Type B1 Verbs

Τύπος Β1 ρήματα*

Greek type B1 verbs have short forms for three of the grammatical persons. The normal endings are:

εγώ   εμείς -με
εσύ   εσείς -τε
αυτός -ει   αυτοί -νε

Για παράδειγμα …

μιλάω (speak)

εγώ μιλάω   εμείς μιλάμε
εσύ μιλάς   εσείς μιλάτε
αυτός μιλάει   αυτοί μιλάνε

The first and third person singular and the third person plural have a second conjugation:

  • εγώ μιλώ  (drop a at the end of the stem)
  • αυτός μιλά  (drop the ending and just use stem)
  • αυτοί μιλούν  (type A verb ending)

So the full conjugations are …

εγώ μιλάω
μιλώ
  εμείς μιλάμε
εσύ μιλάς   εσείς μιλάτε
αυτός μιλάει
μιλά
  αυτοί μιλάνε
μιλούν

Note: The second conjugation isn’t much used in spoken Greek as it is considered either too formal or archaic.

Common type B1 verbs

αγαπάω   love
γυρνάω   turn, return
διψάω   be thirsty
ζητάω   ask for
κολυμπάω   swim
κρατάω   keep, hold
μετράω   count
μιλάω   speak
ξεκινάω   start
ξυπνάω   wake up
πεινάω   be hungry
περπατάω   walk
περνάω   pass, cross
πετάω   fly, throw away
πηδάω   jump
προτιμάω   prefer
ρωτάω   ask
σταματάω   stop
φιλάω   kiss

Recognizing type B1 verbs

There are two characteristics common to type B1 verbs:

  1. The εγώ conjugation always ends in -άω or
  2. They have two conjugations for the 1st and 3rd person singular and 3rd person plural.

Exception: πάω is a type AB verb.

* I’ve also seen these called type C verbs.

Related lesson

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