Personal Pronouns
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong | Weak | Strong | Weak | |
| Nominative | εγώ | - | εμείς | - |
| Genitive | εμένα | μου | εμάς | μας |
| Accusative | εμένα | με | εμάς | μας |
When used with the prepositions “για” and “από”, the pronoun “εμένα” loses the initial “ε”, i.e. “για μένα” and “από μένα” instead of “για εμένα” and “από εμένα”.
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong | Weak | Strong | Weak | |
| Nominative | εσύ | - | εσείς | - |
| Genitive | εσένα | σου | εσάς | σας |
| Accusative | εσένα | σε | εσάς | σας |
| Vocative | εσύ | - | εσείς | - |
When used with the prepositions “για” and “από”, the pronoun “εσένα” loses the initial “ε”, i.e. “για σένα” and “από σένα” instead of “για εσένα” and “από εσένα”.
| Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | αυτός | αυτή | αυτό | αυτοί | αυτές | αυτά |
| Genitive | αυτού, του | αυτής, της | αυτού, του | αυτών, τους | ||
| Nominative | αυτόν,τον | αυτή(ν), τη(ν) | αυτό, το | αυτούς, τους | αυτές, τις, τες | αυτά, τα |
The third person accusative of the feminine singular ends in -ν when the following word starts with a vowel or κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, γκ, μπ, ντ. In all other situations, the -ν is optional.
Note: Pronoun Ambiguity
Sometimes, there may be ambiguity about whether a pronoun in a sentence is genitive personal pronoun or a possessive pronoun. This is resolved in speech by placing stress on the pronoun and in writing by adding and accent mark on it if it is a personal pronoun. However, there is no need for an accent mark in writing when both a personal pronoun and a possessive pronoun are used, since it is obvious which is which in this case.
Example: Ambiguous Pronouns
Ο καθηγητής μού εξήγησε το μάθημα. - The teacher explained the lesson to me.
Ο καθηγητής μου εξήγησε το μάθημα. - My teacher explained the lesson.
Ο καθηγητής μου μου εξήγησε το μάθημα. - My teacher explained the lesson to me.
Usage
The nominative personal pronouns are not necessary because the verb conjugation shows who the subject is. Instead, these pronouns are usually used for emphasis in order to show that a specific someone and not someone else is doing the action.
Personal pronouns which only have one form can also be used either before or after the verb. Wherever there are two forms separated by a comma, the longer form is known as the strong form of the personal pronoun and the shorter is its weak form. This distinction is very important because the different forms can only take specific places in the sentence:
- Strong forms can come either before or after the verb.
- Weak forms always precede the verb in indicative and subjunctive sentences. The only exception is “τες” which always follows the verb.
- Weak forms, however, always follow verbs in the imperative mood and participles.
Example: Position of the Personal Pronouns
Εγώ θα πληρώσω. / Θα πληρώσω εγώ. (I will pay.)
Τον βλέπω. / Αυτόν βλέπω. / Βλέπω αυτόν. (I see him.)
Τη βλέπω. / Αυτή βλέπω. / Βλέπω αυτή. (I see her.)
Αν τις δεις, φώναξέ τες. (If you see them, call them.)
Δώσε μου το μολύβι. (Give me the pencil.)
Τραγουδούσε κοιτάζοντάς τη στα μάτια. (Looking her in the eyes, he was singing.)
It is also quite common to see the strong and the weak form of the same personal pronoun used one after ther other.
EXAMPLE
Εμένα με λένε Ελένη. (They call me Helen.)
Possessive Pronouns
Possesive pronouns in modern Greek are fairly simple because they do not change depending on the case. Moreover, the forms of the possessive pronouns are exactly the same as the weak forms of the genitive personal pronouns.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | μου | μας |
| 2nd Person | σου | σας |
| 3rd Person (Masculine) | του | τους |
| 3rd Person (Feminine) | της | τους |
| 3rd Person (Neuter) | του | τους |
NOTE
Masculine / feminine / neuter refers to the owner and not the thing owned.
Possessive pronouns are always used in conjunction with an article and come directly after the thing which is being “owned”. Additionally, they are never stressed.
Example: Basic Usage of Possessive Pronouns
η τσάντα μου (my bag) - Η τσάντα μου είναι ροζ. (My bag is pink.)
το τηλέφωνό σου (your phone) - Μου αρέσει το χρώμα τou τηλέφωνού σου. (I like the color of your phone.)
ο σκύλος του (his dog) - Ο σκύλος του είναι πολύ φιλικός. (His dog is very friendly.)
η γάτα της (her cat) - Η γάτα της κοιμάται. (Her cat is sleeping).
η πόρτα του (its door) - Η πόρτα του είναι παλιά. (Its door is old. For example, the house’s door.)
το σπίτι μας (our house) - Το σπίτι μας είναι μεγάλο. (Our house is big.)
ο φίλος σας (your friend) - Βλέπω τον φίλο σας. (I see your friend).
το βιβλίο τους (their book) - Θέλο να αγοράσω το βιβλίο τους. (I want to buy their book.)
