"To go" has two present-tense shapes in Greek. πάω is the short everyday form; πηγαίνω is the full form that supplies the imperfect and the most neutral singular command. Learn only πάω and you will miss "I used to go" and the ordinary Πήγαινε.
The two presents
| Person | πάω (everyday) | πηγαίνω (full form) |
|---|---|---|
| εγώ | πάω | πηγαίνω |
| εσύ | πας | πηγαίνεις |
| αυτός / αυτή | πάει | πηγαίνει |
| εμείς | πάμε | πηγαίνουμε |
| εσείς | πάτε | πηγαίνετε |
| αυτοί | πάνε | πηγαίνουν |
Both columns are current, ordinary Greek in the present tense; πάω is far commoner in speech, πηγαίνω a shade fuller and steadier in writing. The division of labour starts outside the present.
Which form owns which slot
| Slot | Form | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday present | πάω | I go, I'm going |
| Imperfect (past continuous) | πήγαινα — πηγαιν- only | I used to go, I was going |
| Aorist | πήγα — with γ | I went; a trip or finite series viewed as bounded |
| Dependent (after θα, να) | πάω — same shape as the present | θα πάω, να πάω: bounded trip or delimited series |
| Imperfective after θα, να | πηγαίνω | θα πηγαίνω: I'll be going regularly |
| Imperative | πήγαινε / πηγαίνετε; colloquial πάνε / πάτε | go on, off you go |
| Perfect | έχω / είχα πάει | I have been (there) |
| Gerund | πηγαίνοντας | on the way, while going |
| Mediopassive | does not exist | |
| -μένος participle | πηγαιμένος, -η, -ο exists, but is folk-style rather than neutral everyday Greek | |
| Dedicated perfective imperative | does not exist — use the live commands above | |
Two consequences fall out of that table and they are the reason this verb needs a card of its own.
One. The dependent is spelled exactly like the everyday present, so θα πάω and να πάω show no visible aspect contrast the way θα γράψω does against θα γράφω. The contrast is still there — it just surfaces as a choice of verb: θα πάω packages a trip or delimited series as a bounded whole, while θα πηγαίνω presents the movement internally or as an open routine.
Two. The neutral singular command is Πήγαινε, from the πηγαιν- side. Everyday speech also has short Πάνε! and plural Πάτε!, but there is no separate perfective command paradigm. For a brisk "go!" Greek can also use Άντε or Φύγε (informal). The first-person plural Πάμε! works as "let's go" with no particle at all — that one belongs to ας and the hortative.
Πήγαινα σχολείο με τα πόδια κάθε μέρα, με βροχή και με κρύο.
píyena scholío me ta pódhia káthe méra, me vrochí ke me krío
I walked to school every day, in rain and in cold.
Θα πηγαίνω εγώ τα παιδιά στο σχολείο αυτή τη βδομάδα.
tha piyéno eghó ta pedhiá sto scholío aftí ti vdhomádha
I'll be taking the kids to school this week.
Πήγαινε σιγά, έχει πάγο στον δρόμο.
píyene sighá, échi págho ston dhrómo
Drive slowly, there's ice on the road.
Government
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
σε
| Πάω στο σχολείο. | destination — the default |
| bare accusative with σπίτι | Πάω σπίτι. | home, with no preposition |
με
| Πάω με τα πόδια / με το λεωφορείο. | means of getting there |
για
| Πάω για ψώνια. | the errand you are going on |
| πάω να + verb | Πάω να δω. | go and do, or be about to |
| πάω + accusative person | Θα σε πάω εγώ. | take someone somewhere |
The destination preposition and its contracted forms (στο, στη, στον) are on σε. A couple of nouns beyond σπίτι behave the same way in this frame — πάω σχολείο, πάω δουλειά (informal) — treating the place as an activity rather than a location.
Πάω για ψώνια το πρωί, θέλεις κάτι;
páo ya psónia to proí, thélis káti;
I'm going shopping in the morning — do you want anything?
