί και γάλα γυρίζοντας σπίτι.
píra psomí ke ghála yirízondas spíti
I picked up bread and milk on the way home.
Αγόρασαν το διαμέρισμα πριν από δέκα χρόνια, όταν ήταν φτηνά.
aghórasan to dhiamérizma prin apó dhéka chrónia, ótan ítan ftiná
They bought the flat ten years ago, when prices were low.
Government
The direct object is accusative. The source can be either από + accusative or a genitive clitic — and that second option produces the one structural ambiguity in the verb, because the genitive clitic is also how you mark the person you are getting something for.
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| accusative | Πήρα τα κλειδιά. | the thing taken |
από
| Το πήρα από τον Νίκο. | unambiguous source |
| genitive clitic | Του πήρα ένα δώρο. | either "I bought him a present" or "I took a present off him" |
| accusative person + τηλέφωνο | Τον πήρα τηλέφωνο. | the person called is accusative |
| παίρνω να + verb | Πάρε να φας κάτι. | take something and eat it |
Context settles the third row every time in practice — a present is bought for someone, a phone is taken off them — but the ambiguity is real, and when it matters Greek disambiguates with από: Του πήρα το κινητό against Πήρα το κινητό από αυτόν.
Του πήρα ένα δώρο για τα γενέθλιά του, ελπίζω να του αρέσει.
tu píra éna dhóro ya ta yenéthliá tu, elpízo na tu arési
I got him a present for his birthday — I hope he likes it.
Του πήρα το κινητό γιατί δεν σήκωνε κεφάλι από την οθόνη.
tu píra to kinitó yatí dhen síkone kefáli apó tin othóni
I took his phone off him because he wouldn't look up from the screen.
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| παίρνω τηλέφωνο | call, ring someone |
| με παίρνει ο ύπνος | I drop off, sleep overtakes me |
| παίρνω μέρος (σε) | take part in |
| παίρνω απόφαση | make a decision |
| παίρνω φωτιά | catch fire; of a person, blow up (informal) |
| τα παίρνω | lose my temper — or take bribes, depending on context (informal) |
| παίρνω πόδι | get the sack (informal) |
| δεν με παίρνει | I can't afford it / it's not on for me |
Με πήρε ο ύπνος στον καναπέ με τα ρούχα και τα φώτα αναμμένα.
me píre o ípnos ston kanapé me ta rúcha ke ta fóta anaména
I dropped off on the sofa with my clothes on and the lights still on.
Μην του μιλάς έτσι, παίρνει φωτιά αμέσως.
min tu milás étsi, pérni fotiá amésos
Don't talk to him like that, he goes up in flames straight away.
Δεν με παίρνει να αλλάξω αυτοκίνητο φέτος.
dhen me pérni na alákso aftokínito fétos
I can't afford to change the car this year.
Common Mistakes
Keeping the present stem after θα or να. The dependent is built on πάρ-, and the -ν- of παίρνω has no place in it. The half-remembered blend ×παίρω is the commonest error this verb produces, and it is not a word.
❌ Θέλω να παίρω λίγο αέρα πριν ξεκινήσουμε.
Incorrect — there is no ×παίρω. The dependent is πάρω: να πάρω λίγο αέρα.
✅ Θέλω να πάρω λίγο αέρα πριν ξεκινήσουμε.
thélo na páro lígho aéra prin ksekinísume
I want to get some air before we set off.
Key Takeaways
- πάρ- is in every perfective cell: πήρα, πάρω, πάρε, έχω πάρει, πάρθηκε. Only the imperfective half keeps the -ν- (παίρνω, έπαιρνα, παίρνοντας).
- The aorist is πήρα, with the augment welded into πή- — it stays through πήραμε, πήρατε.
- One verb covers take, get, buy, catch, pick up, call and take (medicine); αγοράζω is reserved for weightier purchases.
- The source is από + accusative or a genitive clitic — and the clitic frame is genuinely ambiguous: Του πήρα ένα δώρο is either bought-for or taken-from.
- The person you telephone is accusative: Τον πήρα τηλέφωνο, not a genitive.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Irregular and Suppletive AoristsB1 — The dozen aorists you cannot derive and must simply know — είδα, είπα, ήρθα, ήπια, πήγα, βρήκα, μπήκα, βγήκα, πήρα, έφαγα, έδωσα, έμεινα — grouped by their shared shape, and precisely because they belong to Greek's most frequent verbs, the highest-value forms in the whole past tense.
- Stem-Alternation Verbs (στέλνω→έστειλα)B2 — In στέλνω → έστειλα → στάλθηκε the root vowel itself is doing the grammar: ε in the present, ει in the perfective, α in the passive. This page works through the whole alternating set — στέλνω, πλένω, σπέρνω, δέρνω, μένω, φεύγω, πεθαίνω, φέρνω — with their dependents, commands and participles, and explains why these dependents (στείλω, πλύνω, μείνω) are more dangerous than δω or πω.
- δίνω (to give)A2 — Three stems doing three jobs — διν- for the present, δωσ- for έδωσα and δώσω, δοθ- for the passive δόθηκε and δοσμένος — and the two recipient frames that make δίνω the verb where Greek's double-object system first bites: Του έδωσα το βιβλίο beside Το έδωσα στον Γιάννη. Plus δίνω εξετάσεις, where Greek gives the exam English takes.
- φέρνω (to bring)A2 — φέρνω moves a thing towards the speaker — which is why Greek needs three verbs where English has bring and take: φέρνω here, πηγαίνω there, παίρνω away with you. Principal parts (note the aorist έφερα, one ν away from the imperfect έφερνα), the frames, and the mediopassive φέρομαι, which has quietly become a different verb meaning 'behave'.