Έφυγα από το σπίτι την τελευταία στιγμή, αλλά πρόλαβα το τρένο.

the house

Breakdown of Έφυγα από το σπίτι την τελευταία στιγμή, αλλά πρόλαβα το τρένο.

• αλλά: but
• από: from
• φεύγω: to leave

Questions & Answers about Έφυγα από το σπίτι την τελευταία στιγμή, αλλά πρόλαβα το τρένο.

What tense are Έφυγα and πρόλαβα?

Both are in the aorist tense, which is the main Greek past tense for a completed event.

• Έφυγα = I left
• πρόλαβα = I managed / I caught / I made it in time

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about two single completed actions in the past:

1. leaving the house
2. managing to catch the train

Why is it Έφυγα and not έφευγα?

Because Έφυγα describes a single finished action: I left.

By contrast, έφευγα is the imperfect, which usually describes:

• an ongoing past action,
• a repeated action,
• or background information.

So:

• Έφυγα από το σπίτι = I left the house / I left home
• Έφευγα από το σπίτι = I was leaving the house or I used to leave the house

In your sentence, the speaker is not describing a process. They are reporting a completed event, so Έφυγα is the natural choice.

Why does the sentence use από το σπίτι?