A determiner is the word that answers which one or how many before you get to the noun: the book, this book, my book, every book, some books. English does this job with a small set of frozen words, and it lets exactly one of them into a phrase at a time — this book, never ×this the book, never ×all these the books.
Greek breaks both of those habits. Its determiners inflect, carrying gender, number and case exactly as adjectives do, so this is eighteen different words depending on what follows. And several of them stack on the definite article rather than replacing it, which is why "all these children" needs four agreeing words: όλα αυτά τα παιδιά. Neither fact is difficult once you stop expecting Greek to work like English — but both have to be unlearned deliberately, because English gives you no warning that anything is missing.
The four families
| Family | Members | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Demonstratives | αυτός, εκείνος, τούτος | points — this one, that one over there |
| Possessives | μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους | says who owns it |
| Quantifiers | πολύς, λίγος, αρκετός, μερικοί, κάποιος, κανένας | says how much or how many |
| Universals & distributives | όλος, κάθε, καθένας, ανά | covers the whole set, or runs through it one at a time |
To that you can add the interrogatives — ποιος, πόσος, τι — which are determiners that ask rather than tell, and the odds and ends άλλος, τέτοιος, τόσος, ο ίδιος, which specify a noun by contrast, kind, degree or identity.
Αυτός ο δρόμος βγάζει στο λιμάνι, μην τον χάσεις.
aftós o dhrómos vgházi sto limáni, min ton chásis
This road takes you down to the harbour — don't miss it.
Τα κλειδιά μου ήταν όλη την ώρα στην τσέπη μου.
ta klidhiá mu ítan óli tin óra stin tsépi mu
My keys were in my pocket the whole time.
Έχει πολύ κόσμο στην παραλία σήμερα, ας πάμε αλλού.
échi polí kózmo stin paralía símera, as páme alú
The beach is packed today — let's go somewhere else.
Κάθε Κυριακή τρώμε όλοι μαζί στης γιαγιάς.
káthe Kiriakí tróme óli mazí stis yayás
Every Sunday we all eat together at my grandmother's.
Almost all of them agree
This is the first thing to internalise, and it is the single biggest structural difference from English. With the exception of a small indeclinable group listed below, a Greek determiner is grammatically an adjective: it takes the gender, number and case of the noun it introduces. This is not one word but a paradigm, and so is how much, all, some, other and which.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| this (nom. sg.) | αυτός ο καιρός | αυτή η βδομάδα | αυτό το παιδί |
| how much (nom. sg.) | πόσος καφές | πόση ζάχαρη | πόσο γάλα |
| all (acc. pl.) | όλους τους φίλους | όλες τις μέρες | όλα τα παιδιά |
The practical consequence is that you cannot pick a determiner until you know the noun's gender. English lets you start a sentence with this and decide later what it introduces; Greek does not. The mechanics of the agreement are the ordinary adjective ones, set out on adjective agreement, and the case side of it on case agreement.
Αυτή η δουλειά θέλει υπομονή, όχι ταχύτητα.
aftí i dhuliá théli ipomoní, óchi tachítita
This job needs patience, not speed.
Ποια μέρα σε βολεύει για καφέ;
pia méra se volévi ya kafé;
Which day suits you for a coffee?
The indeclinable handful
Four determiners never change shape, and each is worth memorising as an exception:
- κάθε ("each, every") — frozen, and it takes a bare singular noun: κάθε μέρα, κάθε άνθρωπος, κάθε φορά.
- τι ("what, what kind of") — frozen: τι ώρα, τι χρώμα, τι είδους.
- κάτι ("some, something") — frozen, including in its colloquial quantifier use κάτι παιδιά.
- ανά ("per") — a preposition rather than an adjective, and (formal): ανά κιλό, ανά άτομο.
The possessive clitics (μου, σου, του…) are invariable too, but for a completely different reason: they agree with the owner, not with the thing owned, so μου is "my" in front of any noun whatsoever. That is not a missing paradigm — it is a paradigm pointing the other way.
Κάθε φορά που πάω στην τράπεζα, περιμένω μισή ώρα.
káthe forá pu páo stin trápeza, periméno misí óra
Every time I go to the bank I end up waiting half an hour.
