Impersonal Constructions in Greek

In Brief

Greek does not normally add an empty word meaning “it” in sentences such as “it is raining” or “it is necessary.” Instead, it uses a third-person singular verb by itself: Βρέχει “It is raining,” Πρέπει να φύγουμε “We must leave,” and Φαίνεται ότι άργησε “It seems that he/she was late.” The idea that follows is commonly expressed with να + verb, ότι/πως + a full statement, or a noun.

Overview

An impersonal construction presents weather, necessity, appearance, general opinion, or evaluation without naming an ordinary subject—the person or thing that performs the verb. English often supplies the dummy subject it, as in “it seems” and “it is worth it.” This it does not refer to anything. Modern Greek normally has no equivalent in these patterns: adding αυτό (“this/that”) is usually wrong unless you really are pointing back to a specific thing.

At B1, the most useful constructions are πρέπει “must/should,” φαίνεται “it seems,” αξίζει “it is worth,” χρειάζεται “it is necessary/needed,” weather verbs such as βρέχει, and reporting expressions such as λέγεται ότι “it is said that.” They occur constantly in conversation, advice, instructions, reviews, and news reports.

Many of them build on the Greek subjunctive (the pattern with να plus a verb, used for actions that are wanted, required, possible, and so on). Greek does not use an infinitive—an English form such as “to go”—after these expressions. The verb after να changes to show who performs the action: πρέπει να πάω “I must go,” but πρέπει να πάτε “you must go.”

How It Works

The three main complements

A complement is the word or clause that completes an expression. Impersonal constructions most often take one of these three shapes:

Pattern	Main purpose	Example	Meaning
impersonal expression + να + verb	an action to do	Αξίζει να περιμένεις.	It is worth waiting.
impersonal expression + ότι/πως + statement	information presented as true or apparent	Φαίνεται ότι έφυγαν.	It seems that they left.
impersonal expression + noun	a thing, quality, or resource needed	Χρειάζεται υπομονή.	Patience is needed.

Ότι and πως both mean “that” when introducing a statement. In this use, πως has no accent; πώς with an accent means “how.”

Πρέπει: necessity, obligation, and advice

Πρέπει remains in the third-person singular; it does not change according to the person who must act. The following verb carries that information.

Person responsible	Greek	English
I	Πρέπει να φύγω.	I must leave.
you (singular)	Πρέπει να φύγεις.	You must leave.
he/she	Πρέπει να φύγει.	He/She must leave.
we	Πρέπει να φύγουμε.	We must leave.
you (plural/polite)	Πρέπει να φύγετε.	You must leave.
they	Πρέπει να φύγουν.	They must leave.

The tense or aspect of the second verb matters. Πρέπει να διαβάζεις κάθε μέρα presents reading as repeated or ongoing; πρέπει να διαβάσεις αυτό το κεφάλαιο presents one complete task. Έπρεπε να φύγω means “I had to leave” in a past situation, but context and intonation can also make it “I should have left.” Θα πρέπει να... often softens advice (“you should...”) or expresses a reasoned guess (“it must probably be...”).

For negation, notice an important English trap:

• Δεν πρέπει να καπνίζετε εδώ. — You must not / should not smoke here.
• Δεν χρειάζεται να περιμένετε. — You do not need to wait.

The first normally warns against an action; the second removes the necessity. English “mustn’t” and “don’t have to” are not interchangeable, and neither are these Greek patterns.

Φαίνεται: appearance and inference

Use φαίνεται ότι/πως + statement when the whole following claim seems true:

• Φαίνεται ότι βρέχει. — It seems that it is raining.
• Φαίνεται πως δεν κατάλαβαν. — It seems that they did not understand.

Greek can also use φαίνεται να + verb. Here, an expressed subject may make the construction personal and control agreement:

• Ο Νίκος φαίνεται να κουράστηκε. — Nikos seems to have become tired.
• Οι δρόμοι φαίνονται να είναι άδειοι. — The streets seem to be empty.

The second example has plural φαίνονται, so it is no longer impersonal in the narrowest grammatical sense. It belongs to the same family of meaning and is worth recognizing. With an indirect-object pronoun, μου φαίνεται means “it seems to me”: Μου φαίνεται περίεργο “It seems strange to me.”

Αξίζει: worth and value

Use αξίζει να + verb for an action worth doing: Αξίζει να το δεις “It is worth seeing it.” The person implied by a general second-person verb is often “anyone/you in general,” not one specific listener.

