Nominative: Predicate and Naming | Greek Grammar

Most verbs take an object, and that object goes in the accusative. But a small, very frequent group of verbs — είμαι (be), γίνομαι (become), φαίνομαι (seem), μένω (remain) — doesn't take an object at all. What follows them is not a second participant in the action; it is a second description of the subject. And because it describes the subject, it wears the subject's case: the nominative. This page is about that rule, its consequences for adjective agreement, and the two places Greek deliberately breaks it.

Both sides of είμαι are nominative

είμαι is not a transitive verb. It is an equals sign. Whatever stands on the left of it and whatever stands on the right of it refer to the same person or thing, so they take the same case.

Ο Γιάννης είναι δάσκαλος σε ένα δημοτικό στην Καλαμάτα.

o Yánis íne dháskalos se éna dhimotikó stin Kalamáta

Yannis is a teacher at a primary school in Kalamata.

Η Ελένη είναι η καλύτερή μου φίλη από το σχολείο.

i Eléni íne i kalíterí mu fíli apó to scholío

Eleni is my best friend from school.

Compare the shapes carefully:

Structure	Second noun	Case
Ο Γιάννης είναι δάσκαλος.	describes the subject	Nominative
Ο Γιάννης ξέρει τον δάσκαλο.	a second, different person	Accusative

The logic is worth stating plainly, because once you have it you never need the rule again: the accusative marks a participant that is not the subject. With είμαι there is no such participant — the "second" noun is the subject, named a different way. So there is nothing for the accusative to mark, and the noun simply stays in the case it already has.

Αυτός με το μπλε μπουφάν είναι ο αδερφός μου.

aftós me to ble bufán íne o adherfós mu

That one in the blue jacket is my brother.

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English is the odd one out here, not Greek. Colloquial English says It's me, That's him — object forms after be — which is why learners produce ×Είμαι τον Γιάννη. Greek never does this. If someone knocks and asks Ποιος είναι;, the answer is Εγώ είμαι with the nominative εγώ, the equivalent of the schoolroom English It is I.

— Ποιος είναι; — Εγώ είμαι, ο Νίκος. Άνοιξε.

— pios íne; — eghó íme, o Níkos. ánikse

— Who is it? — It's me, Nikos. Open up.

The other linking verbs

Four more verbs work exactly the same way. They are all verbs of being, becoming, seeming or staying — states rather than actions — and every one of them takes a nominative complement.

Verb	Meaning	Example
είμαι	be	Είναι γιατρός.
γίνομαι	become, turn into	Έγινε γιατρός.
φαίνομαι	seem, look	Φαίνεσαι κουρασμένος.
μένω	remain, be left (in a state)	Μείναμε άφωνοι.
παραμένω	remain (formal)	Το ζήτημα παραμένει ανοιχτό.

Η αδερφή μου έγινε γιατρός πέρσι και δουλεύει ήδη σε νοσοκομείο.

i adherfí mu éyine yatrós pérsi ke dhulévi ídhi se nosokomío

My sister became a doctor last year and she's already working in a hospital.

Φαίνεσαι κουρασμένος σήμερα — κοιμήθηκες καθόλου;

fénese kurazménos símera — kimíthikes kathólu;

You look tired today — did you sleep at all?

Μείναμε άφωνοι όταν μάθαμε τα νέα.

míname áfoni ótan máthame ta néa

We were speechless when we heard the news.

Note μένω in this use: it is not "live/stay somewhere" but "be left in a state", and the state that follows is nominative — μείναμε άφωνοι, "we were left speechless (nominative plural masculine)". The formal παραμένω behaves identically and belongs to (formal) and (academic) registers: Το πρόβλημα παραμένει άλυτο.

Το ζήτημα παραμένει ανοιχτό μέχρι τη συνεδρίαση του Μαρτίου.

to zítima paraméni anichtó méchri ti sinedhríasi tu Martíu

The matter remains open until the March session.

Predicate adjectives agree in gender and number too

A predicate adjective is not just nominative — it also matches the subject's gender and number. Three-way agreement, on every adjective, every time. This means the same English sentence has different Greek forms depending on who is speaking.

