Choosing the wrong Greek verb for "meet" is a social error rather than a grammatical one: the sentence parses, it just reports the wrong event. συναντάω is the encounter — running into somebody, or turning up somewhere to find them. It is not the verb for being introduced, and it is not the verb Greeks reach for when arranging to see a friend.
Principal parts
| Slot | Forms | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present | συναντάω/συναντώ, συναντάς, συναντάει/συναντά, συναντάμε/συναντούμε, συναντάτε, συναντάνε/συναντούν(ε) | |
| Imperfect | συναντούσα | |
| Aorist | συνάντησα, συνάντησες, συνάντησε, συναντήσαμε, συναντήσατε, συνάντησαν | no augment is added — ×εσυνάντησα |
| Dependent | συναντήσω — θα / να συναντήσω | |
| Imperative | συνάντησε / συναντήστε | perfective; the imperfective συνάντα is barely used |
| Perfect | έχω / είχα συναντήσει | |
| Gerund | συναντώντας | |
| Mediopassive | συναντιέμαι · aorist συναντήθηκα | learned twin συναντώμαι — 3sg συναντάται, 3pl συναντώνται (formal) |
The stress in the aorist looks unstable and is not: Greek allows no accent further back than the third syllable from the end, so συνάντησα moves to συναντήσαμε when the ending grows. The prefix συν- is welded on, so nothing is ever inserted in front of it, and ×συνάντισα is a spelling of a form that does not exist — the vowel is η throughout, from συνάντηση.
Which "meet"
| Verb | Job | Typical sentence |
|---|---|---|
| γνωρίζω | become acquainted, be introduced | Χάρηκα που σας γνώρισα. |
| συναντάω | encounter; turn up and find | Τον συνάντησα στον δρόμο. |
| βλέπω | see somebody socially | Θα δω τη Μαρία το Σάββατο. |
| πετυχαίνω(informal) | run into, by luck | Τον πέτυχα στην αγορά. |
The one to watch is βλέπω, because it carries far more of the traffic than a learner expects. English "I'm meeting Maria on Saturday" is, in Greek, Θα δω τη Μαρία: a planned social evening is something you see somebody for. Reserve συναντάω for the moment of encounter and for meetings with a purpose — a lawyer, a minister, a client — and you will sound right most of the time. βρίσκω covers a fifth case, finding somebody you were looking for, and is on βρίσκω.
Χάρηκα πολύ που σας γνώρισα, θα τα ξαναπούμε.
chárika polí pu sas ghnórisa, tha ta ksanapúme
Very pleased to have met you, we'll talk again.
Θα δω τη Μαρία το Σάββατο, θα της το πω τότε.
tha dho ti María to Sávato, tha tis to po tóte
I'm seeing Maria on Saturday, I'll tell her then.
Τη συνάντησα τυχαία στο αεροδρόμιο και μιλήσαμε μέχρι να με φωνάξουν.
ti sinándisa tichéa sto aerodhrómio ke milísame méchri na me fonáksun
I ran into her at the airport and we talked until they called my flight.
Government
A bare accusative, and it need not be a person. Difficulties, obstacles, resistance and objections are all things a Greek plan συναντάει, and this abstract use is everywhere in journalism and in ordinary complaint. Two physical things can also meet: roads, rivers, borders.
Το σχέδιο συνάντησε αντιδράσεις και από τους ίδιους τους κατοίκους.
to schédhio sinándise andidhrásis ke apó tus ídhius tus katíkus
The plan met with objections from the residents themselves as well.
Λίγο πριν από τη γέφυρα το ποτάμι συναντάει τη θάλασσα.
lígho prin apó ti yéfira to potámi sinandái ti thálasa
Just before the bridge the river meets the sea.
Η ομάδα μας συναντά τον πρωταθλητή στον τελικό της Κυριακής.
i omádha mas sinandá ton protathlití ston telikó tis Kiriakís
Our team meets the champions in Sunday's final.
