The verb “to be” in Greek: είμαι, είσαι, είναι
“To be” in Greek has six forms in the present: είμαι, είσαι, είναι, είμαστε, είστε, είναι.
English gets by with three (am, are, is); Greek has one for each person, and the pronoun is usually left out: Είμαι γιατρός [EE-meh yah-TROS] is “I’m a doctor”, Είμαστε στην Κύπρο [EE-mah-steh steen KEE-pro] is “We’re in Cyprus”. “He / she / it is” and “they are” share one form: είναι.
Every form starts with ει, which says ee, not “ay”. The ending αι says eh, not “eye”: είμαι is [EE-meh]. The capitals in a respelling mark the stressed syllable.
The six forms
Press the button to hear each form.
- είμαιEE-meh · I am
- είσαιEE-seh · you are (one person)
- είναιEE-neh · he / she / it is
- είμαστεEE-mah-steh · we are
- είστεEE-steh · you are (several people, or politely)
- είναιEE-neh · they are
What matters here
- “He / she / it is” and “they are” are the same word: είναι. Where English switches from “is” to “are”, Greek doesn’t; the context tells you who is meant.
- There are two words for “you”. English “you are” covers everyone. In Greek, είσαι is to one person you know, είστε is polite, or to several people.
- The pronoun is usually not needed. Instead of Εγώ είμαι γιατρός (“I am a doctor”), people say Είμαι γιατρός. Add εγώ [eh-GHO] only to stress “I, not someone else”.
- No “a” before a job. Είμαι γιατρός is literally “I am doctor”: where English needs “a”, Greek has nothing.
Ready phrases
- Είμαι από την Αγγλία.EE-meh ah-PO teen ahn-GLEE-ah · I’m from England.
- Είμαι στη Λάρνακα.EE-meh stee LAHR-nah-kah · I’m in Larnaca.
- Είμαι γιατρός.EE-meh yah-TROS · I’m a doctor.
- Είσαι φοιτητής.EE-seh fee-tee-TEES · You are a student.
- Είμαστε στην Κύπρο.EE-mah-steh steen KEE-pro · We’re in Cyprus.
- Είστε από την Αγγλία;EE-steh ah-PO teen ahn-GLEE-ah · Are you from England? (polite)
- Δεν είμαι γιατρός.dhehn EE-meh yah-TROS · I’m not a doctor.
To say where you are from, swap the country: Είμαι από την Αμερική [EE-meh ah-PO teen ah-meh-ree-KEE], “I’m from America”. The ; at the end of a question is the Greek question mark, not a semicolon.
How to say “not”
Put δεν [dhehn] in front of the verb: Δεν είμαι γιατρός, “I’m not a doctor”. In English “not” comes after “am”; in Greek it always goes before the verb. The δ in δεν is the th of “this”, never a d. A “no” on its own is a different word, όχι [O-hyee]. How δεν and όχι differ is a topic of its own.
Check yourself
What does Είμαστε στο σπίτι mean?
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Είμαστε στο σπίτι [EE-mah-steh sto SPEE-tee] is “We’re at home”: είμαστε means “we are”.
How do you say “You are a teacher” politely, to one man?
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“You are a teacher” said politely is Είστε δάσκαλος [EE-steh DHAH-skah-los]: είστε is the polite “you”.
How do you say “They are in Cyprus”?
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“They are in Cyprus” is Είναι στην Κύπρο [EE-neh steen KEE-pro]: “they” uses the same είναι as “he / she / it”.