The Perfect (παρακείμενος) - “I have …”
The perfect says an action is DONE and that it still matters now: «Έχω φάει» = “I have eaten (so I'm not hungry)”. It is built from TWO words - the auxiliary έχω conjugated for the person, plus one FIXED form that never changes: έχω γράψει, έχεις γράψει, έχει γράψει, έχουμε γράψει, έχετε γράψει, έχουν γράψει. That fixed second word is the very form you already know from θα γράψει and να γράψει, so there is no new stem to learn - irregular verbs simply keep their irregular one: τρώω → έχω φάει, βλέπω → έχω δει, πηγαίνω → έχω πάει. Against the aorist the difference is relevance, not time: έφαγα reports the event (“I ate [at 8]”), έχω φάει reports the resulting state (“I've eaten”), which is why the perfect resists a specific past time - «έφαγα χθες», not «*έχω φάει χθες».
The rule
The perfect (παρακείμενος) says an action is done and still matters now: Έχω φάει (“I have eaten - so I'm not hungry”). It is two words: the auxiliary έχω conjugated for the person, plus one fixed form that never changes - έχω γράψει, έχεις γράψει, έχουμε γράψει. That fixed form is the dependent you already use after θα and να (θα γράψει · να γράψει · έχω γράψει), so irregular verbs keep their irregular one: τρώω → έχω φάει, βλέπω → έχω δει, πηγαίνω → έχω πάει. Against the aorist the difference is relevance, not time: έφαγα χθες reports the event (a specific past time forces the aorist), έχω φάει reports the state you are in now.
Paradigm
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | έχω γράψει† | έχουμε γράψει† |
| 2nd | έχεις γράψει† | έχετε γράψει† |
| 3rd | έχει γράψει† | έχουν γράψει† |
- Analytic perfect: the auxiliary έχω carries the person; γράψει never changes.
- έχουμε + the invariant γράψει.
- Only the auxiliary moves: έχω → έχεις. The second word stays γράψει.
- έχετε + the invariant γράψει.
- έχει + the invariant γράψει.
- έχουν + the invariant γράψει.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | έχω αγαπήσει† | έχουμε αγαπήσει† |
| 2nd | έχεις αγαπήσει† | έχετε αγαπήσει† |
| 3rd | έχει αγαπήσει† | έχουν αγαπήσει† |
- Group-2 non-finite αγαπήσει (the -ήσ- perfective stem), invariant; έχω carries the person.
- έχουμε + the invariant αγαπήσει.
- έχεις + the invariant αγαπήσει.
- έχετε + the invariant αγαπήσει.
- έχει + the invariant αγαπήσει.
- έχουν + the invariant αγαπήσει.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | έχω φάει† | έχουμε φάει† |
| 2nd | έχεις φάει† | έχετε φάει† |
| 3rd | έχει φάει† | έχουν φάει† |
- Suppletive non-finite φάει (stem φαγ-, as in the aorist έφαγα) - unrelated to the present τρώ-. Invariant; έχω carries the person.
- έχουμε + the invariant suppletive φάει.
- έχεις + the invariant suppletive φάει.
- έχετε + the invariant suppletive φάει.
- έχει + the invariant suppletive φάει.
- έχουν + the invariant suppletive φάει.