τρώω is the cleanest case of suppletion in Greek: τρω- and φαγ- have not a letter in common, and the seam between them falls exactly where aspect falls. On top of that it is a vowel-final stem, so even its present tense is irregular. A γ appears in the imperfective τρωγ- family; the rare current present variant τρώγω preserves it too.
The two halves
| Slot | Form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Present | τρώω, τρως, τρώει, τρώμε, τρώτε, τρώνε | common active-present set; rare τρώγω is also live |
| Imperfect | έτρωγα, έτρωγες, έτρωγε, τρώγαμε, τρώγατε, έτρωγαν | the γ of the older τρώγω comes back |
| Aorist | έφαγα, έφαγες, έφαγε, φάγαμε, φάγατε, έφαγαν | the augment drops once the stress has somewhere to sit |
| Dependent (after θα, να) | φάω, φας, φάει, φάμε, φάτε, φάνε | contracts just like the present |
| Imperative | φάε / φάτε | |
| Perfect / pluperfect | έχω / είχα φάει | |
| Gerund | τρώγοντας | the γ again |
| Mediopassive | τρώγομαι, τρώγεται | "it's edible"; τρώγομαι με κάποιον = bicker with someone |
| Passive aorist | φαγώθηκα | |
| -μένος participle | φαγωμένος | a person has eaten; a thing can be eaten away or worn |
| Present forms ×τρώεις, ×τρώουμε | do not exist — in this class the 2sg and 1pl contract: τρως, τρώμε | |
| Perfective stem on τρω- | does not exist — no ×έτρωσα, no ×να τρώσω | |
Παλιά τρώγαμε όλοι μαζί το μεσημέρι, τώρα ο καθένας ό,τι προλάβει.
paliá tróghame óli mazí to mesiméri, tóra o kathénas ó,ti prolávi
We all used to eat together at midday; now it's whatever each of us can grab.
Ήρθαμε φαγωμένοι, μη μαγειρεύεις τίποτα.
írthame faghoméni, mi mayirévis típota
We've already eaten, don't cook anything.
Τρώγονται συνέχεια για ασήμαντα πράγματα.
tróghonde sinéchia ya asímanda prághmata
They bicker constantly over trivial things.
Eating with no object
The habit worth copying is how often τρώω stands alone. Έφαγες; is a complete question — often "have you eaten?" — and it is one of the most ordinary things a Greek says to someone who has just walked in. English can also use bare eat, but the tense match is revealing: Greek often chooses the bounded aorist where English chooses a present perfect. No filler object is required in either language.
Έφαγες τίποτα ή να σου ζεστάνω κάτι;
éfaghes típota i na su zestáno káti;
Have you eaten, or shall I heat something up for you?
Φάγατε ήδη ή να σας περιμένουμε;
fághate ídhi i na sas periménume;
Have you eaten already, or should we wait for you?
Φάε πρώτα και μετά συζητάμε.
fáe próta ke metá sizitáme
Eat first, and then we'll talk about it.
Government
| Frame | Example | Note |
|---|---|---|
| accusative | Έφαγα ένα τοστ. | the ordinary object |
| nothing at all | Έφαγες; | fully idiomatic — see above |
| generic meal noun, normally bare | τρώω πρωινό / μεσημεριανό / βραδινό | a specific meal can take an article or possessive |
σε
| Τρώμε στη δουλειά. | the place |
| genitive clitic | Μου έφαγε το φαγητό. | the person it was done to |
| με τρώει + nominative | Με τρώει η πλάτη μου. | it itches — the body part is the subject |
The last two rows are worth separating carefully, because they use different cases for the person. With a genitive clitic, something of yours has been eaten — food, money, or time (Μου έφαγε δύο ώρες, "it ate two hours of my time"). With με τρώει the person is accusative and the itching body part is the grammatical subject, exactly as in μου αρέσει the thing liked is the subject.
Δεν τρώω ποτέ πρωινό, μόνο πίνω έναν καφέ όρθιος.
dhen tróo poté proinó, móno píno énan kafé órthios
I never eat breakfast; I just drink a coffee standing up.
Μου έφαγε δύο ώρες αυτό το τηλεφώνημα και δεν βγήκε τίποτα.
mu éfaghe dhío óres aftó to tilefónima ke dhen vyíke típota
That phone call ate two hours of my day and nothing came of it.
Με τρώει η πλάτη μου, φτάνεις λίγο πιο κάτω;
me trói i pláti mu, ftánis lígho pio káto;
My back is itching — can you reach a bit lower?
Set phrases
Food idioms in general are on food idioms; these are the ones that turn on this verb's own grammar — several of them use τρώω for receiving something unpleasant rather than eating anything.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| τρώω ξύλο | get a beating (informal) |
| τρώω πόρτα | be turned away at the door (informal) |
| τα τρώω | squander it — money (informal) |
| τρώω τα λόγια μου | mumble, swallow my words |
| τρώω τον κόσμο να βρω… | turn the world upside down looking for… |
| τρώω τα νιάτα μου | waste my youth on something |
| Καλή όρεξη! | enjoy your meal — said at the table |
Έφαγε ξύλο στο σχολείο και δεν το είπε σε κανέναν.
éfaghe ksílo sto scholío ke dhen to ípe se kanénan
He got beaten up at school and didn't tell anyone.
Έφαγα τον κόσμο να βρω ανταλλακτικά για ένα τόσο παλιό αμάξι.
éfagha ton kózmo na vro andalaktiká ya éna tóso palió amáksi
I turned the world upside down looking for parts for a car that old.
Μίλα πιο καθαρά, τρως τα λόγια σου και δεν καταλαβαίνω.
míla pio kathará, tros ta lóya su ke dhen katalavéno
Speak more clearly — you're swallowing your words and I can't follow.
Key Takeaways
- τρω- / τρωγ- against φαγ-: nothing crosses the seam. Present τρώω, imperfect έτρωγα, gerund τρώγοντας on one side; έφαγα, φάω, φάε, έχω φάει on the other.
- The present contracts: τρως, τρώμε, τρώτε, τρώνε — and τρως and φας are monosyllables with no accent.
- The aorist's augment is detachable: έφαγα, έφαγες, έφαγε but φάγαμε, φάγατε.
- τρώω is routinely used with no object at all — Έφαγες; is a whole question.
- Generic meal names are normally bare (τρώω πρωινό), while a specific meal can be determined; the affected person is a genitive clitic (Μου έφαγε το φαγητό), but με τρώει puts the itching person in the accusative.
- φαγωμένος describes a person who has eaten; with a thing it can mean eaten away or worn.
Related Topics
- Vowel-Final Stems (ακούω, τρώω, λέω)B1 — Seven everyday verbs — λέω, τρώω, ακούω, πάω, κλαίω, καίω, φταίω — end their stem in a vowel, and that one fact reshapes the whole verb: an active present with no ending vowel (λες, τρως, ακούς), a γ that appears in forms outside that paradigm (έλεγα, άκουγα, κλαίγοντας, ακούγεται), and three different kinds of aorist inside one small class.
- Suppletive Verbs (βλέπω→είδα)B1 — Six everyday verbs — βλέπω, λέω, τρώω, πάω, έρχομαι, παίρνω — carry two roots each, one for the present and a completely different one for everything perfective. This page puts each verb's present, aorist, να-form, command and perfect on a single card, shows which cells you actually have to memorise and which fall out of the others, and marks the two verbs where the chain breaks.
- Idioms With FoodB2 — Use common Greek kitchen and eating idioms for dismissing boasts, making a mess, mental overload, evasiveness, gullibility, and going broke.
- πίνω (to drink)A2 — Four principal parts that open four different ways — πίν-, έπιν-, ήπι-, πι- — and a perfective stem two letters long, which puts πίνω's dependent among the shortest forms in the language. Full paradigms, the augment that stays in ήπιαμε but drops in πίναμε, the drinker-not-the-drink participle πιωμένος, and the toast frames.
- μαγειρεύω (to cook)A2 — A Class Α -εύω card: μαγειρεύω, μαγείρεψα, μαγειρεμένος, and the hidden-plans sense of cooking something up.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.