Wh-Questions (ποιος, τι, πού...) | Greek Grammar

An information question asks the listener to supply one missing piece: a person, thing, place, time, manner, reason, or amount. In a neutral Greek question, the word or phrase representing that missing piece comes first: Ποιος είναι; Τι θέλεις; Πού μένεις; After that fronted phrase, Greek keeps its normal clause machinery. There is no English-style inversion and no extra equivalent of English do.

The basic shape: wh-phrase + ordinary clause

The most frequent question words are ποιος “who/which,” τι “what,” πού “where,” πότε “when,” πώς “how,” γιατί “why,” and πόσο “how much.” Their full paradigms and meanings belong to interrogative pronouns and interrogative adverbs. For formation, the important fact is simpler: put the missing element first.

Ποιος είναι στην πόρτα;

pios íne stin pórta;

Who is at the door?

Τι θέλεις να παραγγείλουμε απόψε;

ti thélis na parangílume apópse;

What do you want us to order tonight?

Πού μένεις τώρα;

pu ménis tóra;

Where do you live now?

Πότε ήρθες στην Αθήνα;

póte írthes stin Athína;

When did you come to Athens?

Πώς σε λένε;

pos se léne;

What's your name? (literally: How do they call you?)

Γιατί έφυγες τόσο νωρίς;

yatí éfiyes tóso norís;

Why did you leave so early?

Πόσο κάνει αυτό το σακάκι;

póso káni aftó to sakáki;

How much is this jacket?

English changes you want into what *do you want? and *she came into when *did she come? Greek does neither. *Θέλεις and ήρθες remain ordinary finite verbs. The interrogative phrase and the Greek question mark—written ;, not ?—already tell the reader what kind of clause this is.

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Do not translate English do/does/did in a question. Those words support English inversion; they carry no independent meaning there. Greek simply says Τι θέλεις;, literally “What you-want?”

What “immediately after” really means

The verb normally follows the fronted question phrase before an overt subject: Πού μένει η Ελένη; That gives learners a reliable neutral pattern. But Greek particles and object clitics belong directly before the verb, so they naturally sit between the question word and the finite verb. They do not break the rule; they are part of the ordinary verb complex.

Τι θα κάνεις το Σαββατοκύριακο;

ti tha kánis to Savatokíriako;

What will you do at the weekend?

Πού τον γνώρισες;

pu ton ghnórises;

Where did you meet him?

Γιατί δεν μου απάντησες χθες;

yatí dhen mu apándises chthes;

Why didn't you answer me yesterday?

The sequences θα κάνεις, τον γνώρισες, and δεν μου απάντησες are exactly the same sequences found in statements. English speakers should resist moving the subject in front of this verb complex merely to imitate English auxiliary inversion. Greek can place subjects in several positions for information structure, but the neutral information question normally puts a new or heavy subject after the verb.

Πότε φτάνει το λεωφορείο από το αεροδρόμιο;

póte ftáni to leoforío apó to aerodhrómio;

When does the bus from the airport arrive?

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The useful template is not “question word + naked verb.” It is question phrase + normal Greek verb complex: Τι θα πάρεις;, Πού το βρήκες;, Γιατί δεν ήρθε;.

Front the whole phrase, not just one word

A question word may carry a noun with it: ποιο λεωφορείο “which bus,” πόσες μέρες “how many days,” τι ώρα “what time.” The entire phrase goes to the front. Agreement and the ποιος-versus-τι choice are covered on interrogative determiners; the formation rule sees the result as one unit.

Ποιο λεωφορείο πάει στο κέντρο;

pio leoforío pái sto kéndro;

Which bus goes into the centre?

Πόσες μέρες θα μείνετε στην Κρήτη;

póses méres tha mínate stin Kríti;

How many days will you stay in Crete?

Τι ώρα αρχίζει η παράσταση;

ti óra archízi i parástasi;

What time does the performance begin?

