σπάω is the clearest case in Greek of one verb with two full present paradigms, drawn from two different conjugation classes. Neither is the "real" one and neither is a mistake. Everything outside the present and the imperfect is shared, so the split costs you far less than it looks like it should.
Two presents, one past
| Person | Class Β: σπάω | Class Α: σπάζω |
|---|---|---|
| εγώ | σπάω | σπάζω |
| εσύ | σπας | σπάζεις |
| αυτός/-ή/-ό | σπάει | σπάζει |
| εμείς | σπάμε | σπάζουμε |
| εσείς | σπάτε | σπάζετε |
| αυτοί/-ές/-ά | σπάνε | σπάζουν(ε) |
| Imperfect | έσπαγα, έσπαγες… | έσπαζα, έσπαζες… |
| Gerund | σπώντας (formal) | σπάζοντας |
σπάω is the older word — ancient σπάω meant pull, tear away — and σπάζω is a later re-formation carrying the productive demotic -ζω suffix. They have coexisted long enough that neither counts as secondary, which is why a dictionary may head the entry with one and the person next to you use the other. Both columns are ordinary spoken Greek and nobody will correct you for either — σπάζω is a little commoner in writing, σπάω a little commoner in the mouth, and σπάνω (regional) turns up as a third variant. What you should not do is swap mid-sentence: pick a column and finish the thought in it. The card is shelved with the Class Α verbs because that is where σπάζω lives; for the present of σπάω itself the home is the second-conjugation irregulars.
Everything the two columns share
| Slot | Form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Aorist | έσπασα, έσπασες, έσπασε, σπάσαμε, σπάσατε, έσπασαν | one aorist for both presents; ×έσπαξα does not exist |
| Dependent | σπάσω — θα σπάσω, να σπάσω | |
| Imperative | σπάσε / σπάστε | imperfective σπάε / σπάζε |
| Perfect | έχω / είχα σπάσει | |
| Mediopassive | σπάζομαι, aorist σπάστηκα | physical, and separately slang — see below |
| -μένος participle | σπασμένος, -η, -ο | broken, snapped, cracked |
Έπεσε η κορνίζα από τον τοίχο και έσπασε στα δύο.
épese i korníza apó ton tícho ke éspase sta dhío
The picture frame fell off the wall and broke in two.
Σπάνε τα κύματα στα βράχια και ακούγονται μέχρι το σπίτι.
spáne ta kímata sta vráchia ke akúghonde méchri to spíti
The waves break on the rocks and you can hear them from the house.
Το παιδί σπάζει ό,τι πιάσει στα χέρια του.
to pedhí spázi óti piási sta chéria tu
That child breaks whatever he gets his hands on.
Labile: the same form both ways
σπάω is labile. Give it an object and the subject is the breaker; take the object away and the subject is the thing that broke. No voice change, no passive, exactly as with αλλάζω and the rest of the labile actives.
The transitive side reaches well past physical breakage: you break a record, a silence, a strike, the sound barrier. So does the intransitive — Έσπασε στην ανάκριση is a person breaking under questioning, and Έσπασε το κρύο is a cold snap easing off.
Έσπασα το ρεκόρ μου στα δέκα χιλιόμετρα.
éspasa to rekór mu sta dhéka chiliómetra
I broke my personal best over ten kilometres.
Έσπασε το φερμουάρ στο μπουφάν μου.
éspase to fermuár sto bufán mu
The zip on my jacket broke.
So what is σπάστηκε for? It supplies what the labile active cannot: an agent. Έσπασε το τζάμι reports breakage; Το τζάμι σπάστηκε says somebody broke it and invites the question who. Both are correct Greek, but they are not equals: the physical passive belongs to news and police-report register, and in ordinary speech σπάστηκα far more often means I'd had enough (below). The learner's error is reaching for the passive when nobody did it.
Το τζάμι σπάστηκε από μέσα, λέει η αστυνομία.
to dzámi spástike apó mésa, léi i astinomía
The window was broken from the inside, the police say.
