English has a set of dedicated reflexive pronouns — myself, yourself, himself — six words that exist for nothing else. Greek has no such set. When the action of the verb comes back onto the person doing it, Greek reaches for an ordinary masculine noun, εαυτός ("self"), gives it a definite article and hangs a possessive clitic on it: τον εαυτό μου, literally "the self of-me." That is not a historical curiosity you can safely ignore. It is the reason every form on this page behaves the way it does.
It really is a noun, and it behaves like one
Three pieces of evidence, and each one is a rule you would otherwise have to memorise blindly:
- It takes the definite article — τον εαυτό μου, στον εαυτό σου — everywhere except one frozen learned phrase we come to at the end. English myself takes no article, which is exactly why learners drop it.
- It takes case from the verb or preposition, like any other object noun: accusative for a direct object, accusative after σε/με/για/από, genitive when a noun governs it.
- It can take an adjective — ο παλιός μου εαυτός, "my old self" — and it can even be the subject of a sentence. No English reflexive can do either.
Δεν είμαι πια ο παλιός μου εαυτός, το ξέρω.
dhen íme pia o paliós mu eaftós, to kséro
I'm not my old self any more — I know it.
Θέλω να δώσω τον καλύτερό μου εαυτό σε αυτή τη δουλειά.
thélo na dhóso ton kalíteró mu eaftó se aftí ti dhuliá
I want to give this job my best self.
Notice the word order in those two: the possessive clitic slots in between the adjective and the noun, exactly as it does in το καινούριο μου αυτοκίνητο — the ordinary behaviour described on possessive clitics. Nothing special is happening. εαυτός is just a noun.
The forms
εαυτός declines as a regular masculine noun in -ος, though in practice you meet three of its six cells constantly and the rest almost never.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ο εαυτός | οι εαυτοί |
| Genitive | του εαυτού | των εαυτών |
| Accusative | τον εαυτό | τους εαυτούς |
What makes it a reflexive is the clitic bolted on the end, and that clitic is the only part that changes from person to person:
| Subject | Direct object | After a preposition | Genitive (formal) |
|---|---|---|---|
| εγώ | τον εαυτό μου | στον / με τον εαυτό μου | του εαυτού μου |
| εσύ | τον εαυτό σου | στον / με τον εαυτό σου | του εαυτού σου |
| αυτός | τον εαυτό του | στον / με τον εαυτό του | του εαυτού του |
| αυτή | τον εαυτό της | στον / με τον εαυτό της | του εαυτού της |
| εμείς | τον εαυτό μας | στον / με τον εαυτό μας | του εαυτού μας |
| εσείς | τον εαυτό σας | στον / με τον εαυτό σας | του εαυτού σας |
| αυτοί / αυτές | τον εαυτό τους | στον / με τον εαυτό τους | του εαυτού τους |
The noun stays masculine, and normally singular
Here is the point that trips up everyone who has learned that Greek agrees everything with everything. εαυτός does not agree with the person it refers to. A woman talking about herself still says τον εαυτό μου — masculine article, masculine noun — and only the clitic tells you she is female. There is no feminine form of this noun in the language.
Ζητάει πάρα πολλά από τον εαυτό της και μετά παραπονιέται.
zitái pára polá apó ton eaftó tis ke metá paraponiéte
She demands far too much of herself and then complains.
Έγινε πάλι ο εαυτός της μετά τις διακοπές.
éyine páli o eaftós tis metá tis dhiakopés
She was herself again after the holidays.
The same conservatism applies to number. With a plural subject, everyday Greek keeps the noun singular and simply pluralises the clitic — τον εαυτό μας, τον εαυτό τους. The plural τους εαυτούς μας exists and is perfectly good Greek, but it is much the rarer of the two and it does a slightly different job: it puts each person's self separately in view.
Πρέπει να μάθουμε να συγχωρούμε τον εαυτό μας.
prépi na máthume na sinchorúme ton eaftó mas
We have to learn to forgive ourselves. (the everyday form — singular noun, plural clitic)
Ας δούμε πρώτα τους εαυτούς μας και μετά τους άλλους.
as dhúme próta tus eaftús mas ke metá tus álus
Let's take a look at ourselves first and then at everyone else. (plural — each of us separately)
Where you actually meet it
The reflexive noun turns up in two shapes: as a plain direct object, and — just as often — after a preposition. The second group matters more than most courses admit, because a preposition is a slot the mediopassive voice simply cannot fill.
| Pattern | Everyday examples |
|---|---|
| Direct object | αγαπάω / μισώ / κατηγορώ / συγχωρώ / ξέρω / αντέχω τον εαυτό μου |
| σε — to, in | μιλάω / λέω / έχω εμπιστοσύνη στον εαυτό μου |
| με — with | είμαι ειλικρινής / αυστηρός / θυμωμένος με τον εαυτό μου |
| για — about, for | μιλάω / σκέφτομαι / έχω μεγάλη ιδέα για τον εαυτό μου |
| από — of, from | ζητάω πολλά / περιμένω περισσότερα από τον εαυτό μου |
Μην είσαι τόσο αυστηρός με τον εαυτό σου, έκανες ό,τι μπορούσες.
min íse tóso afstirós me ton eaftó su, ékanes óti borúses
Don't be so hard on yourself — you did what you could.