If we want to use a possessive pronoun on its own, then we always have to use it with the adjective δικός, ή, ό. The adjective is declined in accordance with the noun being “owned”, even though the noun itself is not present in the sentence. This usage is usually equivalent to the English mine, yours, hers, ours, etc.
Example: Standalone Possessive Pronouns
Αυτό το βιβλίο είναι δικό μου. (This book is mine.)
The adjective δικός, ή, ό can also be used to emphasise that the thing being possessed belongs to a particular owner and not to someone or something else. In this case, however, the adjective and the possessive pronoun are placed directly after the definite article. In this usage, the phrasing may also be similar to the English “my / your / his / hers / its / our / your / their own”.
Emphasising Possessive Pronouns
Γιατί φοράς συνέχεια τις δικές μου κάλτσες? - Why are you wearing my socks? (and not yours)
Μένουν στο δικό τους σπίτι. - They live in their own house.
Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns are used to introduce relative clauses.
The most common relative pronoun is που. It is indeclinable and can stand for any noun regardless of its gender, case or number.
Example: The Relative Pronoun "που"
Έχασα το βιβλίο που μου δάνεισες. (I lost the book which you gave me.)
The relative pronoun οποίος, οποία, οποίο is a more formal equivalent of που. It is always preceded by the definite article and must agree in gender, case and number with the noun it refers to. It is declined like an adjective ending in -ος, -α, -ο.
Example: οποίος, οποία, οποίο
Έχασα το βιβλίο το οποίο μου δάνεισες. (I lost the book which you gave me.)
The relative pronoun όποιος, όποια, όποιο means “whoever” / “whichever” / “anyone who”. It is used without the definite article and declines like an adjective ending in -ος, -α, -ο.
Example: όποιος, όποια, όποιο
Όπιος θέλει μπορεί να έρθει μαζί μας. (Whoever wants can come with us.)
The construction “ό, τι” serves a very similar purpose as όποιος, όποια, όποιο but can only be used with inanimate objects and is indeclinable. It is best translated as “whatever” / “what” / “any”.
Example: ό, τι
Θα φάω ό, τι βρω στο ψυγείο. (I will eat whatever I find in the fridge.)
The relative pronoun όσος, όση, όσο means “as much as” / “as many as”. It is used without the definite article and must agree in gender, case and number with the noun it refers to. It declines like an adjective ending in -ος, -η, -ο.
Example: όσος, όση, όσο
Θα αγοράσω όσα μήλα θέλεις. (I will buy as many apples as you want.)
Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns indicate which specific object a person is talking about.
The pronoun αυτός, αυτή, αυτό can be translated as “this” / “these” and is used whenever the object is close to the speaker. It must agree in gender, case and number with the noun it refers to and declines like an adjective ending in -ος, -η, -ο. This pronoun is always used in conjunction with the definite article and is placed right before it.
Example: αυτός, αυτή, αυτό
Μπράβο σου για αυτό το ρόλο. (Congratulations for this role.)
The pronoun εκείνος, εκείνη, εκείνο can be translated as “that” / “those” and is used whenever the object is farther from the speaker. It must agree in gender, case and number with the noun it refers to and declines like an adjective ending in -ος, -η, -ο. This pronoun is always used in conjunction with the definite article and is placed right before it.
Example: εκείνος, εκείνη, εκείνο
Εκείνο το βιβλίο είναι δικό μου. (That book is mine.)
Interrogative Pronouns
The interrogative pronoun “τι” is used to ask questions about inanimate objects and is indeclinable.
Example: Questions with τι
Τι κάνεις? (What are you doing?)
Με τι γράφεις? (What are you writing with?)
Από τι ώρα περιμένεις? (Since what time are you waiting?)
The interrogative pronoun ποιος, ποια, ποιο is used for asking questions about people and for asking questions about inanimate objects when there is a limited number of them and the speaker essentially wants to “choose” one over the others. The pronoun must agree with the thing it refers to in gender, case and number. It is declined like an adjective ending in -ος, -α, -ο, although the genetive singular and genitive plural can also have the forms ποιανού and ποιανών, respectively.
Example: Questions with ποιος, ποια, ποιο
Ποιος είναι αυτός? - Who is this? (asking about a man)
Ποια είναι αυτή? - Who is this? (asking about a woman)
Ποια ταινία θέλεις να δούμε? - Which movie do you want to watch?
Ποιο χρώμα προτιμάς? - Which color do you prefer?
The interrogative pronouns τίνος and τίνων are used to enquire about the owner of something. The former is used when the thing is singular and the latter is used when the thing is plural.
Example: Questions with τίνος / τίνων
Τίνος είναι αυτό το παλτό? - Whose coat is this?
Τίνων είναι αυτά τα παιδιά που παίζουν στην αυλή? - Whose children are these which are playing in the yard?
The interrogative pronoun πόσος, πόση, πόσο is used for asking about quantity and can be translated as “how much” / “how many”. It is declined like an adjective ending in -ος, -η, -ο and must agree with the thing it refers to in gender, case and number.
Example: Questions with πόσος, πόση, πόσο
Πόσο γάλα θέλεις στον καφέ σου? - How much milk do you want in your coffee?