Greek impersonal expressions do not all have the same syntax. Some are complete with one verb, some point toward an action with να, some evaluate an established fact with που, and others present a conclusion with ότι/πως. This page maps those frames. The absence of English-style dummy it is explained on impersonal subjects, while the individual verbs belong to the impersonal-verb inventory.
The frame map
| Frame | Complement | What it presents |
|---|---|---|
| Βρέχει. | none | weather or an ambient event |
| Πρέπει / μπορεί / χρειάζεται / αξίζει να… | να + conjugated verb | obligation, possibility, need, or value |
| Είναι δύσκολο / εύκολο / σημαντικό να… | να + conjugated verb | an evaluation of an envisaged action |
| Είναι κρίμα / καλό που… | που + indicative | an evaluation of an established event |
| Φαίνεται ότι / πως… | ότι/πως + proposition | an inference or apparent fact |
| Μου αρέσει / Με νοιάζει… | noun phrase or clause | a stimulus evaluated by an experiencer |
The useful generalization is not “impersonal means third-person singular.” It is that the main predicate determines the shape of what follows. English often hides that selection behind it is plus an infinitive or that-clause; Greek makes the relation visible.
Bare predicates and modal να-frames
A weather predicate needs no following clause. It reports the ambient event directly. Its tenses and aspect belong to the verb page, not to this frame map.
Βρέχει από νωρίς, οπότε θα πάρουμε ταξί.
vréchi apó norís, opóte tha párume taksí
It's been raining since early on, so we'll take a taxi.
Modal impersonals instead open a slot for the action whose necessity, possibility, or value is being judged. That action appears as να + a conjugated verb; the verb ending identifies its participant.
Πρέπει να στείλουμε την αίτηση μέχρι αύριο.
prépi na stílume tin étisi méchri ávrio
We have to send the application by tomorrow.
Μπορεί να αργήσω λίγο επειδή έχει κίνηση.
borí na aryíso lígho epidhí échi kínisi
I may be a little late because there's traffic.
Αξίζει να δοκιμάσεις το μικρό εστιατόριο δίπλα στην πλατεία.
aksízi na dhokimásis to mikró estiatório dhípla stin platía
It's worth trying the little restaurant beside the square.
The matrix predicate remains third-person singular, while person and number change inside the complement: Πρέπει να φύγω / να φύγεις / να φύγουμε. English may move that person into the main subject (I need to leave); Greek keeps it in the dependent verb.
Evaluations: να for an action, που for a fact
Evaluative είναι + adjective/noun frames reveal a semantic contrast. Να points to an action considered as possible, necessary, or difficult. Που reacts to an event treated as already real.
Είναι δύσκολο να βρεις ήσυχο σπίτι στο κέντρο.
íne dhískolo na vris ísicho spíti sto kéndro
It's difficult to find a quiet home in the centre.
Είναι κρίμα που χάσατε το τελευταίο μέρος της παράστασης.
íne kríma pu chásate to teleftéo méros tis parástasis
It's a shame you missed the last part of the performance.
The contrast is clearest when both versions are grammatical. Είναι κρίμα που έφυγε regrets an actual departure; είναι κρίμα να φύγει τώρα evaluates a possible departure as regrettable. The complementizer locates the event in the discourse: established fact versus envisaged action.
Inference: ότι or πως
Predicates such as φαίνεται and αποδεικνύεται can present a whole proposition as the apparent or demonstrated conclusion. In this propositional frame Greek uses ότι or unaccented πως, because the content is packaged as information. This is not a general ban on φαίνεται να: Ο Μάνος φαίνεται να είναι κουρασμένος “Manos seems to be tired” is a different, personal frame whose overt subject is understood with the να-clause.
Φαίνεται ότι η συνάντηση ακυρώθηκε την τελευταία στιγμή.
fénete óti i sinándisi akiróthike tin teleftéa stighmí
It appears that the meeting was cancelled at the last moment.
Αποδεικνύεται πως το πρόβλημα ήταν πιο σοβαρό απ' όσο νομίζαμε.
apodhikníete pos to próvlima ítan pio sovaró ap' óso nomízame
It turns out that the problem was more serious than we thought. (formal)
Both frames are common in careful writing; αποδεικνύεται πως/ότι is especially frequent in formal and academic argument. For the wider factual complementizer system, see ότι, πως, and που.
