In short

Greek has two verbs you will use in almost every sentence from day one: είμαι “I am” and έχω “I have”. Both are irregular, and both are worth learning as complete six-person tables before you learn any regular verb. With είμαι you say who you are, where you are from, how you feel and how old you are. With έχω you say what you own, what you carry and what family you have. Learn the twelve forms on this page and you can already introduce yourself.

The rule

είμαι is the copula: it links a subject to a name, a noun, an adjective, an adverb or a place phrase. Its endings look strange because they echo the endings of the mediopassive conjugation you will meet much later (-μαι, -σαι, -μαστε, -στε/-σαστε), even though είμαι has no active counterpart and no passive meaning at all — and its third person είναι does not follow the mediopassive -ται / -νται either. Do not try to derive it from anything; memorise it.

Two things about είμαι matter immediately:

• The third person is the same in the singular and the plural: είναι means both “he/ she/it is” and “they are”. Only context and the subject tell you which.
• After είμαι, an adjective agrees with the subject in gender, number and case (nominative): Είμαι κουρασμένος if you are male, Είμαι κουρασμένη if you are female. An adverb does not change at all: Είμαι καλά “I’m fine / I’m well”.

έχω is the ordinary verb of possession, and it is regular-looking in the present: it takes the normal first-conjugation endings -ω, -εις, -ει, -ουμε, -ετε, -ουν. It is irregular elsewhere in the language, not here. In speech you will often hear the longer third-person plural έχουνε alongside έχουν — both are correct, έχουνε is more colloquial.

Both verbs are negated like any other verb: in a statement δεν goes in front of the verb, and in front of θα as well — Δεν είμαι από εδώ, Δεν έχω αυτοκίνητο, Δεν θα έχετε πρόβλημα. Negation in full, δεν beside όχι, waits for lesson 7.

Neither verb has an aspect contrast. Greek verbs normally come in two stems, a continuous one and a simple one, and you choose between them for the future and the subjunctive. είμαι and έχω do not: there is one stem each, so θα είμαι and θα έχω are the only futures available. This is a relief now and a genuine exception later.

Age is expressed with είμαι plus χρονών, never with έχω: Είμαι τριάντα χρονών, literally “I am of thirty years”. χρονών is a fixed genitive plural and never changes. In formal or written Greek the same slot takes ετών, the genitive plural of έτος: Είμαι τριάντα ετών.

Forms & patterns

είμαι — ενεστώτας (present)

είστε and είσαστε are the same form; είστε is the everyday one, είσαστε is a common variant. Note that the accent never leaves the same syllable, the εί- of the stem: it is the penultimate in είμαι, είσαι, είναι, είστε and the antepenultimate in είμαστε, είσαστε.

έχω — ενεστώτας (present)

Adjective agreement after είμαι (nominative, the dictionary form):

Age with χρονών — one fixed shape for every person:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Έχω τριάντα χρόνια. -> Είμαι τριάντα χρονών. — Greek states age with είμαι and the fixed genitive χρονών, not with έχω — έχω τριάντα χρόνια would mean you possess a thirty-year period of something.
• Είμαι καλός. (meaning “I’m fine”) -> Είμαι καλά. — καλά is the adverb and answers Τι κάνεις;. The adjective καλός says you are a good person, which is a different claim.
• Είμαι κουρασμένος. said by a woman -> Είμαι κουρασμένη. — after είμαι the adjective agrees with the subject, so the speaker’s own gender decides the ending.
• Αυτοί είναι κουρασμένος. -> Αυτοί είναι κουρασμένοι. — είναι is both singular and plural, so the number is carried by the adjective, not by the verb.
• Εμείς είστε φοιτητές. -> Εμείς είμαστε φοιτητές. — είμαστε is “we are”; είστε is “you are”. The two are easy to swap because both are long.
• Εσείς είμαστε από την Αθήνα; -> Εσείς είστε από την Αθήνα; — same swap in the other direction; and note the Greek question mark «;».
• Έχουμε ένα σπίτι μεγάλο κήπο. -> Έχουμε ένα σπίτι με μεγάλο κήπο. — έχω takes a single object in the accusative; a second noun needs a preposition.

Tips

• Drill the two tables out loud as a pair, first person to third plural, until είμαστε and είστε come out without hesitation. They are the two forms learners mix up most.
• Remember that είναι does double duty. When you need to make the number clear, put the subject in: Ο φίλος μου είναι… vs Οι φίλοι μου είναι….
• Ask yourself “adjective or adverb?” after είμαι. Feeling states use adjectives (χαρούμενος, πεινασμένη, άρρωστο) and agree; how-are-you answers use adverbs (καλά, μια χαρά, χάλια) and never change.
• With έχω, the object is usually bare when it is a category rather than a specific item: Έχει αυτοκίνητο “He owns a car” — no article needed, exactly as in lesson 3.
• Use είστε and έχετε as your default with strangers, shopkeepers and officials; save είσαι and έχεις for friends, family and children.
• Learn the phrase Πόσων χρονών είσαι; “How old are you?” as a fixed unit — the answer is simply a number plus χρονών.
• Do not look for a “continuous” or “simple” version of these two verbs. One stem each means one present, one future with θα, one subjunctive with να.