ζητάω is asking for something, never asking a question — that is ρωτάω, and the two flip the case of the person between them. Beyond that this card owns two things no sibling has: a verb with three competing ending sets, all of them correct, and a learned passive that a learner meets in week two on a shop window and cannot connect to the verb at all.
Every form ζητάω has
| Slot | Forms |
|---|---|
| Present | ζητάω/ζητώ — see the three sets below |
| Imperfect | ζητούσα — also ζήταγα (informal) |
| Aorist | ζήτησα |
| Dependent (θα, να) | ζητήσω |
| Imperative | ζήτα / ζητάτε · ζήτησε / ζητήστε |
| Perfect | έχω ζητήσει |
| Gerund | ζητώντας |
| Mediopassive | ζητιέμαι (informal) · learned ζητούμαι, ζητείται, ζητούνται |
| Passive aorist | ζητήθηκα |
Three ending sets, none of them wrong
| Set | Forms | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| uncontracted -άω | ζητάω, ζητάς, ζητάει, ζητάμε, ζητάτε, ζητάνε | ordinary speech (informal) |
| contracted -ώ | ζητώ, ζητάς, ζητά, ζητούμε, ζητάτε, ζητούν | writing, careful speech (formal) |
| learned -είς / -εί | ζητώ, ζητείς, ζητεί, ζητούμε, ζητείτε, ζητούν | official prose and set phrases (formal) |
ζητώ is a verb caught mid-move between ancient ζητέω and demotic ζητάω, and it never finished the journey. The third-person ζητεί is not a mistake for ζητάει: it is the older ending, still standard, and in the frozen telephone question it is actually the commoner of the two.
Ποιος τον ζητεί, παρακαλώ;
pios ton zití, parakaló;
Who's calling for him, please? (formal — the fixed phrase for taking a call)
Government
| Frame | Reading |
|---|---|
| accusative thing | what is being requested: Ζητάω βοήθεια |
| genitive clitic person | who is being asked: Σου ζητάω μια χάρη |
από
| the same person, spelled out in full |
ζητάω να
| request that something happen |
| accusative person | a different frame: Σε ζήτησε = somebody asked for you |
Μου ζήτησε δανεικά και δεν ήξερα πώς να πω όχι.
mu zítise dhaniká ke dhen íksera pos na po óchi
He asked me for a loan and I didn't know how to say no.
Ζήτησα από τον γείτονα ένα κατσαβίδι και μου έφερε ολόκληρη εργαλειοθήκη.
zítisa apó ton yítona éna katsavídhi ke mu éfere olókliri erghaliothíki
I asked the neighbour for a screwdriver and he brought me a whole toolbox.
Ζήτησε να μιλήσει με τον υπεύθυνο και του είπαν ότι λείπει.
zítise na milísi me ton ipéfthino ke tu ípan óti lípi
She asked to speak to the manager and was told he was away.
The last row of that table is the trap, and it is not an error but a genuine minimal pair. Σου ζήτησα puts the person in the genitive and means I asked you for something; Σε ζήτησα puts the person in the accusative and means I asked for you — I came looking for you. Both are correct Greek and they are not interchangeable.
Σε ζήτησε ένας κύριος στην είσοδο, έφυγε πριν προλάβω να ρωτήσω.
se zítise énas kírios stin ísodho, éfiye prin prolávo na rotíso
A man asked for you at the entrance; he left before I could ask anything.
Σου ζήτησα να κρατήσεις το μυστικό και το είπες την ίδια μέρα.
su zítisa na kratísis to mistikó ke to ípes tin ídhia méra
I asked you to keep it to yourself and you told people the same day.
ΖΗΤΕΙΤΑΙ — the shop-window form
Besides requesting, ζητώ plainly means seek, be after — ζητάω δουλειά, ζητάω σπίτι — and that is the sense its learned mediopassive carries. ζητείται and the plural ζητούνται head small ads, job notices and cards taped to windows, where English writes wanted. The endings belong to the learned -ούμαι class, laid out on the Β2 mediopassive.
Ζητείται σερβιτόρος για τη σεζόν, πληροφορίες στο μαγαζί.
zitíte servitóros ya ti sezón, pliroforíes sto maghazí
Waiter wanted for the season — enquire inside.
Ζητούνται δύο συγκάτοικοι για διαμέρισμα στο κέντρο.
zitúnde dhío singátiki ya dhiamérizma sto kéndro
Two flatmates wanted for a flat in the centre.
The same participle froze into a noun. Το ζητούμενο is "the thing being sought" and so "the point at issue, what actually matters" — a staple of editorials and meetings, and another katharevousa relic hiding in plain sight.
Το ζητούμενο δεν είναι η ταχύτητα αλλά η ακρίβεια.
to zitúmeno dhen íne i tachítita alá i akrívia
The point isn't speed, it's accuracy.
Slots this verb leaves empty
- No double object. ζητάω cannot take an accusative person and an accusative thing at once: there is no ×Σε ζήτησα βοήθεια. The person is genitive or από + accusative, full stop.
- No usable -μένος participle. ζητημένος appears in paradigm tables and essentially nowhere else. The living adjectives are the learned ζητούμενος and περιζήτητος "much sought after".
Set phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ζητάω συγγνώμη | apologise |
| ζητάω μια χάρη | ask a favour |
| ζητάω τον λόγο | demand an explanation |
| ζητάω το αδύνατο | ask the impossible |
| ό,τι ζητήσεις | whatever you ask for |
| έχει ζήτηση | it's in demand |
Ζήτα της συγγνώμη και τελείωσε η ιστορία.
zíta tis sighnómi ke telíose i istoría
Apologise to her and that's the end of it.
Έχει μεγάλη ζήτηση αυτό το μοντέλο, θα περιμένετε δύο μήνες.
échi megháli zítisi aftó to mondélo, tha periménete dhío mínes
That model is in high demand, you'll be waiting two months.
Reporting somebody's request is the subject of reported commands; the class as a whole is indexed on principal parts.
Key Takeaways
- Principal parts: ζητάω/ζητώ · ζητούσα · ζήτησα · ζητήσω, mediopassive ζητιέμαι beside learned ζητούμαι.
- Three ending sets are live — ζητάει, ζητά and ζητεί are all standard; never treat one as an error.
- The person asked is genitive or από
- accusative; Σε ζήτησε is a different frame meaning "asked for you".
- ζητάω να
- dependent reports a request.
- Ζητείται / Ζητούνται = "wanted"; το ζητούμενο = "the point at issue".
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- ρωτάω/ρωτώ (to ask)A2 — The one speech verb that puts the person in the accusative — Με ρώτησε, Τον ρώτησα — plus the double accusative it licenses, the indirect questions it takes, and the learned twin ερωτώ that supplies the noun ερώτηση and the journalist's ερωτηθείς.
- απαντάω/απαντώ (to answer)A2 — The case-flip partner of ρωτάω: the person asked is accusative, the person answered is genitive or σε. Plus the accusative slot that is reserved for the content of the reply, and the second life of this verb — απαντά / απαντάται 'occurs, is found', with the voice argument that goes with it.
- Present Mediopassive: -ούμαι and -άμαιB1 — The last two mediopassive present patterns — the formal-leaning -ούμαι of Β2 verbs (θεωρούμαι), and the small but ultra-frequent set of -άμαι deponents θυμάμαι, κοιμάμαι, φοβάμαι and λυπάμαι, with their irregular three-vowel paradigm laid out in full.