Everyday Participles

Many -μένος participles have settled into the language as ordinary adjectives you use daily, no verb in sight: κουρασμένος (tired), παντρεμένος (married), χαμένος (lost), ετοιμασμένος (ready/prepared), ντυμένος (dressed). They still decline and agree like any participle - «είμαι κουρασμένη» (a woman: I am tired), «είναι παντρεμένοι» (they are married), «ένα χαμένο κλειδί» (a lost key), «τα παιδιά είναι ντυμένα» (the children are dressed). Two of these - κουρασμένος and παντρεμένος - you already met as vocabulary; now you can see WHY they take that shape (they are the -μένος participles of κουράζω and παντρεύομαι) and how they change to match the person or thing they describe. Knowing the participle rule turns a memorised word into a productive pattern.