Case Forms of the Weak Pronouns | Greek Grammar

The little unstressed pronouns — με, σε, τον, την, το on one side and μου, σου, του, της on the other — are the most frequent case-bearing words in the language. You will say more of them in a day than you will say nouns. And every single time, you make the same choice: accusative or genitive. This page is about that choice and nothing else. The forms themselves are laid out on Direct-object clitics and Indirect-object clitics; where they stand in the sentence is on Where clitics go. What you need here is the decision procedure.

The decision, in one line

Accusative = the person the verb acts on. Genitive = the person the action is aimed at, given to, or happens to.

Με ρώτησε αν θέλω να πάω μαζί τους.

me rótise an thélo na páo mazí tus

He asked me whether I want to go with them.

Μου εξήγησε πώς λειτουργεί το πλυντήριο.

mu eksíyise pos lituryí to plindírio

She explained to me how the washing machine works.

Both sentences have "me" in English. Greek splits them: ρωτάω reaches out and grabs a person (με), while εξηγώ aims information at a person (μου). Nothing about the pronoun's meaning changes — what changes is the verb's demand.

The decision matrix

This is not a paradigm to memorise here; it is the grid you consult when you have already decided which job the pronoun is doing.

Person	Acted on → accusative	Aimed at → genitive
me	με	μου
you (sg., informal)	σε	σου
him	τον	του
her	την	της
it	το	του
us	μας — one form, no choice to make
you (pl. or formal)	σας — one form, no choice to make
them	τους / τις / τα	τους

Now look at what that table is actually telling you, because it is much better news than it first appears.

Three of the eight slots do not force a decision at all. Μας and σας are identical in both cases — so any sentence about "us" or "(to) you-plural" is free. And in the masculine plural, τους covers both "them (object)" and "to them". Add it up: the choice only bites in the singular and in the feminine/neuter plural. That is why beginners can talk for a surprisingly long time before anyone notices they have not learned the rule.

Μας βοήθησαν πολύ με τη μετακόμιση.

mas voíthisan polí me ti metakómisi

They helped us a lot with the move.

Μας έφεραν τον λογαριασμό πριν καν τελειώσουμε.

mas éferan ton loghariazmó prin kan teliósume

They brought us the bill before we'd even finished.

Same μας, two different cases — accusative in the first (the verb helps us), genitive in the second (the bill was brought to us). Nothing on the surface distinguishes them, and no Greek speaker ever notices.

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The same trick works in reverse for the ambiguous plural τους. Τους είδα στο λιμάνι is accusative ("I saw them"); Τους είπα να μη μας περιμένουν is genitive ("I told them"). If you cannot tell which case a τους is, you do not need to — the verb has already decided, and the form is the same either way.

Minimal pairs: same person, different case

The fastest way to feel the split is to hear the two forms back to back with the same referent.

Τον περιμένω από τις οκτώ κι έχει εξαφανιστεί.

ton periméno apó tis októ ki échi eksafanistí

I've been waiting for him since eight and he's vanished.

Του τηλεφώνησα τρεις φορές αλλά είχε κλειστό.

tu tilefónisa tris forés alá íche klistó

I phoned him three times but his phone was off.

Την είδα χθες έξω από το φαρμακείο.

tin ídha chthes ékso apó to farmakío

I saw her yesterday outside the pharmacy.

Της άφησα ένα σημείωμα πάνω στην κουζίνα.

tis áfisa éna simíoma páno stin kuzína

I left her a note on the kitchen counter.

English marks none of this. Wait for him and phone him look identical in English; see her and leave her a note look identical. Greek treats the first of each pair as contact with a person and the second as delivery to a person, and it puts that difference in the pronoun.

Let the verb decide: two lists worth memorising

The honest truth is that this is lexical, not logical. There is a strong tendency — verbs of transfer and communication take the genitive, verbs of physical or perceptual contact take the accusative — but the tendency has enough leaks that the practical answer is to store the case with the verb, the way you store a noun with its article.

These take an accusative person, even though English inserts to, at or for:

Greek	English	Example
περιμένω	wait for	σε περιμένω
κοιτάζω	look at	με κοιτάζει
ακούω	listen to	τον ακούω
ρωτάω	ask	την ρώτησα
βοηθάω	help	μας βοήθησε
ευχαριστώ	thank	σε ευχαριστώ
παρακαλώ	ask, beg	σε παρακαλώ
συναντάω	meet	τους συνάντησα
πληρώνω	pay	τον πλήρωσα
προσέχω	look after	τα προσέχω

These take a genitive person:

Greek	English	Example
λέω	tell	μου είπε
μιλάω	talk to	μου μιλάει
τηλεφωνώ	phone	της τηλεφώνησα
απαντάω	answer	μας απάντησε
δίνω / στέλνω / φέρνω	give / send / bring	σου έδωσα
δείχνω / εξηγώ	show / explain	τους έδειξα
υπόσχομαι	promise	μου υποσχέθηκε
χρωστάω	owe	σου χρωστάω
ανήκω	belong to	του ανήκει
θυμίζω	remind	μου θυμίζει

The two that catch English speakers hardest are τηλεφωνώ and ρωτάω, because English treats them the same way (phone him, ask him) and Greek does not: του τηλεφώνησα but τον ρώτησα.

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There is a rough logic under the two lists, and it is worth knowing even though it leaks. Verbs of transfer and communication — giving, sending, telling, showing, owing — aim something at a person and take the genitive. Verbs of physical or perceptual contact — seeing, hearing, waiting for, helping, thanking — grab the person directly and take the accusative. When a new verb turns up, guess from that; then, because the tendency has exceptions (τηλεφωνώ is "contact" in English but genitive in Greek), store the case with the verb the moment you learn it.

