είμαι

See also: εἶμαι and εἷμαι

Greek

Etymology

From Byzantine Greek εἶμαι (eîmai), from Ancient Greek εἰμί (eimí, “to be”), from Proto-Hellenic *ehmi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi (“I am, I exist”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈi.me/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: εί‧μαι

Verb

είμαι • (eímai) (imperfect ήμουν, past —)

1. (most senses, location and existence) to be

   Είμαι φίλος της. ― Eímai fílos tis. ― I'm her friend.

   Είναι γιατρός. ― Eínai giatrós. ― He's a doctor.

   Συνεχώς ήταν θλιμμένη ― Synechós ítan thlimméni ― She was constantly sad.

   Είμαι στο σπίτι μου ― Eímai sto spíti mou ― I am at my home.

2. (intransitive) there is, there are, to exist

   Είναι μία γυναίκα στην πόρτα. ― Eínai mía gynaíka stin pórta. ― There is a woman at the door.

3. (transitive) to support, be a supporter of (team, political party etc)

   Αυτός εκεί είναι ΣΥΡΙΖΑ. ― Aftós ekeí eínai SYRIZA. ― That guy over there is a SYRIZA supporter.

   Τι ομάδα είσαι; ― Ti omáda eísai; ― What team do you support?

4. (grammar, auxiliary verb) to be + participles to form alternative passive perfect tenses

   Έχει λυθεί το πρόβλημα, είναι λυμένο. ― Échei lytheí to próvlima, eínai lyméno. ― The problem has been solved, it is [already] solved.

Usage notes

• All inflectional forms also occur with apheresis of the first vowel, when preceded by vowel. An apostrophe is used in its place: e.g. να ’μαι (na ’mai, “here I am”), πού ’σουν; (poú ’soun?, “where were you?”), θα ’μαστε (tha ’maste, “we will be”).

Conjugation

είμαι

	Active voice ➤   —   Imperfective aspect ➤
Indicative mood ➤	Present ➤	Imperfect ➤	Future ➤
1 sg	είμαι	ήμουν(α)1	θα είμαι
2 sg	είσαι	ήσουν(α)1	θα είσαι
3 sg	είναι	ήταν(ε)1	θα είναι
1 pl	είμαστε, [είμεθα]3	ήμαστε, ήμασταν2, [ήμεθα]3	θα είμαστε
2 pl	είστε, είσαστε	ήσαστε, ήσασταν2	θα είστε, θα είσαστε
3 pl	είναι	ήταν(ε)1, {ήσαν}3, [ήσανε]1	θα είναι
Subjunctive mood ➤	Formed using present tense from above with a particle (να, ας).
Imperative mood ➤	2 sg	2 pl
Imperfective aspect	να είσαι, {[έσο]}3	να είστε, να είσαστε, {[έστε]}3
Other forms	Present participle ➤
	όντας4 ➤
Notes     Appendix:Greek verbs	• 1 informal alternatives     2 orally differentiated alternatives     3 dated  • 4 Also, archaic active present participle: ο {ων}, η {ούσα}, το {ον}  • (…) optional or informal.   […] rare.   {…} learned, archaic.  • Multiple forms are shown in order of reducing frequency.  • Periphrastic imperative forms may be produced using the subjunctive.

• Audio: present indicative

  (file)

  imperfect

  (file)

Synonyms

• (exist): υπάρχω (ypárcho)
• (support): υποστηρίζω (ypostirízo)

Derived terms

• όντας (óntas, participle)

Related terms

• είμεθα (eímetha, “we are”) (from Katharevousa)
• ήμεθα (ímetha, “we were”) (from Katharevousa)
• ων m (on, “being”, participle) (archaic, set phrase from Ancient Greek)

• ούσα f (oúsa), ον n (on)

• έσομαι (ésomai, “I will be”) (archaic, in set phrases from Ancient Greek)
• έσο (éso, “be!, may you be!”, imperative) (archaic, in set phrases from Ancient Greek)
• έστω (ésto, “let it be!”, imperative) (archaic, in set phrases from Ancient Greek)
• έστωσαν (éstosan, “let them be!”, imperative) (archaic, inset phrases from Ancient Greek)

See also

• εἶμαι (eîmai) (polytonic script of είμαι (eímai))
• εἷμαι (heîmai) (not related - see verbs ἕννυμι (hénnumi), ἕζομαι (hézomai), ἵημι (híēmi))
• γίνομαι (gínomai, “to become”)