A complement clause completes the meaning of another predicate: what someone said, noticed, wanted, regretted, or caused. Greek complementizers are not interchangeable translations of English that. The matrix verb selects a family of complements, and with flexible verbs the choice itself creates a new reading. The general factual-versus-envisaged contrast belongs to να versus ότι/πως; this page maps selection by verb class and the meaning-changing pairs.
Verb class determines the available frame
| Matrix-verb class | Typical complement | Examples | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| reporting and assertion | ότι / πως | λέω, ανακοινώνω, παραδέχομαι | a reported proposition |
| belief, knowledge, discovery | ότι / πως | νομίζω, πιστεύω, ξέρω, καταλαβαίνω | information entertained as a proposition |
| direct perception, event presented as fact | που | βλέπω, ακούω | a witnessed event with its own tense and aspect |
| direct perception, event viewed from within | να + imperfective | βλέπω, ακούω, νιώθω | an action perceived in progress |
| perception as conclusion | ότι / πως | βλέπω, ακούω, προσέχω | a fact noticed, inferred, or reported |
| desire and intention | να | θέλω, προτιμώ, ελπίζω | an envisaged outcome |
| directive, permission, causation | να | ζητάω, λέω σε κάποιον, αφήνω, βάζω | an action requested or caused |
| ability, obligation, possibility | να | μπορώ, πρέπει, χρειάζεται | an action evaluated modally |
| emotion about an established event | που | χαίρομαι, λυπάμαι, ενοχλούμαι | the factual cause of the emotion |
| emotion toward an activity or prospect | να | χαίρομαι, λυπάμαι, φοβάμαι | an activity or event under consideration |
“Factual” does not mean objectively proven. Πιστεύει ότι τον αδικούν merely packages his belief as a proposition. The table predicts syntax, not truth. The finer distinction among factual ότι, πως, που is developed on the factual complementizers.
βλέπω and ακούω: conclusion versus direct event
With ότι/πως, a perception verb presents what the perceiver concluded or recognized. With που, especially when an accusative person is also expressed, it presents an event as directly seen or heard.
Είδα ότι είχε έρθει ο Μάνος, γιατί το παλτό του ήταν στην είσοδο.
ídha óti íche érthi o Mános, yatí to paltó tu ítan stin ísodho
I realized that Manos had arrived because his coat was in the entrance.
Τον είδα που μπήκε από την πίσω πόρτα και κάθισε μόνος του.
ton ídha pu bíke apó tin píso pórta ke káthise mónos tu
I saw him come in through the back door and sit by himself.
The second sentence depicts the event itself; the first reports a conclusion drawn from evidence. English can use saw that for the first and saw him come for the second, but Greek marks the contrast at the clause boundary. A third frame, Τον είδα να μπαίνει, focuses on the action unfolding: “I saw him coming in.”
Άκουσα ότι η Ελένη παραιτήθηκε την περασμένη εβδομάδα.
ákusa óti i Eléni paretíthike tin perazméni evdhomádha
I heard that Eleni resigned last week. (I received the news.)
Την άκουσα που έκλεισε το παράθυρο και κατέβηκε τις σκάλες.
tin ákusa pu éklise to paráthiro ke katévike tis skáles
I heard her close the window and go down the stairs. (direct perception)
λυπάμαι: reaction to a fact versus stance toward an event
Emotion verbs reveal the same architecture from another direction. Που supplies the established cause of the emotion. Να presents an activity, prospect, or utterance toward which the speaker takes an emotional stance.
Λυπάμαι που χάσατε την πτήση και ταλαιπωρηθήκατε τόσο.
lipáme pu chásate tin ptísi ke taleporithíkate tóso
I'm sorry that you missed the flight and had such a difficult time.
Λυπάμαι να σας ενημερώσω ότι η αίτησή σας απορρίφθηκε.
lipáme na sas enimeróso óti i étisí sas aporífthike
I regret to inform you that your application was rejected. (formal)
The formal formula λυπάμαι να σας ενημερώσω does not assert that the informing has already happened; it frames the act the speaker is now performing. By contrast, λυπάμαι που… reacts to content treated as established. In everyday sympathy, λυπάμαι που is far more frequent; the να-frame is common in careful and official wording (formal).
