Standard Modern Greek has no productive, freely usable infinitive that can fill the English complement slot in want to go, can speak, or try to sleep. It normally replaces that structure with να + a finite verb, whose ending identifies its own subject.
The historical development and full syntax belong to the loss of the infinitive, and the high-frequency complement frames are taught on να after modal verbs. This page diagnoses what English speakers actually produce when they omit να, freeze the wrong form, or try to recycle the restricted perfect form as a free infinitive.
Error type 1: two finite verbs with no linker
English want to go encourages learners to translate want and go separately, then place the two Greek forms beside each other. Greek needs να to open the second finite clause.
❌ Θέλω πάω σπίτι τώρα, είμαι εξαντλημένος.
Incorrect — the second finite verb needs να: Θέλω να πάω.
✅ Θέλω να πάω σπίτι τώρα, είμαι εξαντλημένος.
thélo na páo spíti tóra, íme eksandliménos
I want to go home now; I'm exhausted.
❌ Προσπαθώ κοιμηθώ, αλλά οι γείτονες κάνουν φασαρία.
Incorrect — προσπαθώ takes a να-clause here.
✅ Προσπαθώ να κοιμηθώ, αλλά οι γείτονες κάνουν φασαρία.
prospathó na kimithó, alá i yítones kánun fasaría
I'm trying to sleep, but the neighbours are making noise.
The error is structural, not a matter of adding Greek να wherever English writes the word to. Here να introduces a conjugated complement clause; elsewhere English to may be a preposition and require an entirely different Greek expression.
Error type 2: copying English bare-modal syntax
English omits to after can: I can speak, not ×I can to speak. Greek does not copy that exception. Μπορώ still takes να before its verbal complement.
❌ Μπορώ μιλήσω στη σημερινή συνάντηση αντί για σένα.
Incorrect — μπορώ requires να before this finite perfective complement.
✅ Μπορώ να μιλήσω στη σημερινή συνάντηση αντί για σένα.
boró na milíso sti simeriní sinándisi andí ya séna
I can speak at today's meeting instead of you.
❌ Δεν μπορούμε μείνουμε άλλο, κλείνει ο σταθμός.
Incorrect — the negated modal still takes να before the second verb.
✅ Δεν μπορούμε να μείνουμε άλλο, κλείνει ο σταθμός.
dhen borúme na mínume álo, klíni o stathmós
We can't stay any longer; the station is closing.
Negation of the main verb does not remove the linker. If the negative meaning belongs inside the complement instead, Greek uses να μη(ν), a separate choice that should not be confused with the missing-infinitive diagnosis.
The second verb must match its own subject
An English infinitive is normally unchanged across subjects. The Greek verb after να is finite, so its ending answers “who performs this action?”
❌ Θέλουμε να φύγω και οι δύο πριν αρχίσει η κίνηση στους δρόμους.
Incorrect — και οι δύο forces a plural shared subject, so the second verb must be φύγουμε.
✅ Θέλουμε να φύγουμε και οι δύο πριν αρχίσει η κίνηση στους δρόμους.
thélume na fíghume ke i dhío prin archísi i kínisi stus dhrómus
We both want to leave before the traffic builds up.
Different subjects are equally straightforward because the second ending can change independently:
❌ Θέλω φύγεις πριν φτάσουν οι υπόλοιποι καλεσμένοι.
Incorrect — φύγεις correctly identifies 'you,' but the finite complement still requires να.
✅ Θέλω να φύγεις πριν φτάσουν οι υπόλοιποι καλεσμένοι.
thélo na fíyis prin ftásun i ipólipi kalezméni
I want you to leave before the other guests arrive.
English needs an overt you between want and to leave. Neutral Greek normally lets -εις carry that information. A focused strong pronoun is nevertheless grammatical when a contrast requires it:
✅ Θέλω εσένα να μιλήσεις με τον πελάτη, όχι τον καινούριο υπάλληλο.
thélo eséna na milísis me ton peláti, óchi ton kenúrio ipálilo
I want YOU to speak with the client, not the new employee.
Do not delete εσένα from a genuinely contrastive sentence, and do not insert it mechanically in a neutral one. The diagnostic error is the absent να, not the mere presence of a focused subject.
Skills and repeated activities still choose aspect
Adding να is only half the repair. The second verb must also use the aspect appropriate to the intended viewpoint. A learned, open ability commonly takes the imperfective; a particular bounded performance can take the perfective.
❌ Ξέρω οδηγώ, αλλά απόψε δεν έχω αυτοκίνητο.