Αξίζει may also have a real subject: Το μουσείο αξίζει “The museum is worth it” or Αυτό το βιβλίο αξίζει να το διαβάσεις “This book is worth reading.” For monetary value, it can mean “is worth”: Το σπίτι αξίζει πολλά χρήματα.

Χρειάζεται: necessity and what is needed

Χρειάζεται να + verb means that an action is necessary: Χρειάζεται να κλείσουμε ραντεβού “We need to make an appointment.” With a noun, it identifies what is required: Χρειάζεται προσοχή “Caution is needed.”

Not every use is strictly subjectless. In Χρειάζονται δύο υπογραφές “Two signatures are needed,” the plural verb agrees with δύο υπογραφές. Likewise, Ο υπολογιστής χρειάζεται επισκευή means “The computer needs repair.” Learn the frequent patterns rather than assuming that χρειάζεται must always stay singular.

Weather and environmental conditions

Weather verbs usually appear in the third-person singular without a subject:

Greek	Natural English
βρέχει	it is raining / it rains
χιονίζει	it is snowing / it snows
φυσάει / φυσά	it is windy / the wind is blowing
βροντάει / βροντά	it is thundering
κάνει κρύο	it is cold
κάνει ζέστη	it is hot

The tense changes normally: Έβρεχε “It was raining,” Έβρεξε “It rained,” Θα βρέξει “It will rain.” Greek uses κάνει (“does/makes”) in κάνει κρύο/ζέστη; do not replace it mechanically with είναι because English says “is.”

Λέγεται ότι and other reports

Λέγεται ότι... literally uses a passive form, “is said that,” to report information without naming the speaker. The clause after ότι/πως contains a complete statement:

• Λέγεται ότι το κτίριο είναι πολύ παλιό. — It is said that the building is very old.
• Ακούγεται πως θα αλλάξει ο νόμος. — It is rumored/heard that the law will change.

These forms let a speaker avoid claiming direct knowledge. Similar formal patterns include θεωρείται ότι “it is considered that” and ανακοινώθηκε ότι “it was announced that.”

Examples in Context

Greek	English	Note
Πρέπει να στείλω το μήνυμα σήμερα.	I must send the message today.	να clause; the ending shows “I.”
Δεν πρέπει να αφήνετε την πόρτα ανοιχτή.	You must not leave the door open.	Warning or prohibition.
Θα πρέπει να είναι ήδη στο σπίτι.	They must be home already.	A reasoned assumption, not a future duty.
Φαίνεται ότι βρέχει.	It seems like it is raining.	A whole claim follows ότι.
Μου φαίνεται πως έχεις δίκιο.	It seems to me that you are right.	μου marks the person judging.
Αξίζει να πας στο χωριό την άνοιξη.	It is worth going to the village in spring.	Evaluation of an action.
Δεν αξίζει να μαλώνουμε γι’ αυτό.	It is not worth arguing about this.	General first-person plural.
Χρειάζεται προσοχή σ’ αυτόν τον δρόμο.	Caution is needed on this road.	Noun after χρειάζεται.
Χρειάζεται να κάνετε κράτηση.	You need to make a reservation.	Polite/plural “you” is in κάνετε.
Χρειάζονται περισσότερες πληροφορίες.	More information is needed.	Plural agreement with πληροφορίες.
Χτες έβρεχε όλο το απόγευμα.	Yesterday it was raining all afternoon.	Ongoing past weather.
Αύριο θα κάνει κρύο.	It will be cold tomorrow.	Fixed weather expression with κάνει.
Λέγεται ότι το νησί πήρε το όνομά του από έναν βασιλιά.	It is said that the island took its name from a king.	Unnamed source of a report.
Ανακοινώθηκε ότι η πτήση ακυρώθηκε.	It was announced that the flight was canceled.	Formal impersonal passive.

Common Mistakes

Adding αυτό as a dummy “it”

• Wrong: Αυτό βρέχει σήμερα.
• Right: Βρέχει σήμερα.
• Why: English requires “it,” but Greek weather verbs do not. Αυτό refers to an actual “this/that” and cannot serve as an empty subject here.

Conjugating πρέπει for the person responsible

• Wrong: Πρέπω να φύγω.
• Right: Πρέπει να φύγω.
• Why: Impersonal πρέπει stays third-person singular. Conjugate the verb after να, not πρέπει.

Using an infinitive after πρέπει or αξίζει

• Wrong: Πρέπει φύγω. / Αξίζει πάω.
• Right: Πρέπει να φύγω. / Αξίζει να πάω.
• Why: Modern Greek uses να + a conjugated verb, not a bare infinitive.