Έχει πολύ μεγάλη ιδέα για τον εαυτό του.
échi polí megháli idhéa ya ton eaftó tu
He thinks an awful lot of himself.
Δεν αντέχω τον εαυτό μου όταν φωνάζω στα παιδιά.
dhen andécho ton eaftó mu ótan fonázo sta pedhiá
I can't stand myself when I shout at the kids.
Πρέπει να είσαι ειλικρινής με τον εαυτό σου πρώτα.
prépi na íse ilikrinís me ton eaftó su próta
You have to be honest with yourself first.
Έχει χάσει κάθε εμπιστοσύνη στον εαυτό του τον τελευταίο χρόνο.
échi chási káthe embistosíni ston eaftó tu ton teleftéo chróno
He has lost all confidence in himself over the past year.
Note what the με row does and does not cover. It is for states of mind — honest, hard, angry with yourself. When English with means along, in one's company, Greek switches to μαζί: Πήρε τα κλειδιά μαζί του, "he took the keys with him" — με τον εαυτό του would be about his state of mind, not about what he had on him.
One (informal) idiom worth having: τα βάζω με τον εαυτό μου, "to get angry at myself, to beat myself up about it" — the same τα βάζω με you use for picking a fight with anyone else.
Τα έβαλα με τον εαυτό μου που δεν μίλησα εκείνη τη στιγμή.
ta évala me ton eaftó mu pu dhen mílisa ekíni ti stighmí
I kicked myself for not speaking up at the time. (informal)
As a subject: Δεν είναι ο εαυτός του
Because it is a noun, εαυτός can stand in the nominative and be the subject or the predicate of είμαι. English does the same thing with he isn't himself today, and it is one of the few places where the two languages line up exactly.
Δεν είναι ο εαυτός του τελευταία, κάτι τον απασχολεί.
dhen íne o eaftós tu teleftéa, káti ton apascholí
He hasn't been himself lately — something's on his mind.
Μόνο μαζί σου είμαι πραγματικά ο εαυτός μου.
móno mazí su íme praghmatiká o eaftós mu
You're the only person I can really be myself with.
The genitive του εαυτού μου is grammatical everywhere but feels heavy, and in speech Greek almost always reroutes it through a preposition: not η γνώμη του εαυτού μου but η γνώμη που έχω για τον εαυτό μου. Keep the genitive for writing, and recognise the frozen learned phrase εκτός εαυτού ("beside oneself") — one of the fixed expressions listed under the genitive after learned prepositions (formal).
What it is not
Three Greek expressions all land on English -self, and only one of them is this page's.
- ο εαυτός μου is a real object: something is being done to the self. Delete it and the sentence collapses.
- ο ίδιος is an intensifier: it emphasises a word already in the sentence, and deleting it costs you nothing but emphasis — Το είπε ο ίδιος, "he said it himself." Worked out on ο ίδιος and, with pronouns, on intensive pronouns.
- μόνος μου means unaided — Το έφτιαξα μόνος μου, "I fixed it myself, with nobody's help."
And the fourth thing it is not: a substitute for the mediopassive. Greek's everyday way of saying you wash, dress or get ready is the -ομαι ending, not this noun — πλένομαι, ντύνομαι, ετοιμάζομαι — as set out on the reflexive middle. Choosing between the two encodings is a decision in its own right, and it has its own page. Nor does it mean each other: for that, see saying "each other".
Common Mistakes
1. Dropping the article. English myself has no article, so learners leave it out; in Greek the article is part of the construction.
❌ Πρέπει να προσέχεις εαυτό σου περισσότερο.
Incorrect — εαυτός is a noun and needs its article: τον εαυτό σου.
✅ Πρέπει να προσέχεις τον εαυτό σου περισσότερο.
prépi na proséchis ton eaftó su perisótero
You need to take better care of yourself.
2. Making the clitic agree with the noun instead of with the subject. εαυτό is masculine, so του looks like the natural continuation — but the clitic points at whoever the subject is.
❌ Η Άννα δεν συγχωρεί ποτέ τον εαυτό του.
Incorrect — the subject is Anna, so the clitic is της: τον εαυτό της.
✅ Η Άννα δεν συγχωρεί ποτέ τον εαυτό της για εκείνη τη μέρα.
i Ána dhen sinchorí poté ton eaftó tis ya ekíni ti méra
Anna never forgives herself for that day.
