The following notice could appear in a municipal cultural center. It suppresses individual agents, foregrounds rules and facilities, and uses compact forms associated with institutional writing. Each line is grammatical current monotonic Greek; the register is formal, not a model for ordinary face-to-face requests.
The notice
ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟ ΚΟΙΝΟ
anakínosi pros to kinó
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
Απαγορεύεται το κάπνισμα σε κάθε εσωτερικό χώρο του κτιρίου.
apaghorévete to kápnizma se káthe esoterikó chóro tu ktiríu
Smoking is prohibited in every indoor area of the building.
Παρακαλείσθε να διατηρείτε ελεύθερη την έξοδο κινδύνου.
parakalísthe na dhiatiríte eléftheri tin éksodho kindhínu
You are requested to keep the emergency exit clear.
Η είσοδος επιτρέπεται μόνο σε εξουσιοδοτημένο προσωπικό.
i ísodhos epitrépete móno se eksusiodhotiméno prosopikó
Entry is permitted only to authorized personnel.
Τυχόν απολεσθέντα αντικείμενα παραδίδονται στη γραμματεία.
tichón apolesthénda antikímena paradhídhonde sti ghramatía
Any lost property is to be handed in at the administration office.
Η διεύθυνση δεν ευθύνεται για προσωπικά αντικείμενα.
i dhiéfthinsi dhen efthínete ya prosopiká antikímena
Management accepts no responsibility for personal belongings.
Ευχαριστούμε για την κατανόηση και τη συνεργασία σας.
efcharistúme ya tin katanóisi ke ti sinerghasía sas
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
The same content in everyday language
Official formulas are easier to understand when expanded into ordinary clauses. These paraphrases preserve the practical instruction but change the voice and social setting.
Μην καπνίζετε μέσα στο κτίριο.
min kapnízete mésa sto ktírio
Don't smoke inside the building. (plain instruction)
Κρατήστε ελεύθερη την έξοδο κινδύνου, παρακαλώ.
kratíste eléftheri tin éksodho kindhínu, parakaló
Please keep the emergency exit clear. (direct polite request)
Εδώ μπαίνει μόνο το προσωπικό που έχει άδεια.
edhó béni móno to prosopikó pu échi ádhia
Only staff who have permission may enter here. (everyday explanation)
Αν βρείτε κάτι χαμένο, δώστε το στη γραμματεία.
an vríte káti chaméno, dhóste to sti ghramatía
If you find something lost, hand it in at the administration office.
The paraphrases are not “better Greek.” They suit speech because a speaker can address a listener directly. The notice suits a wall because the institution states a standing rule without naming a speaker.
Agentless mediopassives foreground the rule
In απαγορεύεται το κάπνισμα, the forbidden activity το κάπνισμα is the grammatical subject. The authority doing the prohibiting is absent. Likewise η είσοδος επιτρέπεται makes entry the subject and omits whoever grants permission.
Δεν επιτρέπεται η στάθμευση μπροστά από την κεντρική πύλη.
dhen epitrépete i státhmefsi brostá apó tin kendrikí píli
Parking is not permitted in front of the main gate. (official notice)
These present mediopassive forms are productive and agree with their subjects. A plural subject triggers a plural verb:
Απαγορεύονται τα τρόφιμα και τα ποτά μέσα στην αίθουσα.
apaghorévonde ta trófima ke ta potá mésa stin éthusa
Food and drink are prohibited inside the hall. (official notice)
They are therefore not invariable stickers. Impersonal and agentless passives owns the full agreement system and the everyday subjectless-third-plural alternative.
Παρακαλείσθε: a preserved official form
Παρακαλείσθε is the learned/formal second-person plural mediopassive of παρακαλώ, literally “you are requested.” Its -σθε ending survives especially in printed notices, announcements, and official correspondence. The following action appears in a να-clause: να διατηρείτε.
Παρακαλείσθε να παραμείνετε στις θέσεις σας μέχρι νεότερης ειδοποίησης.
parakalísthe na paramínete stis thésis sas méchri neóteris idhopíisis
You are requested to remain in your seats until further notice. (formal announcement)
Current notices also show παρακαλείστε, influenced by ordinary demotic endings. It is common in real usage, but careful conservative printing preserves παρακαλείσθε in this inherited formula. In direct speech, choose παρακαλούμε να... or a polite imperative rather than imitating a public-address system.
Παρακαλούμε να κρατάτε την πόρτα κλειστή.
parakalúme na kratáte tin pórta klistí
Please keep the door closed. (clear current formal wording)
The broader contrast between functional current formality and heavy officialese belongs to legal and official style.
Learned participles compress relative clauses
Εξουσιοδοτημένο προσωπικό contains a result participle in -μένος: personnel who have been authorized. This participle is productive Modern Greek, not automatically a Katharevousa relic.