Government
| Frame | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| accusative object | Έσπασα το κινητό μου. | I broke it |
| no object | Έσπασε η οθόνη. | it broke |
| mediopassive | Το τζάμι σπάστηκε. | somebody broke it |
| σπάζομαι με + accusative (slang) | Σπάστηκα με τη φασαρία. | fed up with |
| την/τη σπάω + weak genitive (slang) | Μου τη σπάει. | it winds me up |
σε
| Έσπασα στο διάβασμα. | wore myself out at it |
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| τα σπάει (slang) | it's brilliant, it's a blast |
| σπάω πλάκα (informal) | have a laugh, be joking |
| μου τη σπάει (slang) | it gets on my nerves |
| μου σπάει τα νεύρα (informal) | drives me up the wall |
| Σπάστηκα. (slang) | I'd had enough / I was gutted |
| σπάω το κεφάλι μου | rack my brains |
| σπασμένα ελληνικά | broken Greek |
| πληρώνω τα σπασμένα (informal) | carry the can — see πληρώνω |
Το καινούργιο μαγαζί στη γωνία τα σπάει.
to kenúryio maghazí sti ghonía ta spái
That new place on the corner is fantastic. (slang)
Μη θυμώνεις, πλάκα σου έσπαγα.
mi thimónis, pláka su éspagha
Don't get annoyed, I was only teasing you.
Μου τη σπάει που μιλάει τόσο δυνατά στο τηλέφωνο.
mu ti spái pu milái tóso dhinatá sto tiléfono
It really gets on my nerves that he talks so loudly on the phone. (slang)
Τα ελληνικά μου ήταν σπασμένα, αλλά με καταλάβαιναν.
ta eliniká mu ítan spazména, alá me katalávenan
My Greek was broken, but people understood me.
Key Takeaways
- Two standard presents: σπάω/σπας/σπάει/σπάμε/σπάτε/σπάνε beside σπάζω/σπάζεις/σπάζει/σπάζουμε/σπάζετε/σπάζουν. Both are correct; stay in one column per sentence.
- The imperfect doubles too — έσπαγα or έσπαζα — and the gerund gives σπάζοντας beside the more formal σπώντας.
- Everything perfective is shared: έσπασα · σπάσω · σπάσε · έχω σπάσει. ×έσπαξα does not exist.
- It is labile: Έσπασα το ποτήρι / Έσπασε το ποτήρι, same form, no passive needed.
- σπάστηκε is not redundant — it adds an agent the labile active leaves out.
- The slang layer (τα σπάει, σπάω πλάκα, μου τη σπάει, σπάστηκα) is everyday speech, and its clitics are frozen.
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- αλλάζω (to change)A2 — A labile verb: one active form does duty as both transitive and intransitive, so Άλλαξα τη ζωή μου and Άλλαξε ο καιρός use the identical verb with no voice switch at all. Principal parts, the -ζω verbs that take ξ, and the frames with σε and με.
- πληρώνω (to pay)A2 — The verb where the mediopassive is the one you need most: πληρώνομαι is ordinary Greek for 'I get paid' and 'I earn'. Plus the double accusative — the bill and the plumber are the same kind of object — and what πληρωμένος actually describes.
- Active/Passive Verb PairsB2 — The causative–inchoative alternation that learners mistake for a passive — καίω/καίγομαι, κουράζω/κουράζομαι — plus the labile actives that need no voice change at all (σταματάω, τελειώνω, γυρίζω, ανοίγω, σπάω), the suppletive pairs ανεβάζω/ανεβαίνω, and the middles that have drifted into new words (χάνομαι, βρίσκομαι, φέρομαι).
- Irregular Class Β VerbsB2 — Class Β has the most regular aorist in Greek — and a short list of everyday verbs that refuse it. The -νάω group that drops its ν (περνάω → πέρασα, ξεχνάω → ξέχασα), the velar group that gives -ηξα / -αξα instead of -ησα (φυσάω → φύσηξα, πετάω → πέταξα, κοιτάω → κοίταξα) and pays off again in the passive (τραβήχτηκε), plus ζω, the one Class Β verb that is irregular in the present.