Aoristos vs Paratatikos in Greek: The Verb «ξεχνάω» (I forget)
Learning how to talk about the past in Greek can feel tricky, but it becomes much clearer when you focus on one verb at a time.
In this article, we’ll explore the verb «ξεχνάω» (I forget) in present, aoristos (past simple), and paratatikos (past continuous).
The verb “ξεχνάω” is a verb of the B category,
just like
ρωτάω (I ask)
περπατάω (I walk)
etc..
and you can also find more verbs in our YouTube language videos list.
Note; If you are at the beginning of your Greek language journey,
and not sure what the differences are between
A- and B category,
then this eBook will help you out
Conjugation of Present Tense: «ξεχνάω»
Εγώ ξεχνάω
Εσύ ξεχνάς
Αυτός/Αυτή/Αυτό ξεχνάει
Εμείς ξεχνάμε
Εσείς ξεχνάτε
Αυτοί/Αυτές/Αυτά ξεχνάνε ή ξεχνούν
Examples:
Ξεχνάω αμέσως ό,τι διαβάζω. –> I forget immediately whatever I read
Η Ελένη πάντα ξεχνάει να πάρει τις βιταμίνες της. –> Eleni always forgets to take her vitamins
Γιατί ξεχνάτε συνέχεια το τηλέφωνό σας σπίτι; –> Why you continuously forget your phone at home
Conjugation in Aoristos (Simple Past)
The Aoristos is an ideal tense to describe an action that happens at a particular point in the past.
It gives no information on how long it took, but is used for an action that happened just once,
so NOT an action that was repeated often. Something that we did once and that’s it.
Εγώ ξέχασα
Εσύ ξέχασες
Αυτός/Αυτή/Αυτό ξέχασε
Εμείς ξεχάσαμε
Εσείς ξεχάσατε
Αυτοί/Αυτές/Αυτά ξέχασαν
Examples:
Ξέχασα να πάρω τηλέφωνο την μαμά μου. –> I forgot to phone my mother
Με ξέχασες ήδη; –> Did you already forget me?
Ξεχάσαμε τα βιβλία στο σχολείο σήμερα. –> We forgot our books at school today
For your info, this aoristos tense is used most of the time, when you want to say something in the past.
So even if you do not know another past tense, this is the most important tense to learn, and every Greek will understand you.
As you saw in the examples, you can use it to mention things that only happened once, so not many times or repeatedly,
However…there is also another tense, the Paratatikos, which is used by Greeks,
for an action that happened many times or was repeated in the past and shows duration or a past habit.
So something we kept doing in the past.
Conjugation in Paratatikos (Past Continuous)
Εγώ ξεχνούσα
Εσύ ξεχνούσες
Αυτός/Αυτή/Αυτό ξεχνούσε
Εμείς ξεχνούσαμε
Εσείς ξεχνούσατε
Αυτοί/Αυτές/Αυτά ξεχνούσαν
Examples:
Κάποτε ξεχνούσα συνέχεια τα πράγματά μου.
–> “I used to constantly forget my things.”
Στην αρχή ο Νίκος ξεχνούσε το όνομά μου, αλλά τώρα το θυμάται.
–> At first, Nikos forgot my name, but now he remembers it.”
Τα παιδιά ξεχνούσαν συνέχεια τα γενέθλιά μου όταν ήταν μικρά.
–> “When the children were little, they constantly forgot my birthday.”
or; “When the children were little, they used to constantly forget my birthday.”
Aoristos vs Paratatikos
Aoristos describes a completed action in the past.
Paratatikos describes repeated or continuous actions in the past.
Example:
Ξέχασα τα κλειδιά μου. –> I forgot my keys
Ξεχνούσα συχνά τα κλειδιά μου. –> I often forgot my keys – I used to forget my keys..
Watch the full lesson
We know, it is confusing, and difficult to learn.
That is why we made a video for you, with the entire lesson and explanations
Click here to watch the video lesson on YouTube
Your turn!
Now try to write some sentences in aoristos and one in paratatikos using «ξεχνάω».
You can also write it under the video on YouTube
A practical eBook
Deciding which tense to use can be very difficult, and is not always so clear.
If in doubt, Greeks would use the aorist.
But do not worry, σιγά σιγά! Practice makes perfect!
Are you ready to learn more about Greek past tenses?
Then take a look at this practical eBook, with many videos, verbs and exercises to practice more.
