English puts object pronouns after the verb and leaves them there for life: I see him, I saw him, I didn't see him, see him! — four sentences, one position. Greek moves them. The weak pronouns με, σε, τον, την, το, μας, σας, τους, μου, σου, του, της sit in front of the verb in nearly every sentence you will ever say, and behind it in exactly two situations. Nothing else in Greek grammar produces as many errors per hour of speech as this, because you cannot avoid it: every clause with an object pronoun in it forces the decision.
The good news is that the rule itself is short. This page gives you the rule, the list of words the clitic has to fit between, and the two contexts where everything flips. The theory behind it, the historical reason and the accent side-effects are on proclisis and enclisis; which of two stacked clitics comes first is on clitic order and contraction.
The rule: immediately before the verb
A weak pronoun goes directly in front of the finite verb — the verb that carries the person ending.
Το βλέπω κάθε πρωί από το μπαλκόνι μου.
to vlépo káthe proí apó to balkóni mu
I see it every morning from my balcony.
Τον ξέρω από το σχολείο, καθόμασταν στο ίδιο θρανίο.
ton kséro apó to scholío, kathómastan sto ídhio thranío
I've known him since school — we sat at the same desk.
Μας περιμένουν κάτω, βιάσου λίγο.
mas periménun káto, viásu lígho
They're waiting for us downstairs, hurry up a bit.
Την πήρα τηλέφωνο τρεις φορές και δεν απάντησε.
tin píra tiléfono tris forés ke dhen apándise
I rang her three times and she didn't pick up.
Word for word, the first sentence is "it I-see". That inversion is not stylistic and it is not optional: ×Βλέπω το is not a marked version of the same sentence — in the standard language it is not Greek at all.
Nothing may come between them
This is the half of the rule that learners discover late, usually by producing a sentence that a Greek speaker cannot parse. The clitic and its verb form a single unit, and no word may be inserted into it — not an adverb, not a subject, not even something as light as "always" or "already".
Δεν σε καταλαβαίνω καθόλου όταν μιλάς τόσο γρήγορα.
dhen se katalavéno kathólu ótan milás tóso ghríghora
I don't understand you at all when you talk that fast.
Ποτέ δεν μας ρώτησε τι θέλουμε εμείς.
poté dhen mas rótise ti thélume emís
He never once asked what we wanted.
The adverbs καθόλου and ποτέ have to go somewhere else in the clause — before the whole cluster or after the verb — because the slot between clitic and verb does not exist. The unit is so tight that the two words are pronounced as one, which is also why the clitic has no accent of its own to lose.
What stacks in front
Several small words come before the verb too — the negators, the future particle, the subjunctive and hortative particles. The clitic slots in between them and the verb, never in front of them and never after the verb.
| Word in front | Its job | Shape of the clause |
|---|---|---|
| δεν | negates a statement | δεν + clitic + verb — Δεν σε ξέρω |
| μη(ν) | negates a command or a να-clause | μην + clitic + verb — Μην το κάνεις |
| θα | future / conditional | θα + clitic + verb — Θα σε δω |
| να | subjunctive | να + clitic + verb — Να το φέρεις |
| ας | "let's, let him" | ας + clitic + verb — Ας το αφήσουμε |
Θα σου το εξηγήσω όταν έχουμε λίγο χρόνο.
tha su to eksiyíso ótan échume lígho chróno
I'll explain it to you when we've got a bit of time.
Ας το αφήσουμε για αύριο, έχουμε κουραστεί όλοι.
as to afísume ya ávrio, échume kurastí óli
Let's leave it till tomorrow, we're all worn out.
Να με πάρεις μόλις φτάσεις, να μην ανησυχώ.
na me páris mólis ftásis, na min anisichó
Call me the moment you get there so I don't worry.
Μην τους ανησυχείς άδικα, δεν έγινε τίποτα.
min tus anisichís ádhika, dhen éyine típota
Don't worry them for nothing — nothing happened.
The order is fixed and worth learning as a template: [δεν / μην / θα / να / ας] + [clitic] + [verb]. With two clitics both of them sit in the same slot, in an order set by clitic order and contraction.