The article test
If you learn one organising principle from this page, make it this one. Greek determiners split three ways by what they do with the definite article, and the split predicts almost everything else about them.
| Behaviour | Members | Shape |
|---|---|---|
| Keep the article (stack outside it) | όλος, αυτός, εκείνος, numerals, ο ίδιος | όλα τα παιδιά, αυτό το βιβλίο |
| Refuse the article (they are the determiner) | κάθε, κάποιος, μερικοί, κανένας, ποιος, πόσος, τι | κάθε μέρα, μερικοί φίλοι, ποιο βιβλίο |
| Follow the noun (and need the article) | μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους | το σπίτι μου |
The logic behind the first two rows is definiteness. A word like όλος or αυτός picks out a set you and your listener already have in mind, so the phrase is definite and the article is exactly what you would expect; a word like κάθε or κάποιος supplies its own indefinite determination and has no room left for one. (One member of the second row bends: ο κάθε — with the article in front of κάθε — is possible and adds an emphatic "each and every" or a dismissive any old, as κάθε and καθένας sets out.) The full rules, including the final-ν detail in όλον τον χρόνο, live on articles with όλος, numbers and quantifiers, and the possessive row on article + noun + possessive.
Αυτό το ασανσέρ χαλάει κάθε δεύτερη μέρα.
aftó to asansér chalái káthe dhéfteri méra
This lift breaks down every other day.
Μερικοί γείτονες υπέγραψαν, οι υπόλοιποι ούτε απάντησαν.
merikí yítones ipéghrapsan, i ipólipi úte apándisan
Some of the neighbours signed; the rest didn't even reply.
More than one at a time
Because the article-keeping determiners sit outside the article rather than in its slot, nothing stops several of them from queueing up in front of one noun. This is where Greek looks least like English:
όλα (universal) + αυτά (demonstrative) + τα (article) + παιδιά (noun)
and every element in the queue carries the same gender, number and case. Four words, one agreement.
Όλα αυτά τα χαρτιά πρέπει να υπογραφούν σήμερα.
óla aftá ta chartiá prépi na ipoghrafún símera
All these papers have to be signed today.
The full ordering template, the interaction with numerals and possessives, and worked phrases in every case are on combining determiners.
Every page in this group
| Page | Level | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Determiners Overview (you are here) | A1 | the map: families, agreement, the article test |
| Combining Determiners | B2 | the stacking order when several determiners share one noun |
| Demonstratives | ||
| Demonstratives: αυτός and εκείνος | A1 | two words for English's four, and why the article stays |
| Possessives | ||
| Possessive Determiners (μου, σου, του) | A1 | the clitic after the noun, and where else it can sit |
| Quantifiers | ||
| Quantifiers: πολύς, λίγος, αρκετός | A2 | one word for both much and many, and its adverb twin |
| Some: μερικοί, κάποιος, κάτι | B1 | the three ways to say some, split by number and identifiability |
| κανένας: 'no/any' and negation | A2 | the negative quantifier and its obligatory δεν |
| Universals | ||
| όλος: 'all' and 'whole' | A2 | one word for all, whole, everybody and everything |
| κάθε and καθένας: 'each/every' | A2 | the indeclinable κάθε, and the pronoun καθένας that does decline |
| Distributives: ανά, ο καθένας | B2 | prices, rates and one by one — per-unit expressions |
| Other determiners | ||
| άλλος: 'other/another' | A2 | another one, the other one, and more of something |
| τέτοιος and τόσος | B1 | such and so much, plus their correlative pairs |
| ο ίδιος: 'same' and '-self' | B1 | the same one — and, with a doubled article, himself |
| Interrogative | ||
| Interrogative Determiners: ποιος, πόσος, τι | A2 | asking which, how much and what kind of in front of a noun |
Common Mistakes
1. Leaving the determiner in its dictionary form. The masculine nominative is how the word is listed, not how it is used.
