Most textbooks call κανένας, τίποτα and ποτέ "negative words", and that label makes them harder to learn than they need to be, because it cannot explain why Ήρθε κανείς; is a perfectly ordinary question with no negation in it. They are better understood as polarity items: words that cannot stand up on their own and need a particular kind of context — a licensor — to appear in at all. Negation is the commonest licensor. It is not the only one.
The paradigm of κανένας, the obligatory δεν in a statement and the word-order weighting of Δεν ήρθε κανείς against Κανείς δεν ήρθε are all worked out on κανένας, and the concord rule itself on negative concord. This page takes those as given and asks the bigger question: what counts as a licensor, and what does the word mean in each one.
What all the licensors have in common
Look at the contexts these words turn up in and one property is shared by every single one: the sentence is not asserting that the event happened. A negation denies it. A question does not know. A condition suspends it. A before-clause places it at a moment when it had not happened yet. A comparative measures against something hypothetical. Linguists call this property non-veridicality (academic), and Greek is one of the languages the term was worked out on — but the plain-English version is enough to use: if the clause commits you to the event having happened, the polarity word cannot be in it.
That single test predicts every environment below, and it explains the one sentence type where these words are impossible: the flat affirmative statement.
Δεν μας ενημέρωσε κανείς ότι το μάθημα ακυρώθηκε.
dhen mas enimérose kanís óti to máthima akiróthike
Nobody let us know the class had been cancelled.
Είδες πουθενά τον φορτιστή μου;
ídhes puthená ton fortistí mu;
Have you seen my charger anywhere?
The first has δεν; the second has no negation at all and needs none, because a question is already a licensing environment. Neither sentence would survive being turned into a plain assertion.
The licensing environments
| Environment | Example | The word means |
|---|---|---|
| Statement with δεν / μη(ν) | Δεν είδα τίποτα. | no-, nothing, nobody |
| Yes/no question | Είδες τίποτα; | any-, anything |
| αν, μήπως, σε περίπτωση που | Αν δεις τίποτα… | any- |
| πριν (+ subjunctive) | Φύγε πριν σε δει κανείς. | any- |
| χωρίς να | Έφυγε χωρίς να πει τίποτα. | any- (and no δεν) |
| Comparative (από ό,τι, από ποτέ) | …από ό,τι φαντάζεται κανείς. | any-, ever |
Superlative
| …που έχω φάει ποτέ. | ever |
| One-word answer | — Τίποτα. | nothing, nobody |
| Plain affirmative statement | — | impossible |
Questions
A question licenses these words with no negator anywhere, and the reading flips to plain any.
Έχεις καθόλου ψιλά για το ταξί;
échis kathólu psilá ya to taksí;
Have you got any change at all for the taxi?
Έχεις πάει ποτέ στη Σαντορίνη τον χειμώνα;
échis pái poté sti Sandoríni ton chimóna;
Have you ever been to Santorini in the winter?
καθόλου is worth pausing on, because it is routinely taught as a word that requires δεν. It does not: the question above is completely ordinary Greek, and so is the one-word answer Καθόλου.
Conditions
αν, μήπως and σε περίπτωση που all suspend the assertion, and all license the polarity series.
Αν δεις πουθενά τα γυαλιά μου, πες μου.
an dhis puthená ta yaliá mu, pes mu
If you see my glasses anywhere, tell me.
Σε περίπτωση που χρειαστεί τίποτα, είμαι στο διπλανό δωμάτιο.
se períptosi pu chriastí típota, íme sto dhiplanó dhomátio
In case anything is needed, I'm in the next room.
πριν-clauses
A before-clause describes a moment at which the event had not yet happened, which makes it non-veridical in the most literal possible way.
Φύγε πριν σε δει κανείς εδώ μέσα.
fíye prin se dhi kanís edhó mésa
Get out before anyone sees you in here.
Πρόλαβε να το σβήσει πριν καταλάβει τίποτα ο πατέρας του.
prólave na to zvísi prin katalávi típota o patéras tu
He managed to delete it before his father worked anything out.