Confusing prohibition with lack of necessity

• Wrong for “You don’t need to come”: Δεν πρέπει να έρθεις.
• Right: Δεν χρειάζεται να έρθεις.
• Why: Δεν πρέπει να έρθεις normally means “You should not/must not come.” Use δεν χρειάζεται when the action is optional.

Keeping χρειάζεται singular with a plural subject

• Wrong: Χρειάζεται δύο φωτογραφίες.
• Right: Χρειάζονται δύο φωτογραφίες.
• Why: When the needed item functions as a plural grammatical subject, standard agreement is plural. Singular χρειάζεται is natural before a clause or a singular/mass noun: χρειάζεται να..., χρειάζεται χρόνος.

Confusing πως with πώς

• Wrong: Φαίνεται πώς θα αργήσει.
• Right: Φαίνεται πως θα αργήσει.
• Why: Unaccented πως introduces a statement (“that”). Accented πώς asks or reports “how”: Δεν ξέρω πώς έγινε “I don’t know how it happened.”

Usage Notes

Πρέπει covers a wide range from firm obligation to friendly advice. Tone and context decide whether Πρέπει να φύγεις sounds like “You must leave” or “You should leave.” For gentler advice, speakers often use θα πρέπει να or καλό είναι να (“it is a good idea to”).

Φαίνεται ότι is neutral and common in both speech and writing. Μάλλον (“probably/apparently”) can sound more conversational: Μάλλον θα βρέξει “It will probably rain.” Λέγεται ότι distances the speaker from a report and is common in historical descriptions, journalism, and rumor; it does not guarantee that the report is true.

Spoken Greek frequently uses πως after verbs of saying, thinking, and seeming, while ότι is equally standard and often favored where clarity matters. Remember that written ό,τι, with a comma, means “whatever/anything that” and is a different word from ότι “that.”

Weather expressions also have figurative uses. Βρέχει καρεκλοπόδαρα is an informal idiom meaning “It is raining cats and dogs.” Such expressions are useful to recognize, but the plain verbs are safer in neutral communication.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Impersonal language is an important strategy for changing register—the level of formality and style. Compare a personal sentence with an impersonal one:

More personal/direct	More impersonal/detached
Οι ειδικοί θεωρούν ότι το μέτρο είναι αναγκαίο. — Experts consider the measure necessary.	Θεωρείται ότι το μέτρο είναι αναγκαίο. — It is considered that the measure is necessary.
Η εταιρεία ανακοίνωσε ότι θα κλείσει το γραφείο. — The company announced that it will close the office.	Ανακοινώθηκε ότι το γραφείο θα κλείσει. — It was announced that the office will close.

The impersonal passive hides or deemphasizes the source. That can be useful when the source is unknown, obvious, unimportant, or deliberately left unnamed. In careful reading, ask who actually says, considers, or announces the claim.

Advanced learners should also distinguish an impersonal structure from one with a clause as its grammatical subject. In Είναι σημαντικό να ξεκουράζεσαι, the να clause supplies the content of what is important; in everyday terms, however, the sentence still behaves like English impersonal “It is important to rest.” Many adjective expressions follow this productive pattern: είναι πιθανό να “it is likely that,” είναι δύσκολο να “it is difficult to,” and είναι απαραίτητο να “it is essential to.” The adjective commonly appears in the neuter singular because it evaluates an entire situation rather than describing a named masculine or feminine noun.

Finally, forms such as έπρεπε να είχα φύγει can make an unrealized past obligation explicit: “I should have left.” This combines the impersonal expression with more advanced tense and aspect choices. At B1, first master πρέπει/έπρεπε + να + verb in clear present and past contexts; later, notice how extra past marking removes ambiguity.

Practice Tips

1. Build person chains. Keep πρέπει unchanged and rotate only the second verb: πρέπει να πάω, να πας, να πάει, να πάμε, να πάτε, να πάνε. This trains the structure instead of an English word-for-word translation.
2. Sort examples by connector. While reading or listening, collect phrases under three headings: να + action, ότι/πως + statement, and noun. Predict which pattern follows αξίζει, φαίνεται, and χρειάζεται.
3. Practice the negative contrast. Make pairs such as Δεν πρέπει να οδηγήσεις “You must not drive” and Δεν χρειάζεται να οδηγήσεις “You do not need to drive.” This prevents a high-impact misunderstanding.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subjunctive Mood — explains how να + verb is formed and why the verb changes for person and aspect.