Greek also fronts a larger phrase headed by a preposition. English commonly strands that preposition at the end—Who did you go *with?*—but Greek cannot. The preposition and its question word travel together.

Με ποια φίλη σου ταξίδεψες;

me pia fíli su taksídhepses;

Which friend of yours did you travel with?

Από πού πήρες αυτά τα κεράσια;

apó pu píres aftá ta kerásia;

Where did you get these cherries from?

Σε ποια στάση κατεβαίνουμε;

se pia stási katevénume;

Which stop do we get off at?

The preposition also determines case: με ποιον, not nominative ποιος. The full case patterns, fragment answers, and why stranding is impossible are on questions with prepositions.

Neutral questions, echo questions, and short γιατί

Fronting is obligatory for the neutral information question taught here. Conversation also has marked echo questions such as Είπες τι; “You said what?”, where the speaker repeats most of what was heard and leaves the surprising item in place. That is not a free alternative to Τι είπες;: it signals surprise, disbelief, or a request to repeat. Use the fronted form when you are simply asking for information.

Τι είπες στη Μαρία;

ti ípes sti María;

What did you say to Maria?

Είπες τι; Δεν άκουσα καλά.

ípes ti; dhen ákusa kalá

You said what? I didn't hear properly. (echo question)

Γιατί; can stand alone when the reason is recoverable from context. This is neutral in conversation, though intonation can make it sound curious, hurt, or confrontational.

Δεν θα έρθω τελικά. — Γιατί;

dhen tha értho teliká. — yatí;

I won't come after all. — Why?

The accents on πού and πώς

Interrogative πού and πώς carry a written tonos, including in questions with no final question mark because they are embedded. Their homophones που “that/who” and πως “that” are unaccented. The accent is orthographic disambiguation, not a pronunciation difference: both versions are romanized pu and pos. The complete rule belongs to question-word accents.

Πού είναι το καφέ που μου είπες;

pu íne to kafé pu mu ípes;

Where is the café you told me about?

Here the first word asks “where?” and takes tonos; the second links το καφέ to μου είπες and remains bare.

Common Mistakes

1. Translating English question-support do as κάνω. Greek needs only its ordinary finite verb.

❌ Πού κάνεις μένεις τώρα;

Incorrect — Greek has no translated 'do' in this question; say Πού μένεις τώρα;

✅ Πού μένεις τώρα, κοντά στη δουλειά;

pu ménis tóra, kondá sti dhuliá;

Where do you live now, near work?

2. Leaving the preposition behind. Greek fronts the complete prepositional phrase.

❌ Ποιον πήγες με στη συναυλία;

Incorrect — με cannot be stranded; the question begins Με ποιον.

✅ Με ποιον πήγες στη συναυλία το Σάββατο;

me pion píyes sti sinavlía to Sávato;

Who did you go to the concert with on Saturday?

3. Mismatching the question determiner and its noun. The whole fronted phrase must have internal agreement.

❌ Ποια λεωφορείο πάει στο αεροδρόμιο;

Incorrect — λεωφορείο is neuter, so the form is ποιο.

✅ Ποιο λεωφορείο πάει στο αεροδρόμιο τέτοια ώρα;

pio leoforío pái sto aerodhrómio tétia óra;

Which bus goes to the airport at this time of day?

Key Takeaways

A neutral information question fronts the complete wh-phrase: Πού μένεις; Ποιο λεωφορείο παίρνεις;
After it, Greek keeps the ordinary verb complex. There is no English-style inversion and no translated do.
Particles and clitics remain preverbal: Τι θα κάνεις; Πού τον βρήκες; Γιατί δεν ήρθε;
A preposition fronts with its object: Με ποιον; Από πού; Greek never strands it.
Greek writes its question mark as ;. Interrogative πού / πώς carry tonos; their unaccented homophones have linking functions.
Wh-in-place forms such as Είπες τι; are marked echo questions, not the neutral formation pattern.

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