Modern Greek/Lesson 09.2

Aorist
The aorist is the simple past in English. It is used for:
 * Narrating past events (those that lie entirely in the past)

Note that the aorist stem is not just associated with the past, it is also used:
 * In subordinating constructions such as "θα" and "θέλω/μπορώ να".

1st Conjugation
The past tense is used to indicate an action that occurred at one time in the past, or that has been completed. It is formed in the same way as the imperfect, but from the aorist stem.

Past:

Example:

Formation of the aorist stem in the first conjugation
We have already seen that aorist stems are often formed by adding an "s" sound. The following list shows more of the common patterns:



Examples:

2nd Conjugation
Verbs use one of the suffixes -ασ-, -ησ, -εσ-. The accent also goes to the previous syllable:

The verb αγαπώ (to love) becomes αγάπησα

The verb διψώ (to go thirsty) becomes δίψασα

The verb καλώ (to call, to invite) becomes κάλεσα

Examples: