Interrogative Pronouns | Greek Grammar

A question word can lean on a noun — ποιο *λεωφορείο;, πόσες μέρες; — or it can stand on its own and *be the whole question phrase: Ποιος;, Τι;, Πόσα; This page is about the second kind, the pronoun use, and it is the door into the rest of the Interrogative subgroup.

Almost everything mechanical about these words has already been settled elsewhere. The paradigms of ποιος and πόσος, the three genitives (ποιου neutral, ποιανού (informal), τίνος (formal) — all three correct), the rule that they take a bare noun with no article, and the fact that Greek writes its question mark as a semicolon are all on interrogative determiners. Read that page for the forms; this one assumes them and asks a different question: what happens when the noun disappears. Note also that πότε, πού, πώς and γιατί are not pronouns at all — they are adverbs, and they live on interrogative adverbs.

Standing alone, ποιος is "who"

With no noun in sight, the masculine forms of ποιος default to people. Ποιος; is Greek for who?, and the case it appears in tells you what job the person has in the sentence.

Ποιος ήρθε τόσο νωρίς και άφησε την πόρτα ανοιχτή;

pios írthe tóso norís ke áfise tin pórta anichtí;

Who got here so early and left the door open?

Ποιον ρώτησες πριν αποφασίσεις;

pion rótises prin apofasísis;

Who did you ask before you decided?

English gives you no help here, because who looks the same whether it is the one doing the asking or the one being asked — whom survives only in careful writing. In Greek the difference is compulsory and it is the only thing distinguishing two sentences that are otherwise identical, because Greek is happy to put the subject after the verb:

Ποιος πήρε τη Μαρία χθες το βράδυ;

pios píre ti María chthes to vrádhi;

Who rang Maria last night?

Ποιον πήρε η Μαρία χθες το βράδυ;

pion píre i María chthes to vrádhi;

Who did Maria ring last night?

Same words, same order, opposite questions. The -ν of ποιον is carrying the entire meaning, which is why it is not a detail you can let slide.

Agreement with a noun that was never said

Here is the part that has no English counterpart. When the noun is left out because both speakers already have it in mind, Greek still inflects the pronoun for that noun's gender and number. The ending is a pointer back to something unspoken.

Έχει δύο τρένα το πρωί. Ποιο θα προλάβεις;

échi dhío tréna to proí. pio tha prolávis;

There are two trains in the morning. Which one will you make?

Πήρα δύο μπλούζες. Ποια να κρατήσω, τη ριγέ ή την άσπρη;

píra dhío blúzes. pia na kratíso, ti riyé i tin áspri;

I bought two tops. Which should I keep, the striped one or the white one?

Λείπουν δύο μαθητές σήμερα. Ποιοι είναι;

lípun dhío mathités símera. pii íne;

Two pupils are missing today. Which ones?

τρένο is neuter, so the question is ποιο; μπλούζα is feminine, so it is ποια; μαθητές is masculine plural, so it is ποιοι. Notice too what Greek does not need: English cannot say "which will you make?" and has to prop the question up with the word one — which one, which ones. Greek has no such prop word and never uses ένα that way. The inflected pronoun is the whole phrase.

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Before you say ποιο on its own, ask yourself what noun you are pointing at, and put the ending on that noun's gender. Get it wrong and you are not merely mispronouncing — you are pointing at the wrong thing. That is also the practical reason to learn every noun with its article from day one: the gender you never learned surfaces here, in the one word you have left.

πόσος alone: how many of them

πόσος behaves the same way. Left without a noun it keeps the noun's gender and number, and the neuter plural πόσα is the everyday "how many?".

Έχω φέρει καρέκλες από κάτω. Πόσες θα χρειαστούμε;

écho féri karékles apó káto. póses tha chriastúme;

I've brought chairs up from downstairs. How many will we need?

Πόσα θέλεις; Πάρε όσα σου φτάνουν.

pósa thélis; páre ósa su ftánun

How many do you want? Take as many as you need.

The invariable adverb πόσο ("how much", as in Πόσο κάνει;) is a different animal and belongs with the quantifiers on πολύς, λίγος, αρκετός.

τι stands alone without changing anything

τι is invariable, so the pronoun use costs you nothing: the same three letters serve as subject, as object, and after a preposition.

