Learn Greek › B1 › σπάω
σπάω
to break /ˈspa.o/
verbB1#1181 most common
Also: to snap/burst something, to have a great time (σπάω πλάκα), to draw/pull (archaic, of a sword)
Example sentences
Σπάω το μολύβι μου.
I break my pencil.
Πρόσεξε, θα σπάσεις το ποτήρι!
Careful, you'll break the glass!
Χτες έσπασα το πόδι μου παίζοντας ποδόσφαιρο.
Yesterday I broke my leg playing football.
Πάντα σπάει πλάκα με τους φίλους του στο διάλειμμα.
He always jokes around with his friends during break time.
Αυτός ο θόρυβος μού σπάει τα νεύρα κάθε πρωί.
That noise gets on my nerves every morning.
Σπάει το κεφάλι του εδώ και μέρες πάνω σε ένα πρόβλημα που φαίνεται άλυτο.
He has been racking his brain for days over a problem that seems unsolvable.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | σπάω | έσπασα | θα σπάσω |
| 2sg | σπάς | έσπασες | θα σπάσεις |
| 3sg | σπάει | έσπασε | θα σπάσει |
| 1pl | σπάμε | σπάσαμε | θα σπάσουμε |
| 2pl | σπάτε | σπάσατε | θα σπάσετε |
| 3pl | σπάνε | έσπασαν | θα σπάσουν |
Word family
σπάζωto break (common variant of σπάω)
σπασμόςspasm
σπάσιμοa break, breakage
σπασμένοςbroken
απόσπασμαexcerpt, extractEtymology
σπάω comes from Ancient Greek σπάω (spáō), meaning to draw, pull, or tear, as in drawing a sword from its sheath. Over time the sense narrowed toward violent separation, and in Modern Greek it settled on the everyday meaning of breaking or snapping something. The derived noun σπασμός gave English the word spasm, a sudden involuntary contraction, which preserves the old idea of a sharp pull or wrench.
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