Remembering and forgetting: information versus task
Memory verbs make the semantic shift especially transparent. An ότι-clause is remembered information; a να-clause is an action remembered or forgotten as a task. Που can introduce a vivid remembered scene (informal/neutral).
Θυμάμαι ότι είχες αφήσει ένα δεύτερο κλειδί στη γειτόνισσα.
thimáme óti íches afísi éna dhéftero klidhí sti yitónisa
I remember that you had left a spare key with the neighbour.
Θυμήθηκα να κλειδώσω την αποθήκη πριν φύγω.
thimíthika na klidhóso tin apothíki prin fígho
I remembered to lock the storeroom before leaving.
Θυμάμαι που καθόμασταν εδώ τα καλοκαίρια και παίζαμε χαρτιά.
thimáme pu kathómastan edhó ta kalokéria ke pézame chartiá
I remember how we used to sit here in the summers and play cards.
Likewise, ξέχασα ότι είχα ραντεβού means the appointment slipped from memory, while ξέχασα να τηλεφωνήσω means the intended call was not performed.
Ξέχασα να τηλεφωνήσω στον υδραυλικό και τώρα δεν τον βρίσκω.
kséchasa na tilefoníso ston idhravlikó ke tóra dhen ton vrísko
I forgot to call the plumber, and now I can't reach him.
Common Mistakes
1. Combining an accusative perceiver frame with propositional ότι.
❌ Τον άκουσα ότι έκλεισε την πόρτα.
Incorrect—the expressed person belongs to a direct-perception frame, which uses που.
✅ Τον άκουσα που έκλεισε την πόρτα.
ton ákusa pu éklise tin pórta
I heard him close the door.
2. Stacking που and να after an emotion verb.
❌ Λυπάμαι που να σας πω ότι δεν υπάρχει άλλη θέση.
Incorrect—choose που for a factual cause or να for the act of telling; do not stack them.
✅ Λυπάμαι να σας πω ότι δεν υπάρχει άλλη θέση.
lipáme na sas po óti dhen ipárchi áli thési
I'm sorry to tell you that there is no other seat. (formal)
3. Treating a remembered task as a factual proposition.
❌ Θυμήθηκα ότι κλειδώσω το γραφείο πριν φύγω.
Incorrect—an action remembered as a task requires να + dependent verb.
✅ Θυμήθηκα να κλειδώσω το γραφείο πριν φύγω.
thimíthika na klidhóso to ghrafío prin fígho
I remembered to lock the office before I left.
Key Takeaways
- Matrix-verb class limits the available complementizers; selection is part of each predicate's syntax.
- Perception ότι/πως reports a conclusion; direct-perception που presents a witnessed fact, while να + imperfective views the perceived action as unfolding.
- Emotion που reacts to an established fact; emotion να evaluates an activity or prospect and can sound formal in formulas such as λυπάμαι να σας ενημερώσω.
- Memory ότι stores information, memory που evokes an episode, and memory να tracks whether a task was performed.
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Start learning Greek →Related Topics
- That-Clauses: ότι, πως, πουB1 — Choose factual ότι or πως after saying and thinking, and factive που after emotions or direct perception, while keeping ότι distinct from ό,τι ‘whatever.’
- να vs ότι/πως (that-Clauses)B1 — The core complementizer split — ότι and πως report something that IS the case, while να points at something wished-for, aimed-at, or merely possible — and how the same verb (λέω, ξέρω) can take either one with a change of meaning.
- να After Emotion and EvaluationB1 — Verbs and expressions of feeling and judgement — μου αρέσει να, φοβάμαι να, χαίρομαι, λυπάμαι, αξίζει, είναι κρίμα — take a να-clause for the event itself and που for an established fact that stirs the feeling; how to tell which one you need.
- The Clitic το for Clauses and 'It'B1 — Το ξέρω, Το κατάλαβα, Δεν το πιστεύω — the neuter clitic that stands for a whole idea rather than a thing, and that Greek supplies in places where English leaves the verb bare or says 'so'. Covers the το that anticipates a ότι- or να-clause, the trap of το ότι where το is the article instead, and the fact that Greek has no subject 'it' for το to be confused with.