Perfect Aspect

Perfect Aspect

The perfect aspect is used when an action isn’t completed before a certain time. It is created with the verb “haβáρe,” meaning “to have” and the past participle, which ends in áτo, éτo and íτo for the active, passive and reflexive voices respectively. The “o” at the end of the past participle ending is an adjectival ending and must agree with the object of the verb for case and number. If the verb is intransitive (having no object) the past participle will have the endings above. If there is a direct and an indirect object, then it will have the case of the direct object, namely the accusative case. The verb with the direct object in the dative, will receive a dative ending.

When two verbs in a sentence or clause are in the same perfect tense, the verb “haβáρe” does not have to be repeated. Instead of saying, θa háβe πiγenáτo ce θa háβe βenáτo (I have gone and I have come) one could say θa háβe πiγenáτo ce βenáτo (I have sat and slept.) In English, ambiguity may arise because “I have slept” is the prefect tense, while “I slept” could be in the past simple tense.