3. Using εαυτός for the emphatic "-self". I painted the house myself is not an action done to the self; nothing is being painted except the house.
❌ Έβαψα το σπίτι τον εαυτό μου.
Incorrect — nothing is done to the self here; 'unaided' is μόνος μου, 'in person' is ο ίδιος.
✅ Έβαψα το σπίτι μόνος μου, χωρίς συνεργείο.
évapsa to spíti mónos mu, chorís sineryío
I painted the house myself, without a crew.
4. Using an ordinary object clitic for "himself". This is the deep reason Greek needs the noun at all: a weak clitic can never point back at the subject of its own clause. The τη in the sentence below has to be somebody else.
❌ Η Ελένη τη μισεί όταν κάνει τέτοια λάθη.
Incorrect for 'hates herself' — a weak clitic cannot refer back to the subject; τη has to be another woman. The reflexive needs the noun.
✅ Η Ελένη μισεί τον εαυτό της όταν κάνει τέτοια λάθη.
i Eléni misí ton eaftó tis ótan káni tétia láthi
Eleni hates herself when she makes mistakes like that.
5. Reaching for the noun where the verb ending already does the job. Both of the following are correct Greek; they are not interchangeable, and the first is what you say in the morning.
Ετοιμάζομαι σε δέκα λεπτά και φεύγουμε.
etimázome se dhéka leptá ke févghume
I'll be ready in ten minutes and we can go. (the -ομαι ending is the everyday reflexive)
Πρέπει να ετοιμάσω τον εαυτό μου για τα χειρότερα.
prépi na etimáso ton eaftó mu ya ta chirótera
I have to prepare myself for the worst. (a deliberate act aimed at the self — the noun earns its place)
Key Takeaways
- Greek's reflexive is a noun: article + εαυτός
- possessive clitic — τον εαυτό μου, literally "the self of-me".
- Because it is a noun it keeps its article, takes case from the verb or preposition, can carry an adjective (ο παλιός μου εαυτός) and can be a subject (Δεν είναι ο εαυτός του).
- The noun does not agree in gender: it stays masculine for a woman (τον εαυτό της), and it normally stays singular for a group (τον εαυτό μας). The plural τους εαυτούς μας is real but much rarer, and highlights each self separately.
- The clitic carries the person, so it must match the subject — not the masculine noun sitting in front of it.
- A weak object clitic can never refer back to its own subject, which is precisely why the noun exists: Η Ελένη τη μισεί is about another woman; μισεί τον εαυτό της is about herself.
- It is common after prepositions — στον, με τον, για τον, από τον εαυτό μου — and that is a slot the mediopassive ending cannot fill.
- Keep it apart from ο ίδιος (emphasis, deletable) and μόνος μου (unaided), and from the -ομαι middle, which is the everyday reflexive for washing, dressing and getting ready.
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
- Reflexive Pronoun vs Middle VoiceB2 — Greek encodes 'myself' twice — with the -ομαι ending and with the noun ο εαυτός μου — and they are not free variants. The middle deletes the object slot, the pronoun fills it, and that single fact predicts every case: why an oblique self, a contrasted self or a modified self forces τον εαυτό μου, why verbs like αγαπάω leave you no choice, why the two can never be stacked, and where the learned prefix αυτο- comes in.
- Reflexive Use of the Middle VoiceB1 — How Greek uses the mediopassive -ομαι ending to say you do something to yourself — πλένομαι (wash), ντύνομαι (get dressed), χτενίζομαι (comb one's hair), ετοιμάζομαι (get ready) — why the ending itself is the 'myself', when the marked τον εαυτό μου is needed instead, and why body parts take active + possessive (πλένω τα χέρια μου).
- ο ίδιος: 'same' and '-self'B1 — One Greek word covers both English 'the same' and the emphatic '-self', and the only thing separating them is how many definite articles you use: ο ίδιος πρόεδρος is the same president, ο ίδιος ο πρόεδρος is the president himself. Also the possessive frame η ίδια μου η μητέρα, the adverb Μου κάνει το ίδιο, and why ο ίδιος is not the reflexive ο εαυτός μου.
- Intensive Pronouns (εγώ ο ίδιος)B2 — Greek already has a stressed pronoun for emphasis — εγώ, εσένα, αυτόν — and this page is about the second gear on top of it: the reinforcers ο ίδιος, μόνος μου, ακόμα κι εγώ and προσωπικά, how each one agrees with the pronoun it strengthens (including in case: εμένα τον ίδιο), and why Σε σένα μιλάω lands so much harder than Σου μιλάω.
- All the Ways to Say 'My'A2 — A decision page: one table matching every possession situation to the construction Greek uses for it — the everyday clitic το σπίτι μου, the contrastive το δικό μου σπίτι, the genitive noun το σπίτι του Γιάννη, the emotional η ίδια μου η μητέρα and the reflexive ο εαυτός μου — with a link to the page that teaches each one properly.