Σου χρωστάω είκοσι ευρώ από την Παρασκευή.

su chrostáo íkosi evró apó tin Paraskeví

I owe you twenty euros from Friday.

Το ποδήλατο δεν του ανήκει, το δανείστηκε.

to podhílato dhen tu aníki, to dhanístike

The bike isn't his — he borrowed it.

The genitive that is not a recipient at all

A large and very common family of verbs uses the genitive clitic for the person who undergoes something rather than receives it. There is no giving involved; the person is simply the one it is happening to. English usually turns these inside out and makes that person the subject.

Μου λείπει η θάλασσα τον χειμώνα.

mu lípi i thálasa ton chimóna

I miss the sea in winter.

Σου πάει πολύ αυτό το μπλε.

su pái polí aftó to ble

That blue really suits you.

Τι σου συνέβη; Είσαι κάτασπρος.

ti su sinévi; íse kátaspros

What happened to you? You're white as a sheet.

Note the grammar of Μου λείπει η θάλασσα: η θάλασσα is the subject and μου is a genitive bystander — literally "the sea is lacking to me". Once you see that, the whole family (μου αρέσει, μου φαίνεται, μου ταιριάζει, μου κάνει, μου αξίζει) stops looking irregular. The full account is on Experiencer clitics.

Where position, not case, does the work

The genitive clitics are also the possessives — το σπίτι *μου* is "my house". This is not a second set of words to learn; it is the same seven forms, and position tells them apart. After a noun the genitive is possessive; before a verb it is an indirect object.

Η αδερφή της δουλεύει σε νοσοκομείο στη Λάρισα.

i adherfí tis dhulévi se nosokomío sti Lárisa

Her sister works at a hospital in Larissa.

Της έγραψα δύο φορές και δεν μπήκε καν στον κόπο να απαντήσει.

tis éghrapsa dhío forés ke dhen bíke kan ston kópo na apandísi

I wrote to her twice and she didn't even bother to reply.

The accusative clitics have no such double life: με, σε, τον, την, το are only ever objects. So if a clitic is doing possession, it is genitive by definition, and you never have to decide.

Between σε and σας — and between σου and σας — the case is not what is at stake. Σας is both the plural and the polite singular, and choosing it is a decision about the relationship, not about the verb.

Σε ευχαριστώ πολύ, μου έλυσες τα χέρια.

se efcharistó polí, mu élises ta chéria

Thanks so much, you got me out of a real bind. (informal — someone you're on εσύ terms with)

Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ για τον χρόνο σας.

sas efcharistó polí ya ton chróno sas

Thank you very much for your time. (formal — one person addressed with εσείς, or several people)

Both are correct; both are accusative (ευχαριστώ takes an accusative person). Mixing the registers inside one sentence — σας ευχαριστώ followed by σου — is the slip that actually sounds wrong to a Greek ear.

Common Mistakes

1. Using the genitive with a verb that takes a plain object. English "wait for" makes learners reach for the recipient form.

❌ Του περιμένω στη στάση εδώ και μισή ώρα.

Incorrect — περιμένω takes an accusative object: Τον περιμένω.

✅ Τον περιμένω στη στάση εδώ και μισή ώρα.

ton periméno sti stási edhó ke misí óra

I've been waiting for him at the stop for half an hour.

2. ×σου ευχαριστώ. The single most common clitic error made by learners, because "thank you" feels like something you give someone. In Greek you thank a person, in the accusative.

❌ Σου ευχαριστώ πολύ για τη βοήθεια.

Incorrect — ευχαριστώ takes the accusative: Σε ευχαριστώ.

✅ Σε ευχαριστώ πολύ για τη βοήθεια.

se efcharistó polí ya ti voíthia

Thanks a lot for the help.

3. Genitive with βοηθάω. "Help to me" is not Greek; the person helped is a direct object.

❌ Μου βοηθάς λίγο με τις βαλίτσες;

Incorrect — βοηθάω takes the accusative: Με βοηθάς;

✅ Με βοηθάς λίγο με τις βαλίτσες;

me voithás lígho me tis valítses;

Can you give me a hand with the suitcases?

4. Genitive with verbs of looking and listening. These are contact verbs: the accusative every time.

❌ Της κοίταξα και χαμογέλασα.

Incorrect — κοιτάζω takes the accusative: Την κοίταξα.

✅ Την κοίταξα και χαμογέλασα.

tin kítaksa ke chamoyélasa

I looked at her and smiled.

5. Accusative with an experiencer verb. Αρέσω takes a genitive experiencer, not an accusative object — the thing liked is the subject.

❌ Με αρέσει πολύ αυτή η ταινία.

Incorrect — αρέσω takes the genitive experiencer: Μου αρέσει.

✅ Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτή η ταινία.

mu arési polí aftí i tenía

I really like this film.

Key Takeaways

Every clitic pronoun forces one decision: accusative for the person the verb acts on, genitive for the person it is aimed at or happens to.
μας and σας are identical in both cases, and plural τους covers both — so only the singular and the feminine/neuter plural actually force a choice.
The split is lexical: learn the case together with the verb. Τον ρώτησα but του τηλεφώνησα; σε ευχαριστώ but σου χρωστάω.
A whole family of verbs uses the genitive for an experiencer, not a recipient: μου αρέσει, μου λείπει, σου πάει, τι σου συνέβη.
The genitive clitics double as possessives; position disambiguates (after a noun = "my/her", before a verb = "to me/her"). The accusative clitics have no second job.
σας versus σου/σε is a choice about politeness, not about case — keep one register for the whole sentence.

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