Experiencer frames are not truly subjectless
Μου αρέσει and με νοιάζει look impersonal from an English viewpoint, but the stimulus is their grammatical subject: a noun or a whole clause. The experiencer appears as a clitic, and the detailed agreement pattern belongs to experiencer clitics.
Μου αρέσει που μιλάς ανοιχτά για όσα σε ενοχλούν.
mu arési pu milás anichtá ya ósa se enochlún
I like the fact that you speak openly about what bothers you.
Μου αρέσει να περπατάω στην παραλία νωρίς το πρωί.
mu arési na perpatáo stin paralía norís to proí
I like walking along the beach early in the morning.
Here που reacts to the established fact that you speak openly, while να presents walking as an activity or preference. With a question complement, the content itself supplies the stimulus:
Με νοιάζει τι θα γίνει με τους εργαζομένους.
me niázi ti tha yíni me tus erghazoménus
I care what will happen to the employees.
Greek also uses a bare third-person plural for unnamed agents. The separate impersonal-subject page illustrates that pattern with Χτυπάνε την πόρτα; Λένε ότι… selects an ότι-clause in the same way as ordinary “say.”
Common Mistakes
1. Copying the gender of a noun buried inside a clausal subject. The noun θέση is feminine, but the whole το να… clause takes neuter-singular δύσκολο.
✅ Το να βρεις θέση τέτοια ώρα είναι δύσκολο.
to na vris thési tétia óra íne dhískolo
Finding a seat at this time is difficult.
2. Selecting a factual complement after an impersonal modal.
❌ Μπορεί ότι θα αργήσουμε λόγω της κακοκαιρίας.
Incorrect—impersonal μπορεί selects a να-clause for possibility.
✅ Μπορεί να αργήσουμε λόγω της κακοκαιρίας.
borí na aryísume lógho tis kakokerías
We may be delayed because of the bad weather.
3. Using plural agreement with a clausal subject.
❌ Μου αρέσουν να μαγειρεύω για φίλους.
Incorrect—a whole να-clause counts as a singular stimulus, so the verb is αρέσει.
✅ Μου αρέσει να μαγειρεύω για φίλους.
mu arési na mayirévo ya fílus
I like cooking for friends.
Key Takeaways
- Bare weather predicates need no complement; modal πρέπει / μπορεί / χρειάζεται / αξίζει frames take να.
- Evaluatives use να for an envisaged action but που for an established event.
- Φαίνεται / αποδεικνύεται ότι/πως package their complement as information or inference.
- Experiencer frames have a stimulus subject, which can itself be a noun, a που-clause, a να-clause, or an interrogative clause.
Related Topics
- Impersonal and Weather VerbsB1 — The inventory of Greek verbs that live in the third person singular with nobody behind them: βρέχει, χιονίζει, φυσάει, αστράφτει, νυχτώνει, ξημερώνει, plus πρόκειται να, συμβαίνει and τυχαίνει. Includes their two pasts (έβρεχε against έβρεξε), the subjects that do turn up when there is one to name (Φυσάει βοριάς), and the personal lives these same verbs lead elsewhere (Φύσα τη σούπα, Βράχηκα).
- Experiencer Clitics: μου αρέσειA2 — Μου αρέσουν τα λουλούδια is 'the flowers please me' — the thing is the subject and the person is a genitive clitic. The whole αρέσει / λείπει / φαίνεται / πάει family, why μου λείπεις inverts twice, the three ways to say your head hurts, and the sister family (με νοιάζει, σε πειράζει) that takes the accusative instead.
- Impersonal and Dummy SubjectsB1 — English has two subjects that mean nothing — it and there — and Greek has neither, which produces two separate transfer errors with two separate fixes. 'It' corresponds to nothing at all (Βρέχει, Κάνει κρύο, Είναι κρίμα που…), while 'there is' is the real verb υπάρχει, which agrees, or the everyday έχει, which does not. Plus the neuter-singular adjective in Είναι δύσκολο να… and when αυτό genuinely is allowed.