χωρίς να — and the trap inside it
χωρίς already carries the negation ("without"), so the clause is licensed and no δεν or μην goes inside it. This is where the concord rule, over-applied, does real damage: learners who have drilled "τίποτα needs δεν" put a negator in, and the sentence breaks.
Το ξεκίνησε και το τελείωσε χωρίς να ζητήσει βοήθεια από κανέναν.
to ksekínise ke to telíose chorís na zitísi voíthia apó kanénan
He started it and finished it without asking anybody for help.
Πέρασε ένας μήνας χωρίς να μας πάρει ποτέ τηλέφωνο.
pérase énas mínas chorís na mas pári poté tiléfono
A whole month went by without him ever ringing us.
Comparatives and superlatives
The standard of comparison is something that did not actually happen, so it licenses too. από ποτέ is the fixed way to say English than ever — note that it is ποτέ and not πάντα, however much "ever" and "always" overlap in English.
Είναι πιο δύσκολο από ό,τι φαντάζεται κανείς.
íne pio dhískolo apó óti fandázete kanís
It's harder than anyone imagines.
Νιώθω καλύτερα από ποτέ.
niótho kalítera apó poté
I feel better than ever.
Είναι το καλύτερο σουβλάκι που έχω φάει ποτέ.
íne to kalítero suvláki pu écho fái poté
That's the best souvlaki I've ever eaten.
One-word answers
Strip the verb away and there is nothing left to attach δεν to — so a bare polarity word stands alone as a complete negative answer. This is the standing exception to "these words need δεν", and it is extremely common in speech.
Τι θέλεις να σου φέρω; — Τίποτα, ευχαριστώ.
ti thélis na su féro; — típota, efcharistó
What do you want me to bring you? — Nothing, thanks.
Σε πείραξε που δεν ήρθα; — Καθόλου.
se pírakse pu dhen írtha; — kathólu
Did it bother you that I didn't come? — Not in the least.
The licensor can be upstairs, but never downstairs
One property of licensing is worth knowing because it decides where the δεν goes in a complex sentence. A negation in the main clause reaches down into a subordinate clause and licenses a polarity item there — even though the subordinate clause has no negator of its own.
Δεν νομίζω ότι κατάλαβε κανείς τι έγινε.
dhen nomízo óti katálave kanís ti éyine
I don't think anyone realised what happened.
Δεν είπε ότι θα φέρει τίποτα, οπότε πάρε κρασί.
dhen ípe óti tha féri típota, opóte páre krasí
He didn't say he'd bring anything, so pick up some wine.
It does not work in the other direction. A δεν sitting in the subordinate clause cannot license anything in the main clause. And the main clause only reaches downwards if it is itself non-veridical: an asserting verb like είπε, ξέρω or ανακάλυψε commits you to the embedded event having happened, so it licenses nothing below it and that clause needs its own δεν. Verbs that doubt or deny — αμφιβάλλω, αρνήθηκε — are positive in form but non-veridical in meaning, and those license downwards with no δεν anywhere: Αμφιβάλλω ότι ήρθε κανείς.
One word, four translations
The same word takes whatever English form the environment calls for, and this is the clearest evidence that the environment, not the word, carries the negative meaning. Watch ποτέ:
Δεν του μιλάω ποτέ για δουλειά μετά τις οκτώ.
dhen tu miláo poté ya dhuliá metá tis októ
I never talk to him about work after eight.
Πήγες ποτέ σε εκείνο το μαγαζί που σου είπα;
píyes poté se ekíno to maghazí pu su ípa;
Did you ever go to that shop I told you about?
Αν σου ζητήσει ποτέ λεφτά, μην του δώσεις.
an su zitísi poté leftá, min tu dhósis
If he ever asks you for money, don't give him any.
Θα του ξαναμιλήσεις; — Ποτέ.
tha tu ksanamilísis; — poté
Will you speak to him again? — Never.
Four contexts, four English words — never, ever, ever, never — and one unchanged Greek word. Trying to memorise ποτέ as "never" and then explaining away the other three is the long way round; reading the context first is the short one.
Common Mistakes
1. Putting δεν inside a χωρίς να clause. χωρίς is the negation; a second one is not reinforcement, it is a break.
❌ Έφυγε χωρίς να μην πει τίποτα.
