περνάω/περνώ (to pass/spend) | Greek Grammar

No other verb in this class covers as much ground. περνάω crosses a road, drops in on a friend, hands you the salt, threads a needle, spends an evening, gets you into university, wears a fever off and takes you for somebody else. The senses are not a list to memorise: each one is pinned down by the frame around the verb, so learn the frames and the senses follow.

Principal parts

Slot	Forms	Note
Present	περνάω/περνώ, περνάς, περνάει/περνά, περνάμε/περνούμε, περνάτε, περνάνε/περνούν(ε)	-άω (informal) beside -ώ (formal)
Imperfect	περνούσα — also πέρναγα (informal)
Aorist	πέρασα	the -ασα group, with δίψασα and χάλασα
Dependent (θα, να)	περάσω
Imperative	πέρνα / περνάτε · πέρασε / περάστε	imperfective · perfective — and περάστε is also "come in!"
Perfect	έχω περάσει
Gerund	περνώντας
Mediopassive	περνιέμαι, aorist περάστηκα	fully alive: ο δρόμος δεν περνιέται, να περαστούν στον λογαριασμό
Participle	περασμένος, -η, -ο	past, gone by: περασμένα μεσάνυχτα
Family	το πέρασμα · περαστικός · ξεπερνάω · διαπερνάω

The aorist stem is περασ-, not the -ησα that most -άω verbs take: ×πέρνησα is the form the class tempts you into. The medieval present was rebuilt on that aorist stem, on the model of κέρασα → κερνάω, which is why the present has an ν the past does not — see second-conjugation irregulars.

Government

Frame	Example	Reading
accusative object	Πέρασα τον δρόμο.	cross it, hand it over, thread it
από accusative	Πέρασα από το γραφείο σου.	the route — and dropping by
σε accusative	Πέρασε στη Νομική.	move over to, get into
genitive clitic, no object	Μου πέρασε ο πυρετός.	it wore off — on me
accusative of time	Πέρασε όλο το καλοκαίρι στο χωριό.	spend it
manner adverb	Πέρασα υπέροχα.	have a good or bad time
για predicate	Περνάει για ειδικός.	be taken for

Θα περάσω από την τράπεζα και μετά έρχομαι.

tha peráso apó tin trápeza ke metá érchome

I'll call in at the bank and then I'll be over.

Μου περνάς το αλάτι;

mu pernás to aláti;

Could you pass me the salt?

Πέρασε στη Νομική με την πρώτη.

pérase sti Nomikí me tin próti

She got into law school first time.

Περάσαμε υπέροχα, να το επαναλάβουμε σύντομα.

perásame ipérocha, na to epanalávume síndoma

We had a wonderful time — let's do it again soon.

Πέρασε όλο το καλοκαίρι στο χωριό της γιαγιάς του.

pérase ólo to kalokéri sto chorió tis yayás tu

He spent the whole summer in his grandmother's village.

από is doing more here than marking a path. Because it names the route, it also names the visit: to pass by a place is to call in at it, and Θα περάσω αργότερα is an ordinary promise to come round. The preposition's full range is on uses of από.

Μου πέρασε or Με πέρασε

Both exist and they are different sentences, so the clitic is not a detail. Μου πέρασε puts the trouble in the subject slot and me in the genitive as the person it left — a fever, a headache, an anger, a craze. Με πέρασε makes me the object of somebody who went past me: overtook me, beat me, outdid me.

Μου πέρασε ο πονοκέφαλος μόλις έφαγα κάτι.

mu pérase o ponokéfalos mólis éfagha káti

My headache went as soon as I ate something.

Με πέρασε στη στροφή σαν να στεκόμουν.

me pérase sti strofí san na stekómun

He overtook me on the bend as if I were standing still.

Πέρασε ένας χρόνος και ακόμα δεν το έχω συνηθίσει.

pérase énas chrónos ke akóma dhen to écho sinithísi

A year has gone by and I still haven't got used to it.

περνάω για

This frame means take somebody for or pass for, and it hides a piece of grammar worth having. για normally governs the accusative, but here the word after it is a predicate, so it agrees with whatever it describes: nominative when that is the subject, accusative when it is the object.

Σε πέρασα για την αδερφή σου από πίσω.

se pérasa ya tin adherfí su apó píso

I took you for your sister from behind.

Περνιέται για ειδικός στα κρασιά και δεν ξεχωρίζει το λευκό από το ροζέ.

perniéte ya idhikós sta krasiá ke dhen ksechorízi to lefkó apó to rozé

He passes himself off as a wine expert and can't tell white from rosé.

💡

Note the two shapes side by side: Τον πέρασα για έξυπνο, accusative, because έξυπνο describes τον — but Περνάει για έξυπνος, nominative, because there it describes the subject. Same preposition, different case, and the case is what tells you who is being characterised.

Περάστε

The plural perfective command is the single most useful form on this card, because at a door it does not mean "go past" at all — it means come in. Greeks use it for anyone crossing a threshold, and it doubles as step this way and after you.

Ελάτε, περάστε μέσα, θα κρυώσει το φαγητό.

eláte, peráste mésa, tha kriósi to fayitó

Come on, come inside, the food will get cold.

Καλά να περάσετε στο νησί, ζηλεύω κιόλας.

kalá na perásete sto nisí, zilévo kiólas

Have a great time on the island — I'm jealous already.

Set phrases

Phrase	Meaning
Καλά να περάσεις!	Have a good time!
Περαστικά!	Get well soon — literally "may it pass"
Περάστε μέσα!	Come in!
μου πέρασε από το μυαλό	it crossed my mind
δεν περνάει η ώρα	the time is dragging
Πέρασε η μπόρα.	the storm has blown over
τα εξήντα τα πέρασε	he's the wrong side of sixty
περασμένα μεσάνυχτα	gone midnight

Δεν μου πέρασε καν από το μυαλό ότι θα θύμωνε τόσο.

dhen mu pérase kan apó to mialó óti tha thímone tóso

It never even crossed my mind that he'd be that angry.

The verb for going in rather than past is μπαίνω; the class is indexed on principal parts.

Key Takeaways

περνάω/περνώ · περνούσα · πέρασα · να περάσω · πέρνα / περάστε · έχω περάσει · περνώντας, participle περασμένος.
The aorist is -ασα: ×πέρνησα does not exist, and the present's ν is missing from every past form.
από = route and visit; σε = move over to; manner adverb = have a time of it; genitive clitic = it wore off on me.
Μου πέρασε (it left me) and Με πέρασε (he overtook me) are both good Greek and mean different things.
After περνάω για the predicate agrees in case — Περνάει για έξυπνος, Τον πέρασα για έξυπνο.
Περάστε! at a door means come in, not go past.

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