Conjunctions and question words change nothing
Textbooks often present a list of "triggers" for putting the clitic in front — δεν, μην, θα, να, ας, subordinating conjunctions (ότι, πως, που, αν, όταν, ενώ, επειδή, γιατί, πριν, αφού, μόλις) and question words (τι, ποιος, πού, πώς, πόσο, γιατί). The list is worth knowing, but the honest description is simpler: in the modern language nothing needs to trigger anything. The clitic is in front by default, and these words are just what tends to be standing there with it.
Ξέρω ότι σε ενοχλεί, αλλά δεν γίνεται αλλιώς.
kséro óti se enochlí, alá dhen yínete aliós
I know it bothers you, but there's no other way.
Πού το άφησες; Δεν το βρίσκω πουθενά.
pu to áfises; dhen to vrísko puthená
Where did you leave it? I can't find it anywhere.
Γιατί μας το κρύβεις τόσο καιρό;
yatí mas to krívis tóso keró
Why have you been hiding it from us all this time?
The list earns its keep for a different reason: these are precisely the words that tempt an English speaker to leave the pronoun behind the verb, because the English translation has it there. I know that it bothers you — the it is after bothers. In Greek it is in front of ενοχλεί, with the conjunction stacked in front of that.
The two places it goes behind
There are exactly two: after a bare positive command, and after a gerund (the -οντας form).
Άσε με να τελειώσω και μετά ρώτα ό,τι θες.
áse me na telióso ke metá róta óti thes
Let me finish and then ask whatever you like.
Όταν τον δεις, πες του να με πάρει.
ótan ton dhis, pes tu na me pári
When you see him, tell him to call me.
Κοιτάζοντάς με στα μάτια, μου είπε ότι δεν φταίει.
kitázondás me sta mátia, mu ípe óti dhen ftéi
Looking me in the eye, he told me it wasn't his fault.
Look at the second sentence: τον in front of δεις because it is an ordinary subjunctive, του behind πες because it is a command, με in front of πάρει because that is a subjunctive again. Three clitics, three positions, one sentence — and every one of them is decided by the form of its own verb. The command pattern is on clitics after a positive command; the gerund and the reason behind the split are on proclisis and enclisis.
The perfect: in front of έχω, not inside it
Greek builds the perfect with έχω plus an unchanging verb form (έχω δει, έχω πάει). Learners reasonably guess that the clitic belongs next to the second word, since that is the one carrying the meaning. It does not. έχω is the finite verb, so the clitic goes in front of it — and no clitic may ever come between the two halves. An adverb can: Το έχω ήδη δει is perfectly normal. A pronoun cannot.
Το έχω δει δύο φορές και θα το ξαναδώ.
to écho dhi dhío forés ke tha to ksanadhó
I've seen it twice and I'll see it again.
Δεν μας έχουν απαντήσει ακόμα, πάνε δέκα μέρες.
dhen mas échun apandísi akóma, páne dhéka méres
They still haven't got back to us — it's been ten days.
Greek does not move a clitic up to a higher verb
In a two-verb sentence — I have to finish it, Can you send it to me? — the clitic belongs to the verb it is the object of, and it stays there. It does not climb up to sit next to πρέπει or μπορώ.
Πρέπει να το τελειώσω μέχρι τη Δευτέρα.
prépi na to telióso méchri ti Dheftéra
I have to finish it by Monday.
Μπορείς να μου το στείλεις σε μήνυμα;
borís na mu to stílis se mínima
Can you send it to me by text?
This is a real point of difference inside the Romance-and-Balkan neighbourhood: Spanish and Italian allow the pronoun to rise (lo tengo que hacer), and Greek never does. For an English speaker that is convenient news — you only ever have to find the verb the pronoun belongs to and put the pronoun in front of it.
Common Mistakes
1. Leaving the pronoun behind the verb, English-style. This is the single most frequent error English speakers make in Greek, and it survives long after the rule is known, because the English sentence keeps supplying the wrong template. (Cypriot Greek genuinely does place it there — that variety is covered on proclisis and enclisis — but in standard mainland Greek it is simply wrong.)
❌ Είπε μου ότι δεν θα έρθει.
Incorrect in standard Greek — a plain statement puts the clitic in front of the verb: Μου είπε.
✅ Μου είπε ότι δεν θα έρθει τελικά.
mu ípe óti dhen tha érthi teliká
He told me he isn't coming after all.