❌ Πόσος ζάχαρη βάζεις στον καφέ;
Incorrect — ζάχαρη is feminine, so the determiner is πόση: Πόση ζάχαρη;
✅ Πόση ζάχαρη βάζεις στον καφέ σου; Μία ή δύο κουταλιές;
pósi záchari vázis ston kafé su; mía i dhío kutaliés;
How much sugar do you take in your coffee? One spoon or two?
2. Dropping the article after a demonstrative. English this book has no article, so nothing sounds missing to an English ear.
❌ Αυτό σπίτι είναι προς πώληση.
Incorrect — a demonstrative stacks on the article, it does not replace it: αυτό το σπίτι.
✅ Αυτό το σπίτι είναι προς πώληση εδώ και δύο χρόνια.
aftó to spíti íne pros pólisi edhó ke dhío chrónia
This house has been up for sale for two years now.
3. Adding an article after a determiner that refuses one. The mirror-image error, usually committed right after the first one has been fixed.
❌ Μιλήσαμε με μερικούς τους γείτονες.
Incorrect — μερικοί takes a bare noun: μερικούς γείτονες.
✅ Μιλήσαμε με μερικούς γείτονες για τη θέρμανση και συμφώνησαν όλοι.
milísame me merikús yítones ya ti thérmansi ke simfónisan óli
We spoke to some of the neighbours about the heating and they all agreed.
4. Leaving the determiner nominative after a preposition. Every preposition puts the whole phrase — determiner, article and noun — into the accusative.
❌ Μίλησα με όλοι τους γονείς.
Incorrect — after με the phrase is accusative throughout: με όλους τους γονείς.
✅ Μίλησα με όλους τους γονείς πριν από την εκδρομή.
mílisa me ólus tus ghonís prin apó tin ekdhromí
I spoke to all the parents before the trip.
5. Putting the possessive in front of the noun. It is the one determiner in the language that follows its noun.
❌ Πού είναι σου το εισιτήριο;
Incorrect — the possessive clitic comes after the noun: το εισιτήριό σου.
✅ Πού είναι το εισιτήριό σου; Θα το ζητήσουν στην είσοδο.
pu íne to isitírió su; tha to zitísun stin ísodho
Where's your ticket? They'll ask for it at the entrance.
Key Takeaways
- A Greek determiner is normally an inflected adjective: it copies the noun's gender, number and case, so you cannot choose one before you know the noun.
- Only four are frozen — κάθε, τι, κάτι, ανά — plus the possessive clitics, which are invariable because they agree with the owner instead.
- The article test sorts the class: όλος, αυτός, εκείνος, numerals and ο ίδιος keep the article; κάθε, κάποιος, μερικοί, κανένας and the interrogatives refuse it (only ο κάθε bends, and it is marked); the possessives follow the noun and require it.
- Because the article-keepers stack outside the article, Greek can queue several determiners in front of one noun — όλα αυτά τα παιδιά — with all four words agreeing.
- The commonest English-transfer errors are all one-determiner-per-phrase reflexes: dropping the article after αυτός or όλος, and inserting one after κάθε or μερικοί.
Now practice Greek
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Demonstratives: αυτός and εκείνοςA1 — Greek needs only two demonstratives where English has four — αυτός/αυτή/αυτό for whatever is near or in focus, εκείνος/εκείνη/εκείνο for whatever is further off in space, time or attention — with the full declension, the accompanying article (αυτό το βιβλίο), the same words standing alone as pronouns (Θέλω αυτό), and the regional τούτος.
- όλος: 'all' and 'whole'A2 — One Greek word covers English all, whole, everybody and everything — and the noun's number decides which: όλο το βιβλίο is 'the whole book' but όλα τα βιβλία is 'all the books'. Full paradigm of όλος (including the single genitive plural όλων), the floating use in Τα έφαγε όλα, and the idioms όλο και πιο, πάνω απ' όλα, είμαι όλος αυτιά.
- Adjective AgreementA1 — The one reflex every Greek adjective demands — copy the noun's gender, number and case onto the adjective, in the attributive slot (ο μεγάλος κήπος → του μεγάλου κήπου) and in the predicative slot after είμαι (το σπίτι είναι μεγάλο) alike — and the two English-speaker errors, leaving the adjective bare and agreeing in gender but not case.