Subject	Greek	English
man speaking	Είμαι κουρασμένος.	I'm tired.
woman speaking	Είμαι κουρασμένη.	I'm tired.
mixed/male group	Είμαστε κουρασμένοι.	We're tired.
all-female group	Είμαστε κουρασμένες.	We're tired.
neuter plural subject	Τα παιδιά είναι κουρασμένα.	The children are tired.

Είμαι κουρασμένη, πάω για ύπνο.

íme kurazméni, páo ya ípno

I'm tired, I'm going to bed. (woman speaking)

Οι δρόμοι είναι κλειστοί από το πρωί λόγω της απεργίας.

i dhrómi íne klistí apó to proí lógho tis aperyías

The roads have been closed since this morning because of the strike.

Τα παιδιά ήταν ενθουσιασμένα με το δώρο.

ta pedhiá ítan enthusiazména me to dhóro

The kids were thrilled with the present.

If you are a woman and you say Είμαι κουρασμένος, the sentence is not merely odd — it is grammatically masculine, and a Greek listener hears it as clearly as an English speaker hears he are. Adjective agreement in this position is not decorative. More on the difference between predicative and attributive position at Predicative adjectives.

Professions and roles take no article

Here is a small structural difference that instantly marks fluent Greek. When you say what someone is — profession, nationality, role, religion — Greek uses a bare noun, with no indefinite article.

Greek	English
Είναι γιατρός.	He/She is a doctor.
Είμαι Άγγλος.	I'm an Englishman.
Έγινε πατέρας πέρυσι.	He became a father last year.
Ο Νίκος είναι φοιτητής.	Nikos is a student.

Ο πατέρας μου ήταν ναυτικός και έλειπε μήνες ολόκληρους.

o patéras mu ítan naftikós ke élipe mínes olóklirus

My father was a sailor and he'd be away for months on end.

You can add ένας/μία, but it changes the meaning: it makes the noun one specimen out of many, or introduces someone new — Ήρθε ένας γιατρός ("A doctor came"). Saying ×Είναι ένας γιατρός for "he's a doctor" is the classic English-transfer error.

The definite article, by contrast, does appear when you are identifying which one: Είναι *ο γιατρός μου ("He's my doctor"), Είναι ο καλύτερος* ("He's the best one"). Bare noun = category; definite article = identification.

Δεν είναι απλώς συνάδελφος, είναι ο διευθυντής μας.

dhen íne aplós sinádhelfos, íne o dhiefthindís mas

He isn't just a colleague, he's our director.

The exception that proves the rule: Με λένε Γιάννη

Now the interesting part. Greek's most common way of giving your name is Με λένε…, and the name that follows is accusative, not nominative.

Με λένε Γιάννη, χάρηκα πολύ.

me léne Yáni, chárika polí

My name's Yannis, nice to meet you.

Why? Because λένε here means "they call", with an unnamed "they" as subject. Με is the direct object — accusative — and the name is a second description of that object. The predicate always agrees with whatever it describes, and here it is describing an accusative, so it goes accusative: Με λένε Γιάνν*η, not Γιάννης*.

This gives you the general principle in its full form, which is more useful than the είμαι-specific rule: a predicate matches the case of the thing it describes. Describe a nominative subject → nominative. Describe an accusative object → accusative.

Τον θεωρώ πολύ καλό δάσκαλο, τα παιδιά τον λατρεύουν.

ton theoró polí kaló dháskalo, ta pedhiá ton latrévun

I consider him a very good teacher — the kids adore him.

Τον εξέλεξαν πρόεδρο με μεγάλη πλειοψηφία.

ton ekséleksan próedhro me megháli pliopsifía

They elected him president by a large majority.

Turn that last sentence into the passive and the same word flips to the nominative, because it now describes the subject:

Εξελέγη πρόεδρος με μεγάλη πλειοψηφία.

ekseléyi próedhros me megháli pliopsifía

He was elected president by a large majority. (formal / news register)

Πρόεδρο → πρόεδρος. Nothing else moved. That pair is the cleanest demonstration of the principle in the language.

