This proverb warns that haste increases the risk of an error or setback. The established two-part wording is:
Όποιος βιάζεται σκοντάφτει.
ópios viázete skondáfti
Whoever hurries, stumbles. / Haste makes waste.
Official educational material and common citation write the proverb without an internal comma. An editor may add a rhetorical comma to suggest its two-beat delivery, but the punctuation is not structurally required and the proverb takes no overt conjunction meaning “then.”
Meaning rather than literal prediction
Σκοντάφτει literally means “stumbles,” but the proverb readily applies to paperwork, decisions, repairs, negotiations, or any task in which rushing causes mistakes. It expresses a tendency, not a universal promise that every hurried person physically trips.
Έλεγξε ξανά τα στοιχεία· όποιος βιάζεται σκοντάφτει.
élenkse ksaná ta stichía; ópios viázete skondáfti
Check the details again; haste makes waste.
Υπέγραψε χωρίς να διαβάσει τη σύμβαση και τώρα τρέχει· όποιος βιάζεται σκοντάφτει.
ipéghrapse chorís na dhiavási ti símvasi ke tóra tréchi; ópios viázete skondáfti
He signed without reading the contract and now he's scrambling—haste makes waste.
The warning may be sympathetic, self-critical, or reproachful. Like many proverbs, it compresses an observation into a memorable general rule.
Όποιος is a free relative
Όποιος means “whoever/anyone who.” It needs no expressed antecedent such as ο άνθρωπος. The entire clause όποιος βιάζεται behaves as a noun phrase and serves as the subject of σκοντάφτει.
The structure is:
| Free-relative subject | Main predicate |
|---|---|
| Όποιος βιάζεται whoever hurries | σκοντάφτει stumbles |
Όποιος ρωτάει, μαθαίνει πιο γρήγορα.
ópios rotái, mathéni pio ghríghora
Whoever asks questions learns faster.
Όποιος βρει τα κλειδιά, ας μου τηλεφωνήσει.
ópios vri ta klidhiá, as mu tilefonísi
Whoever finds the keys should call me.
In the second sentence, όποιος still supplies a generic unknown person, while perfective βρει is licensed inside the forward-looking free relative. The proverb uses present βιάζεται because it states a general correlation.
The paradigm can agree with the intended referent:
Όποια τελειώσει πρώτη, κλείνει τα φώτα.
ópia teliósi próti, klíni ta fóta
Whichever woman finishes first turns off the lights.
Όποιοι βιάζονται συχνά παραλείπουν σημαντικές λεπτομέρειες.
ópii viázonde sichná paralípun simandikés leptoméries
People who rush often omit important details.
These forms do not point back to an antecedent. That is the defining difference between a free relative and ο οποίος, which ordinarily relates to a noun already mentioned.
Why όποιος is masculine singular
The proverb gives its unknown human participant the traditional generic masculine singular. This grammatical choice does not assert that the advice concerns only men. In a context with an explicitly female or plural group, Greek can use όποια or όποιοι/όποιες, as the examples above show.
An inclusive everyday paraphrase can avoid a gendered free-relative form altogether:
Όταν βιαζόμαστε, κάνουμε πιο εύκολα λάθη.
ótan viazómaste, kánume pio éfkola láthi
When we rush, we make mistakes more easily.
The paraphrase states the same practical lesson but loses the compact proverbial rhythm.
Βιάζομαι has active meaning in a mediopassive form
Βιάζομαι means “hurry/be in a hurry.” Its present ends in -ομαι and conjugates with mediopassive endings: βιάζομαι, βιάζεσαι, βιάζεται, βιαζόμαστε, βιάζεστε, βιάζονται. In this lexical meaning, the subject is the person doing the hurrying; βιάζεται does not mean “is hurried by someone.”
Μη βιάζεσαι, έχουμε αρκετό χρόνο.
mi viázese, échume arketó chróno
Don't rush; we have enough time. (familiar singular)
Βιαζόμαστε να φύγουμε πριν αρχίσει η κίνηση.
viazómaste na fíghume prin archísi i kínisi
We're hurrying to leave before the traffic starts.
An active verb βιάζω also exists, but it has a different transitive meaning, “force/coerce,” including very serious uses. It is not the active-form equivalent of “I hurry.” For “hurry,” learn the lexical mediopassive βιάζομαι as a whole. The wider class belongs to deponent and lexical mediopassive verbs.
Σκοντάφτει and the gnomic present
Both verbs are in the present: βιάζεται, σκοντάφτει. The present here is gnomic—it presents a general truth or recurring tendency, not an event unfolding at the moment of speaking.