Πήγα χθες στο δημαρχείο, αλλά ήταν κλειστό.
pígha chthes sto dhimarchío, alá ítan klistó
I went to the town hall yesterday, but it was closed.
Πάω να κλείσω το παράθυρο και έρχομαι.
páo na klíso to paráthiro ke érchome
I'm just going to shut the window and I'll be right back.
Έχεις πάει ποτέ στα Μετέωρα;
échis pái poté sta Metéora;
Have you ever been to Meteora?
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Πάμε! | Let's go! |
| Πώς πάει; | How's it going? |
| πάει καλά | it's going well; also "fair enough" |
| δεν πάει άλλο | I / we can't take any more |
| πού το πας; | what are you driving at? (informal) |
| πάει και τελείωσε | it's over and done with |
| πάνε χρόνια | it's been years |
| πάει ο καημένος | he's gone — of someone who has died (informal, euphemistic) |
Πώς πάει η καινούρια δουλειά;
pos pái i kenúria dhuliá;
How's the new job going?
Δεν πάει άλλο, πρέπει να ξεκουραστώ.
dhen pái álo, prépi na ksekurastó
I can't keep this up — I need to rest.
Common Mistakes
1. Building the past continuous on πα-. The imperfect lives on the long stem; there is no past tense of πάω that starts with έπα-.
❌ Έπαγα κάθε μέρα στη θάλασσα εκείνο το καλοκαίρι.
Incorrect — the imperfect is πήγαινα, built on πηγαιν-.
✅ Πήγαινα κάθε μέρα στη θάλασσα εκείνο το καλοκαίρι.
píyena káthe méra sti thálasa ekíno to kalokéri
I went to the beach every day that summer.
2. Spelling the aorist by ear. μπήκα, βγήκα, βρήκα take κ; πήγα does not.
❌ Πήκα στο φαρμακείο πριν κλείσει.
Incorrect — the aorist is πήγα, with γ.
✅ Πήγα στο φαρμακείο πριν κλείσει.
pígha sto farmakío prin klísi
I went to the chemist's before it closed.
Key Takeaways
- πάω owns the everyday present and the dependent (θα πάω, να πάω); πηγαίνω supplies the imperfect πήγαινα, the neutral imperative πήγαινε / πηγαίνετε, the imperfective θα πηγαίνω and the gerund πηγαίνοντας. Colloquial commands πάνε / πάτε also exist.
- Because the dependent is spelled like the present, the aspect contrast surfaces as θα πάω (a bounded trip or delimited series) against θα πηγαίνω (movement viewed internally or as an open routine).
- Aorist πήγα, with γ — not the κ of μπήκα, βγήκα, βρήκα.
- Perfect έχω πάει = "I have been (there)"; no mediopassive exists. The -μένος form πηγαιμένος is real but folk-style, not neutral everyday Greek.
- Destination with σε (Πάω στο σχολείο) but bare σπίτι; means with με, errand with για, and πάω να
- verb for going to do something.
Related Topics
- έρχομαι (to come)A2 — A deponent whose past is shaped like an active verb and whose command comes from a third root: this card lists έρχομαι, ήρθα, έρθω, έλα and ερχόμενος in one place, names the four slots the verb leaves empty, and sets out the frames it takes — including μου έρχεται να, where the person is a genitive clitic.
- φεύγω (to leave)A2 — English 'leave' splits three ways in Greek and φεύγω owns only one of them: depart, go away, never with an object. Card gives the φεύγ-/φυγ- stem pair, the φεύγω/αφήνω/ξεχνάω triple, the hortative Φύγαμε!, the gerund φεύγοντας and the euphemistic έφυγε.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.
- σε: to, at, in, onA1 — How σε covers both location and direction, fuses with the definite article, and marks recipients and clock time.
- First-Person Commands With ας / ναB1 — The Greek imperative is only second-person, so first-person proposals use a ranked inventory: bare plural Πάμε! for a decisive move, Να πάμε; for consultation, Ας πάμε for a softened or conceding proposal, and να/ας formulas for 'let me'. Negative proposals take μη(ν).