The alternative to με λένε is ονομάζομαι (be named) or λέγομαι, both of which are ordinary linking verbs and therefore take the nominative:

Ονομάζομαι Γιάννης Παπαδόπουλος και εργάζομαι στο υπουργείο.

onomázome Yánis Papadhópulos ke ergházome sto ipuryío

My name is Yannis Papadopoulos and I work at the ministry. (formal)

ονομάζομαι is (formal) — an interview, an official phone call, the first line of a letter. Με λένε is the neutral everyday choice. You will also hear Με λένε Γιάννης with a nominative in casual speech; grammars call it non-standard, and the accusative is what you should write.

Counting and measuring after είμαι

Numbers and quantity words after είμαι are also nominative, which shows up in a very common everyday sentence:

Είμαστε τέσσερις, έχετε τραπέζι έξω;

ímaste téseris, échete trapézi ékso;

There are four of us — do you have a table outside?

Common Mistakes

1. Putting the predicate in the accusative after είμαι. Direct transfer from English it's me / that's him.

❌ Αυτός είναι τον άντρα της αδερφής μου.

Incorrect — the predicate after είμαι is nominative: ο άντρας της αδερφής μου.

✅ Αυτός είναι ο άντρας της αδερφής μου.

aftós íne o ándras tis adherfís mu

That's my sister's husband.

2. Adding ένας/μία before a profession. English needs the article; Greek does not.

❌ Η γυναίκα μου είναι μία δικηγόρος.

Incorrect — a bare noun states the profession: είναι δικηγόρος.

✅ Η γυναίκα μου είναι δικηγόρος.

i yinéka mu íne dhikighóros

My wife is a lawyer.

3. Not matching the predicate adjective to the speaker's gender. The adjective agrees with the subject, not with the dictionary.

❌ Είμαι πολύ χαρούμενος που ήρθες.

Incorrect when the speaker is a woman — the predicate adjective agrees with her, so it must be feminine: χαρούμενη.

✅ Είμαι πολύ χαρούμενη που ήρθες.

íme polí charúmeni pu írthes

I'm so glad you came. (woman speaking)

4. Giving a neuter plural subject a masculine adjective. Neuter plurals take -α.

❌ Τα παιδιά είναι έτοιμοι για το σχολείο.

Incorrect — τα παιδιά is neuter plural, so the adjective is έτοιμα.

✅ Τα παιδιά είναι έτοιμα για το σχολείο.

ta pedhiá íne étima ya to scholío

The children are ready for school.

5. Using the nominative after με λένε. The name describes the accusative με.

❌ Με λένε Γιώργος, χαίρω πολύ.

Non-standard — the name agrees with the accusative με: Με λένε Γιώργο.

✅ Με λένε Γιώργο, χαίρω πολύ.

me léne Yórgho, chéro polí

My name is Giorgos, pleased to meet you.

Key Takeaways

After είμαι, γίνομαι, φαίνομαι, μένω, παραμένω, the predicate noun or adjective is nominative — both sides of the verb describe the same thing, so both share a case.
English's colloquial it's me / that's him has no Greek counterpart: the answer to Ποιος είναι; is Εγώ είμαι.
Predicate adjectives agree in gender, number and case: κουρασμένος / κουρασμένη / κουρασμένοι / κουρασμένες / κουρασμένα.
Professions, nationalities and roles take a bare noun — Είναι γιατρός, not ×είναι ένας γιατρός. The definite article returns only when you identify a specific one (είναι ο γιατρός μου).
The real, general rule is: a predicate matches the case of whatever it describes. Hence accusative in Με λένε Γιάννη, Τον θεωρώ καλό δάσκαλο, Τον εξέλεξαν πρόεδρο — and nominative again in the passive Εξελέγη πρόεδρος.
Ονομάζομαι/λέγομαι are ordinary linking verbs and take the nominative; they are (formal) next to the everyday με λένε.

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