Greek keeps searching and finding rigorously apart, and ψάχνω is the searching half. The single most useful fact on this card is that its aorist, έψαξα, reports that a search took place and says nothing whatsoever about the outcome — which is why Έψαξα αλλά δεν βρήκα is not a contradiction but an ordinary sentence.
Principal parts
| Slot | Form |
|---|---|
| Present | ψάχνω, ψάχνεις, ψάχνει, ψάχνουμε, ψάχνετε, ψάχνουν(ε) |
| Imperfect | έψαχνα, έψαχνες, έψαχνε, ψάχναμε, ψάχνατε, έψαχναν |
| Aorist | έψαξα, έψαξες, έψαξε, ψάξαμε, ψάξατε, έψαξαν |
| After θα / να | ψάξω, ψάξεις, ψάξει, ψάξουμε, ψάξετε, ψάξουν |
| Command | ψάξε / ψάξτε · imperfective ψάχνε |
| Perfect / pluperfect | έχω / είχα ψάξει |
| Mediopassive | ψάχνομαι — aorist ψάχτηκα, be searched, be frisked |
| Gerund / participle | ψάχνοντας · ψαγμένος — clued-up, not "searched for" |
The -χν- is a present-tense affair: in the perfective the ν drops out and the χ fuses with the perfective -σ- into a single letter, ξ. Hence έψαξα, ψάξω, ψάξε — never ×έψαχσα, never ×έψαχα. The same change runs through διώχνω → έδιωξα and ρίχνω → έριξα, and is set out on perfective consonant changes. The augment is the ordinary stress-carrier and drops in the plural: έψαξα but ψάξαμε.
Looking is not finding
| Greek | What it commits you to |
|---|---|
| Ψάχνω τα κλειδιά μου. | still looking, right now |
| Έψαχνα όλο το πρωί. | the search went on and on |
| Έψαξα στο συρτάρι. | a search happened and finished — outcome unstated |
| Βρήκα τα κλειδιά μου. | the result, and only the result |
English looked for leans towards failure and found towards success, so learners reach for έψαξα when they mean βρήκα. In Greek the aorist of ψάχνω bounds the searching, not the finding: it tells you the looking is over, not that anything turned up. When you need the result you change verbs, to βρίσκω. This is the aspect story in miniature and the general case is on aspect in the past.
Έψαξα παντού αλλά δεν βρήκα την ταυτότητά μου.
épsaksa pandú alá dhen vríka tin taftótitá mu
I looked everywhere but I couldn't find my ID.
Ψάχνω από το πρωί τον φορτιστή μου και δεν τον βρίσκω πουθενά.
psáchno apó to proí ton fortistí mu ke dhen ton vrísko puthená
I've been looking for my charger since this morning and I can't find it anywhere.
Έψαξα το σπίτι φύλλο και φτερό και τίποτα.
épsaksa to spíti fílo ke fteró ke típota
I turned the house upside down and nothing.
Government
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| bare accusative | Ψάχνω τα γυαλιά μου. | a particular thing you expect to find |
για
| Ψάχνω για δουλειά. | an open-ended hunt, no one target |
| ψάχνω να + dependent | Ψάχνω να βρω λύση. | trying to manage it |
σε
| Έψαξα σε όλα τα ντουλάπια. | where you searched |
| accusative person | Σε ψάχνει ο διευθυντής. | looking for someone, wanting a word |
Both object frames are correct with the same noun, and the difference is what you take for granted. Ψάχνω τα κλειδιά μου presupposes particular keys that exist and can be found; Ψάχνω για κλειδιά describes hunting without a fixed target — and that is why the για frame is the natural one for a job, a flat or a present, where any suitable one will do. για does the same work here that it does elsewhere: it makes the object a goal rather than a thing.
Ψάχνω για δουλειά εδώ και έξι μήνες.
psáchno ya dhuliá edhó ke éksi mínes
I've been looking for work for six months now.
Ψάξε καλά στο συρτάρι, εκεί το είχα αφήσει.
psákse kalá sto sirtári, ekí to ícha afísi
Have a proper look in the drawer, that's where I left it.