Incorrect — ξέρω 'know how to' requires να before the imperfective skill verb.
✅ Ξέρω να οδηγώ, αλλά απόψε δεν έχω αυτοκίνητο.
kséro na odhighó, alá apópse dhen écho aftokínito
I know how to drive, but I don't have a car tonight.
✅ Μπορώ να οδηγήσω μέχρι το λιμάνι σήμερα το απόγευμα.
boró na odhiyíso méchri to limáni símera to apóyevma
I can drive to the port this afternoon.
The second correct sentence packages one drive as bounded; the first describes an open skill. The aspect decision is diagnosed in detail on aspect choice errors.
Motion and beginning also take να-complements
English uses an infinitive after go and begin, and learners often carry the same silent structure into Greek.
❌ Πάω αγοράσω ψωμί πριν κλείσει ο φούρνος.
Incorrect — purpose after πάω is expressed with να plus a finite verb.
✅ Πάω να αγοράσω ψωμί πριν κλείσει ο φούρνος.
páo na aghoráso psomí prin klísi o fúrnos
I'm going to buy bread before the bakery closes.
❌ Μόλις καθίσαμε έξω, άρχισε βρέχει δυνατά.
Incorrect — άρχισε introduces the activity with να.
✅ Μόλις καθίσαμε έξω, άρχισε να βρέχει δυνατά.
mólis kathísame ékso, árchise na vréchi dhinatá
As soon as we sat outside, it started raining heavily.
These are not isolated idioms. They show the same productive replacement of an infinitival complement by a finite να-clause.
The surviving invariant form cannot fill this slot
Greek perfect constructions contain an invariant form traditionally called an απαρέμφατο: έχω γράψει, έχει γράψει, έχουν γράψει. It survives only in that restricted construction and cannot stand after θέλω, μπορώ, πάω or similar verbs as an English-style infinitive.
❌ Θέλω γράψει την απάντηση πριν από το μεσημέρι.
Incorrect — γράψει cannot serve as a free infinitive after θέλω.
✅ Θέλω να γράψω την απάντηση πριν από το μεσημέρι.
thélo na ghrápso tin apándisi prin apó to mesiméri
I want to write the reply before noon.
✅ Έχω γράψει την απάντηση, αλλά δεν την έχω στείλει ακόμη.
écho ghrápsi tin apándisi, alá dhen tin écho stíli akómi
I've written the reply, but I haven't sent it yet.
The two forms γράψω and γράψει resemble members of the same perfective stem, but their syntax is different. να γράψω is finite first-person singular; perfect γράψει is invariant and depends on finite έχω.
Common Mistakes
Searching a dictionary for “the infinitive”
Greek dictionaries cite verbs as γράφω, φεύγω, μιλάω, not as a productive form meaning “to write, to leave, to speak.” Build the complement from να plus the person and aspect you need.
Adding να but freezing the second verb
The repair is not merely inserting a particle. Compare θέλω να φύγω, θέλω να φύγεις, and θέλουμε να φύγουμε; the ending belongs to the second subject.
Reusing the perfect's invariant form
The form after έχω cannot migrate into a modal or motion complement. Replace it with να + finite verb, not with another unconjugated-looking form.
Letting English modal syntax remove να
English can speak lacks to, but Greek still requires μπορώ να μιλήσω. Diagnose from Greek clause structure, not the visible English linker.
Key Takeaways
- Standard Modern Greek lacks a productive free infinitive for English-style verbal complements.
- Use να + a finite verb after wanting, ability, effort, motion, beginning, and similar meanings.
- The second verb has its own subject ending: Θέλω να φύγω versus Θέλω να φύγεις.
- Aspect still matters after να; adding the linker does not finish the form choice.
- The invariant form in έχω γράψει survives only inside restricted perfect constructions and cannot fill the complement slot.
Related Topics
- No Infinitive: The να-ClauseA2 — Modern Greek has no productive infinitive corresponding to English 'to go'. In that slot it uses να plus a fully conjugated verb, while a restricted invariant form survives only inside perfect constructions.
- να After Modal VerbsA2 — The everyday frame [modal + να + verb] — θέλω να, μπορώ να, πρέπει να, ξέρω να, πάω να, αρχίζω να — where the second verb is person-marked and personal main verbs conjugate too.
- Aspect Choice ErrorsB1 — Diagnose Greek aspect only in contexts that clearly require an internal or open viewpoint or package an occurrence or finite series as bounded.