πιάνω starts with physical contact — grab, catch — but two everyday frames matter even more: a state can “seize” a person, and a treatment, excuse, signal or adhesive can “catch,” meaning work.
Πιάσε το χέρι μου, το μονοπάτι γλιστράει.
piáse to chéri mu, to monopáti ghlistrái
Take my hand; the path is slippery.
Αυτό το κόλπο δεν πιάνει πια με τα παιδιά.
aftó to kólpo dhen piáni pia me ta pedhiá
That trick doesn't work on the children anymore.
Principal parts
| Slot | Form |
|---|---|
| Present | πιάνω, πιάνεις, πιάνει, πιάνουμε, πιάνετε, πιάνουν |
| Imperfect | έπιανα |
| Aorist | έπιασα |
| After θα / να | πιάσω |
| Command | πιάσε / πιάστε |
| Perfect | έχω πιάσει |
| Mediopassive | πιάνομαι · πιάστηκα / πιαστώ |
| Participle | πιασμένος, -η, -ο |
| Unavailable slots | none in the ordinary active or mediopassive paradigm |
A state grabs the experiencer
English makes the person the subject: “I get sleepy.” Greek often makes the sensation or condition the subject and marks the person with an accusative clitic: με πιάνει ο ύπνος, με έπιασε πονοκέφαλος / πανικός / η ζέστη.
Με πιάνει ο ύπνος μόλις κάθομαι στον καναπέ.
me piáni o ípnos mólis káthome ston kanapé
I get sleepy as soon as I sit on the sofa.
Με έπιασε πονοκέφαλος στη μέση της σύσκεψης.
me épiase ponokéfalos sti mési tis sískepsis
I got a headache halfway through the meeting.
Δεν μπορώ να πιάσω ύπνο με αυτή τη φασαρία.
dhen boró na piáso ípno me aftí ti fasaría
I can't get to sleep with all this noise.
Δεν έπιασα ύπνο όλη νύχτα από την αγωνία.
dhen épiase ípno óli níchta apó tin aghonía
I didn't get any sleep all night because of the anxiety.
When something works
Used absolutely, πιάνει / δεν πιάνει says whether something takes hold or is effective. The subject may be medicine, glue, a radio signal, an excuse or a social tactic. πιάνει τόπο means that effort or money has a useful effect.
Η κόλλα δεν έπιασε, γι' αυτό άνοιξε πάλι το κουτί.
i kóla dhen épiase, yaftó ánikse páli to kutí
The glue didn't hold, so the box opened again.
Η βοήθειά σου έπιασε τόπο και τελειώσαμε νωρίς.
i voíthiá su épiase tópo ke teliósame norís
Your help paid off and we finished early.
Government
- accusative object: πιάνω το χέρι, το λεωφορείο, δουλειά
- accusative experiencer: με πιάνει ο ύπνος
- πιάνομαι από + accusative: hold on to something
- place as object: Πιάσαμε σπίτι στο κέντρο — found/secured a home
- absolute: Δεν πιάνει — it does not work
Πιάσου από το κάγκελο ώσπου να περάσει το κύμα.
piásu apó to kángelo óspu na perási to kíma
Hold on to the railing until the wave passes.
A one-off grab is πιάνω; continuing to hold something is κρατάω. παίρνω, by contrast, profiles taking or receiving rather than contact.
Participle meanings
πιασμένος has lexicalized adjective readings. A seat or table can be occupied or reserved; a person can be stiff after exertion. πιάστηκε η μέση μου says the back seized up.
Το τραπέζι δίπλα στο παράθυρο είναι πιασμένο.
to trapézi dhípla sto paráthiro íne piasméno
The table by the window is reserved.
Πιάστηκε η μέση μου μετά τη μετακόμιση.
piástike i mési mu metá ti metakómisi
My back seized up after the move.
Set phrases
- πιάνω δουλειά — start work
- με έπιασε η βροχή — I got caught in the rain
- τα πιάνει — takes bribes (informal, disapproving)
- Πιάσε! — Catch! / Here, take this!
- πιάνει τόπο — has a useful effect
Common Mistakes
έπιανα is the internal/open past, not the bounded έπιασα. Do not replace a one-off πιάσε with κρατάω, which presents continued holding. Above all, preserve the experiencer frame: the sensation is the subject and the affected person is accusative.
Μας έπιασε η βροχή πριν φτάσουμε στο αυτοκίνητο.
mas épiase i vrochí prin ftásume sto aftokínito
We got caught in the rain before we reached the car.
Key Takeaways
- πιάνω · έπιανα · έπιασα · πιάσω · πιάσε / πιάστε · πιάστηκα · πιασμένος.
- In με πιάνει ο ύπνος, the state is the subject and the experiencer is accusative.
- Δεν πιάνει means “it does not work”; πιασμένος also means reserved, occupied or physically stiff.
Related Topics
- κρατάω/κρατώ (to hold/keep)A2 — One Greek verb where English needs four, and then a fifth job nobody teaches: κρατάει with no object at all means it lasts. Principal parts, the beneficiary clitic in Κράτα μου μια θέση, the από of descent, and the two things κρατιέμαι does.
- ρίχνωB1 — The transitive partner of πέφτω and a highly productive collocational verb for glances, blame, prices, weather, and several clitic-sensitive idioms.
- φτάνω (to arrive/be enough)A2 — Two verbs in one shell: φτάνω arrives and reaches, and impersonal φτάνει is enough — a sense that has hardened into the conjunction φτάνει να 'as long as'. Full forms, the transitive reach frame, and the phrases the impersonal carries.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.
- Direct-Object Clitics (Accusative)A1 — με, σε, τον, την, το, μας, σας, τους, τις, τα — the everyday object pronoun, and it arrives before the verb, not after it. Covers the third person's agreement with the Greek noun's gender rather than with English 'it', the final -ν that is the only thing keeping τον apart from το, and the postverbal form τες that most courses never mention.