Το νερό παγώνει όταν η θερμοκρασία πέφτει αρκετά.
to neró paghóni ótan i thermokrasía péfti arketá
Water freezes when the temperature falls sufficiently. (general truth)
Ο καλός σχεδιασμός γλιτώνει χρόνο αργότερα.
o kalós schedhiazmós ghlitóni chróno arghótera
Good planning saves time later. (general principle)
Greek uses the same present morphology for an action happening now, a habit, and a general truth. The proverb and world knowledge select the gnomic reading. See uses of the present for the full contrast.
No future marker is needed
English may paraphrase the lesson as “If someone rushes, they will make mistakes.” Greek does not need θα in the proverb because it presents the link as timeless rather than as one future prediction.
A future sentence is possible when a speaker predicts one particular result:
Αν βιαστείς τώρα, θα κάνεις λάθος στον υπολογισμό.
an viastís tóra, tha kánis láthos ston ipologhizmó
If you rush now, you'll make a mistake in the calculation. (specific prediction)
That sentence is grammatical but no longer the gnomic proverb: the perfective condition and θα locate a particular prospective event.
Punctuation and capitalization
As a standalone quotation, write Όποιος with a capital. The established citation needs no internal comma; an editorial comma after βιάζεται can mark a deliberate rhetorical pause. Embedded after an introduction, lowercase is normal:
Η γιαγιά μου έλεγε πάντα ότι όποιος βιάζεται σκοντάφτει.
i yayá mu éleye pánda óti ópios viázete skondáfti
My grandmother always used to say that haste makes waste.
With or without an editorial pause, singular generic όποιος selects singular σκοντάφτει.
Common Mistakes
Confusing όποιος with οποίος
❌ Οποίος βιάζεται σκοντάφτει.
Incorrect without an antecedent and article—the free relative is όποιος.
✅ Όποιος βιάζεται στη δουλειά κάνει συχνότερα λάθη.
ópios viázete sti dhuliá káni sichnótera láthi
Anyone who rushes at work makes mistakes more often.
Inventing an active hurry construction
❌ Βιάζω να προλάβω το λεωφορείο κάθε πρωί.
Incorrect for 'I hurry'—use mediopassive βιάζομαι; active βιάζω has another transitive meaning.
✅ Βιάζομαι να προλάβω το πρώτο λεωφορείο κάθε πρωί.
viázome na prolávo to próto leoforío káthe proí
I hurry to catch the first bus every morning.
Reading the present only as “right now”
✅ Όποιος μιλάει καθαρά, γίνεται πιο εύκολα κατανοητός.
ópios milái kathará, yínete pio éfkola katanoitós
Anyone who speaks clearly is understood more easily. (gnomic present)
Key Takeaways
- The established citation is Όποιος βιάζεται σκοντάφτει, normally without an internal comma; an editorial rhetorical comma is possible.
- Όποιος βιάζεται is a free-relative clause functioning as the entire subject of σκοντάφτει.
- Generic masculine singular gives an unrestricted human reading in the proverb; other contexts can use όποια, όποιοι, όποιες.
- Βιάζομαι has active “hurry” meaning in mediopassive morphology; active βιάζω is a different transitive verb.
- Both verbs are gnomic presents expressing a general tendency, not necessarily actions happening now.
- A future conditional can express one prediction, but it is no longer the timeless proverb.
Related Topics
- Free Relatives: όποιος, ό,τι, όσος, όπουB2 — Relatives with the antecedent built in — Όποιος θέλει, ας έρθει; Πάρε ό,τι θέλεις; Όσοι ήρθαν; Όπου πας. Covers the declinable όποιος and όσος, the adverbial όπου, όποτε and όπως, the -δήποτε reinforced series, the concessive όποιος κι αν, and the one spelling that trips up natives as well as learners: ό,τι ('whatever') against ότι ('that'), two words pronounced identically and separated only by a comma.
- Deponent Verbs (-ομαι only)B1 — Verbs with no corresponding active present but an active meaning — έρχομαι (come), κάθομαι (sit), γίνομαι (become), θυμάμαι (remember), φοβάμαι (fear), σκέφτομαι (think), εργάζομαι (work) — their mediopassive present and imperfect, and their unpredictable active-type or mediopassive-type perfective forms.
- Using the Present TenseA1 — What the Greek present actually does — right-now action, habits, general truths, situations that started in the past and still hold, scheduled near-future, and vivid narration — all from one form, because Greek has no separate progressive and no perfective present.