2. Putting the clitic after the verb when δεν is in front of it. Once the negator is in place learners often treat the verb as "already dealt with" and drop the pronoun at the end.
❌ Δεν έδωσα σου τίποτα.
Incorrect — the clitic goes between δεν and the verb: Δεν σου έδωσα.
✅ Δεν σου έδωσα τίποτα, ρώτα τον αδερφό σου.
dhen su édhosa típota, róta ton adherfó su
I didn't give you anything — go and ask your brother.
3. Slipping an adverb between the clitic and the verb. English happily says always tells me; Greek cannot break the unit.
❌ Μου πάντα λέει τα ίδια.
Incorrect — nothing may stand between clitic and verb; the adverb goes outside the pair: Πάντα μου λέει.
✅ Πάντα μου λέει τα ίδια πράγματα.
pánda mu léi ta ídhia prághmata
He always tells me the same things.
4. Putting the clitic inside the perfect. έχω is the finite verb, so the clitic goes in front of έχω.
❌ Έχω το δει αυτό το έργο.
Incorrect — the clitic precedes έχω and never splits the perfect: Το έχω δει.
✅ Το έχω δει αυτό το έργο, διάλεξε άλλο.
to écho dhi aftó to érgho, dhiálekse álo
I've seen this film, pick another one.
5. Putting the clitic in front of θα or δεν. It goes between the particle and the verb, not before the particle.
❌ Σε θα δω το Σάββατο.
Incorrect — the order is θα + clitic + verb: Θα σε δω.
✅ Θα σε δω το Σάββατο στο σπίτι της Ρένας.
tha se dho to Sávato sto spíti tis Rénas
I'll see you on Saturday at Rena's.
Key Takeaways
- A weak pronoun stands immediately in front of the finite verb: Το βλέπω, Τον ξέρω, Μας περιμένουν.
- Nothing may come between clitic and verb — no adverb, no subject, nothing. The two are pronounced as one word.
- The particles stack in a fixed template: [δεν / μην / θα / να / ας] + [clitic] + [verb].
- Conjunctions and question words do not "trigger" anything; proclisis is simply the default. The list matters because those are the sentences whose English translation misleads you.
- The clitic goes behind the verb in exactly two contexts: a bare positive command (Πες του) and a gerund (Κοιτάζοντάς με).
- In the perfect, the clitic precedes έχω — Το έχω δει, never ×Έχω το δει.
- Greek never moves a clitic up to a higher verb: Πρέπει να το τελειώσω, Μπορείς να μου το στείλεις.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- Proclisis and Enclisis in DetailB1 — The complete account of clitic position: proclisis is the unconditional default with every finite verb in the standard language, and enclisis belongs to exactly two forms — the bare positive imperative and the gerund. Why those two, what the Medieval system looked like, why Cypriot Greek still uses it, and what the switch does to the written accent.
- Clitics After a Positive CommandA2 — The everyday pattern in one line: give an order and the little pronoun jumps behind the verb — Πες μου, Δώσε μου, Πάρ' το, Άσε με, Περίμενέ με. Say the same thing in the negative and it goes straight back in front. Five commands to learn whole, and the one contrast that matters.
- θα: All Its UsesB1 — One invariable particle with no meaning of its own: the form behind θα decides whether you get a future, a conditional, a future-in-the-past or a confident guess. The complete grid of θα + every tense, the strings that carry two readings and what tells them apart, where θα may and may not stand in a subordinate clause, and the peremptory θα that functions as an order.
- Clitic Ordering and ContractionB2 — The full pre-verbal template — subordinator, then δεν/μην, then θα, then the genitive clitic, then the accusative clitic, then the verb — plus the morphophonemics that fall out of it: why μη μου το λες loses its ν but μην το κάνεις keeps it, why μου την έδωσε keeps a ν that μου τη ζήτησε drops, and the spoken contractions στο, στα and μου 'πε.
- Case Forms of the Weak PronounsA2 — The one decision behind every clitic pronoun in Greek — accusative με/σε/τον/την/το for what the verb acts on, genitive μου/σου/του/της for who receives or undergoes it — why μας and σας let you off the hook, and the verb lists that decide it for you.