συναντιέμαι — two people, or none
The mediopassive is reciprocal, not passive: the subject and somebody else meet each other. That has a hard consequence for the frame. A reciprocal verb has already used up its object slot on the subject, so the other party can only arrive through με — ×Συναντιέμαι τον Νίκο is not a sentence — or by being folded into a plural subject, as in Συναντηθήκαμε στις οκτώ. The pattern across the language is on reciprocal mediopassives, and the -ιέμαι endings on the Β1 mediopassive.
Συναντιόμαστε με τον Νίκο κάθε Τρίτη για σκάκι.
sinandiómaste me ton Níko káthe Tríti ya skáki
Nikos and I meet every Tuesday for chess.
Συναντηθήκαμε στις οκτώ στην πλατεία και κατεβήκαμε με τα πόδια.
sinandithíkame stis októ stin platía ke katevíkame me ta pódhia
We met at eight in the square and walked down.
Beside it lives a learned mediopassive, συναντώμαι, whose third person is the one you actually meet: συναντάται and συναντώνται, the standard way academic and reference prose says that something is found or occurs. In everyday speech you would use βρίσκεται or υπάρχει instead. The same learned plural also carries one saying everybody knows, where it keeps its plain reciprocal sense.
Το φαινόμενο συναντάται και σε άλλες περιοχές της Μεσογείου.
to fenómeno sinandáte ke se áles periochés tis Mesoyíu
The phenomenon is also found in other parts of the Mediterranean. (academic)
Τα μεγάλα πνεύματα συναντώνται, που λένε.
ta meghála pnévmata sinandónde, pu léne
Great minds think alike, as they say.
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Πού θα συναντηθούμε; | where shall we meet? |
| συναντάω δυσκολίες / εμπόδια | run into difficulties / obstacles |
| τα μάτια τους συναντήθηκαν | their eyes met (literary) |
| μια τυχαία συνάντηση | a chance meeting |
| Τα μεγάλα πνεύματα συναντώνται. | great minds think alike |
| συναντήθηκαν οι δύο ηγέτες | the two leaders met (journalistic) |
Key Takeaways
- συναντάω/συναντώ · συναντούσα · συνάντησα · συναντήσω · συνάντησε / συναντήστε · έχω συναντήσει · συναντώντας; mediopassive συναντιέμαι.
- The compound takes no augment and keeps η throughout: συνάντησα, συναντήσαμε.
- γνωρίζω for being introduced, βλέπω for seeing a friend socially, πετυχαίνω (informal) for pure luck. συναντάω is the encounter itself.
- The object can be abstract: δυσκολίες, εμπόδια, αντιδράσεις — or two roads meeting.
- The reciprocal συναντιέμαι demands με or a plural subject; the learned συναντάται / συναντώνται (formal) means "is found, occurs".
Now practice Greek
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
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'.
- Present Mediopassive: -ιέμαιB1 — How the -άω verbs (Conjugation Β1, like αγαπάω) build their mediopassive present — αγαπιέμαι, αγαπιέσαι, αγαπιέται — where the -ι- glide comes from, the synizesis that keeps it one syllable, and the reciprocal 'kiss/love each other' meaning that makes -ιούνται so common.
- Aorist: Class ΒA2 — The aorist of second-conjugation (Class Β) verbs — the contract verbs in -άω/-ώ. They are the most regular aorist in Greek: slot a linking vowel before the -σ- and add the past endings — αγάπησα, μίλησα, ρώτησα, περπάτησα. Covers the three linking-vowel families (-ησ-, -ασ-, -εσ-), the stress that rides the antepenult, and the -εύω lookalikes that are really Class Α.
- Reciprocal Use of the Middle VoiceB1 — How the mediopassive says 'each other' — αγαπιούνται, φιλιούνται, συναντιούνται, αγκαλιάζονται, τσακώνονται, δεν μιλιούνται — and why the requirement is two parties, not a plural subject: Συναντιέμαι με τη Μαρία is just as reciprocal. Covers the singular + με construction, the two disambiguators μεταξύ τους and ο ένας τον άλλον (with the neuter το ένα το άλλο and the case forms), the actives that are reciprocal on their own, and the overlap with the plain passive.