Απολεσθέντα, by contrast, is a learned aorist passive participle meaning “lost.” It agrees with neuter plural αντικείμενα and compresses an everyday relative clause such as αντικείμενα που έχουν χαθεί.
Τα απολεσθέντα έγγραφα φυλάσσονται στο γραφείο πληροφοριών.
ta apolesthénda éngrafa filásonde sto ghrafío pliroforión
The lost documents are kept at the information desk. (formal)
This form is natural inside the institutional phrase απολεσθέντα αντικείμενα, but conspicuous in casual conversation. Recognize the agreement and translate the phrase as a current relative clause. Katharevousa survivals maps the wider learned layer.
Τυχόν and institutional responsibility
Preposed τυχόν means “any that may exist/occur” in formal administrative prose. It keeps the reference open rather than claiming that something has already been lost. Everyday Greek can use αν βρείτε κάτι χαμένο instead.
Η διεύθυνση δεν ευθύνεται... names the institution but not an individual employee. Mediopassive-shaped ευθύνεται is lexical “is responsible,” not a passive event meaning “is made responsible.” The formula sets a responsibility boundary in the compact style of notices.
Η υπηρεσία δεν ευθύνεται για ζημιές που οφείλονται σε κακή χρήση.
i ipiresía dhen efthínete ya zimiés pu ofílonde se kakí chrísi
The service is not responsible for damage resulting from misuse. (formal)
Sign forms beyond this notice
The same agentless economy produces familiar labels:
Ενοικιάζεται επιπλωμένο διαμέρισμα κοντά στο πανεπιστήμιο.
enikiázete epiploméno dhiamérizma kondá sto panepistímio
Furnished flat to let near the university. (classified notice)
Ζητούνται δύο υπάλληλοι για απογευματινή απασχόληση.
zitúnde dhío ipálili ya apoyevmatiní apaschólisi
Two employees wanted for afternoon work. (job notice)
The singular/plural contrast again shows agreement: ενοικιάζεται διαμέρισμα, but ζητούνται υπάλληλοι.
Common Mistakes
Treating a sign form as invariable
❌ Ενοικιάζεται δύο μικρά γραφεία.
Incorrect—the plural subject requires ενοικιάζονται.
✅ Ενοικιάζονται δύο μικρά γραφεία στο κέντρο της πόλης.
enikiázonde dhío mikrá ghrafía sto kéndro tis pólis
Two small offices to let in the city center.
Mixing the inherited and current request frames
✅ Παρακαλείσθε όπως προσκομίσετε τα απαραίτητα έγγραφα.
parakalísthe ópos proskomísete ta aparétita éngrafa
You are requested to provide the necessary documents. (inherited administrative formula)
✅ Παρακαλούμε να προσκομίσετε τα απαραίτητα έγγραφα στη γραμματεία.
parakalúme na proskomísete ta aparétita éngrafa sti ghramatía
Please provide the necessary documents to the administration office.
The conservative formula selects όπως + finite verb; clear current prose normally uses παρακαλούμε να. Keep the two frames distinct when writing an official notice rather than mechanically stacking their complementizers.
Reading απολεσθέντα as singular
❌ Το απολεσθέντα αντικείμενο φυλάσσεται εδώ.
Incorrect—singular αντικείμενο requires απολεσθέν.
✅ Το απολεσθέν αντικείμενο φυλάσσεται στο γραφείο ασφαλείας.
to apolesthén antikímeno filásete sto ghrafío asfalías
The lost item is kept at the security office. (formal)
Key Takeaways
- Official notices foreground rules and affected items while suppressing individual agents.
- Απαγορεύεται/επιτρέπεται agree with the forbidden or permitted subject.
- Παρακαλείσθε να... preserves a learned -σθε form; direct speech prefers παρακαλούμε να or an imperative.
- Productive εξουσιοδοτημένο and learned απολεσθέντα are both participles, but they have different historical and register profiles.
- Formal τυχόν keeps a possible item open; everyday speech can expand it into an αν-clause.
- Sign forms such as Ενοικιάζεται/Ζητούνται agree in number and are not frozen invariable labels.
Related Topics
- Impersonal and Agentless PassivesB2 — The two routes Greek uses to keep the doer out of the sentence: mediopassive forms in signs, notices and reports — including completed agentless events such as Ανακοινώθηκε and Δόθηκε — and the everyday subjectless third-person plural (Μου έκλεψαν το πορτοφόλι, Λένε ότι…).
- Legal and Official LanguageC1 — Decode the learned participles, inherited prepositions, passives, and fixed formulas of Greek laws, forms, contracts, and notices.
- Katharevousa SurvivalsC1 — Recognize the frozen datives, learned participles, prepositions, genitives, and official formulas that survive in formal Modern Greek.