Ψάχνω να βρω μια δικαιολογία για να μην πάω.
psáchno na vro mia dhikeoloyía ya na min páo
I'm trying to think up an excuse not to go.
ψαγμένος
The passive participle has been lexicalised and now pays a compliment. ψαγμένος describes a person or a thing that has been thought about properly: ψαγμένος τύπος someone who knows their stuff, ψαγμένο μαγαζί a place with taste, ψαγμένη επιλογή a well-researched choice. The literal "searched" sense lives in the aorist ψάχτηκα instead.
Είναι πολύ ψαγμένος στη μουσική, θα σου προτείνει κάτι καλό.
íne polí psaghménos sti musikí, tha su protíni káti kaló
He really knows his music — he'll point you to something good. (informal)
Ψαχτήκαμε στην είσοδο του γηπέδου.
psachtíkame stin ísodho tu yipédhu
We were searched at the entrance to the stadium.
What ψάχνω does not have
- A "find" reading — does not exist, in any tense. έψαξα, ψάξε and έχω ψάξει all report effort; the result is βρήκα.
- A -μένος participle meaning "searched for" — does not exist. ψαγμένος is taken, as above; "the thing I was looking for" is αυτό που έψαχνα.
- A "look at" or "look like" reading — does not exist. English look splits three ways in Greek: κοιτάζω at something, μοιάζω like something, ψάχνω for something.
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ψάξε καλά | look properly, have another go |
| Ψάξ' το (informal) | go and look it up |
| ψάχνω ψύλλους στα άχυρα | look for a needle in a haystack |
| Τι ψάχνεις εδώ; (informal) | what are you doing here? — challenging |
| ψάχνομαι (informal) | be at a crossroads, be rethinking things |
| ψαγμένη επιλογή (informal) | a discerning choice |
Τελευταία ψάχνομαι λίγο με τη δουλειά μου.
teleftéa psáchnome lígho me ti dhuliá mu
Lately I've been having second thoughts about my job. (informal)
Key Takeaways
- ψάχνω · έψαχνα · έψαξα · να ψάξω · ψάξε / ψάξτε · έχω ψάξει. The χν of the present loses its ν and the χ merges with -σ- into ξ.
- έψαξα never means "I found." It closes the search, not the question. The result verb is βρήκα.
- Bare accusative for a specific thing you expect to find; για + accusative for an open-ended hunt.
- ψάχνω να + dependent = "I'm trying to" — idiomatic, not redundant.
- ψαγμένος = clued-up, a compliment; the plain "was searched" sense is ψάχτηκα.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- βρίσκω (to find)A2 — Two verbs in one entry: active βρίσκω (find, get, judge) with the aorist βρήκα and the one-syllable dependent βρω, and the mediopassive βρίσκομαι (be located), whose aorist is βρέθηκα with an ε. Plus the warning that βρεμένος belongs to βρέχω and means 'wet'.
- χάνω (to lose)A2 — The widest-scope loss verb in Greek: lose, miss, waste in the active, vanish and get lost in the mediopassive — and the μου χάθηκε construction, which reports a loss without naming anyone as the person who lost it.
- Perfective Consonant ChangesB1 — When the perfective -σ- lands on a consonant, the two fuse: labials (π, β, φ) give ψ, velars (κ, γ, χ) give ξ, and dentals plus most sibilants give plain σ. Learn the three merges by stem-final sound and you can read and build the aorist, the simple future and the perfective subjunctive of almost any verb — plus the honest -ζω split (παίζω → παίξω but διαβάζω → διάβασα).
- Aspect in the Past: Imperfect vs AoristA2 — The past is where aspect bites first and hardest. Greek has two past tenses for the same verb: the imperfect (έγραφα — was writing, used to write, the background) and the aorist (έγραψα — wrote, a single completed event). The signature pattern is a long imperfect frame cut across by a sudden aorist — Διάβαζα όταν χτύπησε το τηλέφωνο — and it lines up almost exactly with the Spanish imperfect/preterite split.