No. 258 in Greek

έπρεπε

"Έπρεπε" means "had to" or "was supposed to" in English.

In a sentence

Έπρεπε να φύγω νωρίς χθες.
I had to leave early yesterday.
The word 'έπρεπε' is used to express necessity or obligation in the past tense. It translates to 'had to' in English, indicating a requirement or need that existed in the past.
Δεν έπρεπε να πεις τέτοιο πράγμα.
You should not have said such a thing.
Here, 'έπρεπε' is used in a negated form to express a past recommendation or expectation that was not fulfilled as it should have been. It translates to 'should not have' in English.
Πιστεύω πως έπρεπε να τον ακούσεις.
I believe you should have listened to him.
In this sentence, 'έπρεπε' conveys the idea that there was an expectation or suggestion for an action in the past which would have been proper or advisable.

Hear it in real podcasts

The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “έπρεπε” in actual Greek podcasts.

Learn it from shows you like

LangTurbo plays Greek podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there.

Get the app

Greek books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).