Incorrect — χωρίς already licenses τίποτα, and no negator goes inside the να-clause: χωρίς να πει τίποτα.
✅ Έφυγε από το τραπέζι χωρίς να πει καλησπέρα σε κανέναν.
éfiye apó to trapézi chorís na pi kalispéra se kanénan
He got up from the table without saying good evening to anybody.
2. Keeping the polarity word in the answer to the question that licensed it. The question makes τίποτα mean anything; an affirmative answer is a different environment and takes κάτι.
❌ Ναι, είδα τίποτα ύποπτο.
Incorrect — the question licensed τίποτα, but a positive answer licenses nothing: Ναι, είδα κάτι ύποπτο.
✅ Ναι, είδα κάτι ύποπτο, γι' αυτό σε πήρα.
ne, ídha káti ípopto, yaftó se píra
Yes, I saw something suspicious, that's why I called you.
3. Letting a positive main verb do the licensing for the clause below it. Each clause needs a licensor of its own unless the negation is above it.
❌ Είπε ότι ήρθε κανείς στο γραφείο.
Incorrect — είπε asserts that the arrival happened, so the ότι-clause is veridical and licenses nothing; the embedded clause needs its own δεν: ότι δεν ήρθε κανείς. For 'he said somebody came' the word is κάποιος.
✅ Είπε ότι δεν ήρθε κανείς στο γραφείο όλη μέρα.
ípe óti dhen írthe kanís sto ghrafío óli méra
He said nobody came into the office all day.
4. Adding δεν to an αν-clause because the polarity word is in it. This one produces no ungrammatical Greek at all, which is exactly what makes it dangerous: the αν-clause licenses τίποτα on its own, so the extra negator is not redundant — it flips the condition, and you get a perfectly well-formed sentence that says the opposite of what you meant. Compare the two and note that only the second is an offer of help.
Αν δεν χρειαστείς τίποτα, φώναξέ με.
an dhen chriastís típota, fónaksé me
If you DON'T need anything, give me a shout. (grammatical — but almost certainly not what you meant)
Αν χρειαστείς τίποτα τη νύχτα, φώναξέ με.
an chriastís típota ti níchta, fónaksé me
If you need anything in the night, give me a shout. (the offer you intended)
Key Takeaways
- κανένας, τίποτα, ποτέ, πουθενά and καθόλου are polarity items, not negative words: they need a licensing context to appear at all.
- Every licensor shares one property — the clause does not assert that the event happened. Negation, questions, αν and μήπως, πριν, χωρίς να, comparatives and superlatives all qualify.
- In a clause that has a finite verb and asserts, the licensor must be δεν or μη(ν). In the other environments no negator is used, and the word reads as any-.
- χωρίς να is where the concord habit does damage: χωρίς is the negation, so nothing goes inside — χωρίς να πει τίποτα.
- καθόλου is licensed by questions too — Έχεις καθόλου ψιλά; — so it is not a δεν-only word.
- A one-word answer needs no δεν at all: Τίποτα., Κανείς., Καθόλου.
- Negation licenses downwards, not upwards: Δεν νομίζω ότι ήρθε κανείς is fine, but an embedded clause under a positive verb needs its own δεν.
- English than ever is από ποτέ, not από πάντα.
Now practice Greek
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- κανένας: 'no/any' and NegationA2 — κανένας / καμιά / κανένα is Greek's 'nobody' and its 'any' in one word, and it never works alone: Δεν ήρθε κανείς needs both δεν and κανείς, because Greek stacks negatives instead of cancelling them. Full paradigm, the κανείς/κανένας doublet, the obligatory δεν even in Κανείς δεν ήρθε, and the friendly spoken reading in Πάμε για κανένα ποτό;
- Indefinite PronounsB1 — A map of Greek's indefinite pronouns rather than a lesson on any one of them: κάποιος, κάτι, μερικοί, καθένας, κανένας, τίποτα and the -δήποτε words sorted by two questions — does it inflect, and which of the three series does it belong to. Every word here has a page of its own; this one tells you which page you need, and covers the free-choice series οποιοσδήποτε / οτιδήποτε in full.