Τι έπαθες; Είσαι κάτασπρος.

ti épathes; íse kátaspros

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

Τι θέλεις να σου φέρω από κάτω;

ti thélis na su féro apó káto;

What do you want me to bring you from downstairs?

Which of ποιος and τι to reach for when both look possible is a decision with real content, and it has a page of its own.

The answer comes back in the question's case

A one-word answer in Greek is not a free-floating name; it wears the case the question asked for. Answer a ποιος-question with a nominative, a ποιον-question with an accusative.

Ποιος έφαγε το τελευταίο κομμάτι; — Εγώ.

pios éfaye to teleftéo komáti; — eghó

Who ate the last piece? — Me.

Ποιον περιμένουμε ακόμα; — Τον Νίκο.

pion periménume akóma; — ton Níko

Who are we still waiting for? — Nikos.

English does the opposite: it answers everything with the object form (Me, Him), which is exactly why the first of these trips people up.

The bare pronoun is also how you ask someone to repeat themselves — but mind the register. Τι; on its own is fine among friends and blunt to the point of rudeness with a stranger; the polite version is Ορίστε;

Τι; Δεν σε άκουσα με τη μουσική.

ti; dhen se ákusa me ti musikí

What? I didn't hear you over the music. (informal)

Ορίστε; Μπορείτε να το επαναλάβετε;

oríste; boríte na to epanalávete;

Sorry? Could you say that again? (polite)

Common Mistakes

1. Leaving the standalone pronoun in the nominative when it is the object. With a noun present you can often feel the case from the noun; standing alone, the pronoun is the only thing carrying it.

❌ Ποιος είδες χθες στο σούπερ μάρκετ;

Incorrect — the person seen is the object, so the pronoun is accusative: Ποιον είδες;

✅ Ποιον είδες χθες στο σούπερ μάρκετ και δεν μου το είπες;

pion ídhes chthes sto súper márket ke dhen mu to ípes;

Who did you see at the supermarket yesterday and not tell me about?

2. Defaulting to masculine when the understood noun is not masculine. English which one has no gender, so learners produce the dictionary form.

❌ Από τις δύο τσάντες, ποιος σου αρέσει;

Incorrect — the unspoken noun is η τσάντα, feminine, and the pronoun agrees with it: ποια.

✅ Από τις δύο τσάντες, ποια σου αρέσει για δώρο;

apó tis dhío tsándes, pia su arési ya dhóro;

Of the two bags, which one do you like as a present?

3. Answering a "who?" question with the object form. English says Me; Greek says Εγώ.

❌ Ποιος θέλει παγωτό; — Εμένα!

Incorrect — a subject question takes a subject answer: Εγώ.

✅ Ποιος θέλει παγωτό; — Εγώ, αν έχει σοκολάτα.

pios théli paghotó; — eghó, an échi sokoláta

Who wants ice cream? — Me, if there's chocolate.

4. Propping the pronoun up with ένα, on the model of English which one. Greek needs no prop word — the inflected pronoun already is the whole phrase.

❌ Ποιο ένα θέλεις, το κόκκινο ή το μπλε;

Incorrect — Greek has no pro-form matching English 'one' here; the pronoun stands by itself: Ποιο θέλεις;

✅ Ποιο θέλεις, το κόκκινο ή το μπλε; Και τα δύο σου πάνε.

pio thélis, to kókino i to ble; ke ta dhío su páne

Which one do you want, the red or the blue? They both suit you.

Key Takeaways

Standing alone, ποιος is "who" and it inflects: Ποιος πήρε τη Μαρία; against Ποιον πήρε η Μαρία; — with Greek's free word order, the case ending is the only thing separating the two questions.
When the noun is left unsaid, ποιος and πόσος still agree with it. The ending points back at something nobody pronounced, so the gender has to be right.
Greek needs no prop word: which one is simply ποιο, never a two-word phrase built on ένα.
τι never changes, in any position, and πόσα is the ordinary standalone "how many".
A one-word answer takes the case of the question: Ποιος; → Εγώ, Ποιον; → Τον Νίκο.
Τι; as "sorry, what?" is (informal) and can sound curt; Ορίστε; is the polite version.

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