πονάω/πονώ (to hurt) | Greek Grammar

πονάω runs four argument frames off a single form, and English changes construction for every one of them — I'm in pain, my foot hurts, I've got a headache, that hurt me. Sorting out which noun is the subject is the whole job of this card, because that is where the sentence goes wrong.

Principal parts

Slot	Forms	Note
Present	πονάω/πονώ, πονάς, πονάει/πονά, πονάμε, πονάτε, πονάνε/πονούν(ε)	-άω (informal) beside -ώ (formal)
Imperfect	πονούσα — also πόναγα (informal)
Aorist	πόνεσα, πόνεσες, πόνεσε, πονέσαμε, πονέσατε, πόνεσαν	the small -εσα family: μπόρεσα, φόρεσα, κάλεσα
Dependent (θα, να)	πονέσω	not ×πονήσω
Imperative	πόνα · πόνεσε / πονέστε	rare in the pain senses, ordinary in the negative: Μη με πονάς!
Perfect	έχω πονέσει
Gerund	πονώντας
Participle	πονεμένος, -η, -ο	hurting; of a person or a story, sorrowful
Family	ο πόνος · ο πονοκέφαλος · ο πονόλαιμος · συμπονάω

The -εσ- aorist is a closed handful of verbs, learnt as a list; ×πόνησα is what the default -ησα produces, and it is wrong. Where the group comes from is on the Class Β aorist. The dictionary gives the verb no mediopassive — the headword has no -ιέμαι slot at all — though πονιέμαι survives in folk song, usually reciprocal: τ' αδέρφια δεν πονιούνται. The -μένος participle is not a passive either: πονεμένος describes somebody in pain, not somebody who has been hurt by an agent.

Government

Subject	Frame	Reading
the sufferer	Πονάω πολύ.	I'm in pain — no object at all
the body part	Πονάει το πόδι μου.	possessive genitive on the noun
the body part	Με πονάει το κεφάλι.	accusative clitic before the verb
the body part	Μου πονάει το κεφάλι.	genitive clitic — colloquial, not recorded by dictionaries
the cause	Με πόνεσαν τα λόγια σου.	the cause hurts a person
the cause	Μου πόνεσε τα δόντια το παγωτό.	genitive owner + accusative body part
a person	Τον πονάω σαν αδερφό.	I feel for him, I care deeply
a person	Πονάω για τα παιδιά.	ache on their behalf

Read the column on the left and the pattern falls out: the subject of πονάω is the seat of the pain or its cause. That is why ×Πονάω το πόδι μου is not how you report a sore foot — with yourself in the subject slot the verb turns causative and the sentence says I am hurting my own foot, the same frame as Με πονάς, άσε το χέρι μου. Put the foot in the subject slot instead and the person reappears as a clitic — μου hanging off the noun, or με in front of the verb.

Πού πονάς; Δείξε μου ακριβώς.

pu ponás; dhíkse mu akrivós

Where does it hurt? Show me exactly.

Πονάει το πόδι μου από τα καινούρια παπούτσια.

ponái to pódhi mu apó ta kenúria papútsia

My foot is hurting because of the new shoes.

Με πονάει η μέση, δεν μπορώ να σκύψω καθόλου.

me ponái i mési, dhen boró na skípso kathólu

My back is killing me — I can't bend down at all.

💡

The two standard frames differ in focus. Πονάει το πόδι μου reports on the foot; Με πονάει το πόδι reports on me, the foot named only as the source — and the accusative clitic is the one the dictionary records. Μου πονάει το πόδι does the same job through the genitive of μου αρέσει and μου πέρασε: you will hear it, but no dictionary sanctions it, so recognise it and build one of the first two. All three are on the genitive experiencer.

When the cause is the subject

Move something else into the subject slot — a word, a piece of news, iced water — and πονάω becomes transitive with no change of form. This is the frame English translates with hurt as a plain transitive verb, and it is as common about feelings as about bodies.

Με πόνεσε πολύ αυτό που είπες μπροστά σε όλους.

me pónese polí aftó pu ípes brostá se ólus

What you said in front of everyone really hurt me.

Πόνεσα όταν έμαθα ότι το είχαν κανονίσει πίσω από την πλάτη μου.

pónesa ótan ématha óti to íchan kanonísi píso apó tin pláti mu

It hurt when I found out they'd arranged it behind my back.

Είναι πονεμένος άνθρωπος, μην τον κρίνεις τόσο εύκολα.

íne poneménos ánthropos, min ton krínis tóso éfkola

He's a man who has been through a lot — don't judge him so quickly.

Caring, in the same word

The last frames have no pain in them at all. πονάω κάποιον — a plain accusative person, no preposition — means to be bound to someone, to feel for them. With για it tilts outward: πονάω για τα παιδιά, to ache on their behalf. Greek treats deep attachment as a kind of hurt, and the verb never had to change to say so.

Τον πονάει σαν δικό της παιδί — τον μεγάλωσε από τριών χρονών.

ton ponái san dhikó tis pedhí — ton meghálose apó trión chronón

She cares for him like her own child — she raised him from the age of three.

Πονάει η ψυχή μου που τον βλέπω έτσι.

ponái i psichí mu pu ton vlépo étsi

It breaks my heart to see him like this.

Set phrases

Phrase	Meaning
Πού πονάς;	Where does it hurt? — the doctor's opening line
πονάει η ψυχή μου	it breaks my heart
πονάει κεφάλι, κόβει κεφάλι	a brutally drastic remedy
έχω πονοκέφαλο / πονόλαιμο	I've got a headache / a sore throat
του πονάει το δόντι για κάποια (informal)	he's got a soft spot for her
πού σε πονεί και πού σε σφάζει	to hit somebody where it hurts
Όποιος πονεί, γαϊδουρινά φωνάζει.	the one in pain brays like a donkey (proverb)

Του πονάει το δόντι για τη γειτόνισσα και το ξέρει όλη η πολυκατοικία.

tu ponái to dhóndi ya ti yitónisa ke to kséri óli i polikatikía

He's got a thing for the neighbour and the whole block knows it. (informal)

Έχω έναν πονοκέφαλο που δεν λέει να περάσει.

écho énan ponokéfalo pu dhen léi na perási

I've got a headache that just won't shift.

The verb for the headache going away is περνάω, and the whole class is indexed on principal parts.

Key Takeaways

πονάω/πονώ · πονούσα · πόνεσα · να πονέσω · έχω πονέσει · πονώντας, participle πονεμένος.
The aorist is -εσα, not -ησα: πόνεσα, like μπόρεσα and φόρεσα.
The subject is the seat of the pain or its cause. ×Πονάω το πόδι μου reports no sore foot — with you as subject the verb turns causative.
Πονάει το πόδι μου and Με πονάει το πόδι are the two standard patterns; Μου πονάει το πόδι is colloquial and unrecorded — know it, don't build it.
Τον πονάω with a bare accusative person means I care deeply about him — no preposition, no pain.

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