Conjugating the Verb to Have in Greek in the Present Tense

Written by Greek Boston in Learn How to Speak Basic Greek Comments Off on Conjugating the Verb to Have in Greek in the Present Tense

In the Greek language, there are certain verbs that are used more than others. In a previous article, we discussed the verb “to be”, or “ειμαι – eemai” and the present tense conjugation for it. The verb, “to have”, or “έχω – eho”, is another popular verb that you will encounter on a regular basis. Here’s a look at how to conjugate it in the present tense, as well as some examples:

About the Present Tense

According to Webster’s Dictionary, the present tense is defined as follows:

• the tense of a verb that expresses action or state in the present time and is used of what occurs or is true at the time of speaking and of what is habitual or characteristic or is always or necessarily true, that is sometimes used to refer to action in the past, and that is sometimes used for future events

In other words, when a verb is in the present tense, it expresses an action that is being done in the current moment.

How to Conjugate the Verb “To Have” in Greek

Here’s a look at the conjugations of the verb, “to have” or “έχω” in the Greek language. In order to illustrate how the verb is used, the conjugations will also be included with an example sentence. Note that the pronouns really aren’t used that often with the verbs because the verb endings themselves imply which pronoun to use. The exception would be the third person singular since there are three possibilities (see below).

• I have a cat – έχω μία γάτα – eho mia gata
• You have a cat – Εχεις μία γάτα – ehees mia gata
• He, she, it has a cat – αυτός, αυτή, αυτό έχει μια γάτα – aftos, afti, afto ehee mia gata
• We have a cat – Εμείς έχουμε μια γάτα – emees ehoume mia gata
• You (pl) have a cat – εσείς έχετε μια γάτα – esees ehete mia gata
• They have a cat – αυτοί έχουν μια γάτα – afti ehoon mia gata

Memorize these conjugations because you will encounter them often. Just read through the list a few times and after that, you should have a handle on how to conjugate the verb. Your goal is to become familiar with it so you can recognize it when you see it.

The Learn Greek section on GreekBoston.com was written by Greeks to help people understand the conversational basics of the Greek language. This article is not a substitute for a professional Greek learning program, but a helpful resource for people wanting to learn simple communication in Greek.

Categorized in: Learn How to Speak Basic Greek

This post was written by Greek Boston