Softening Commands | Greek Grammar

A bare imperative is not rude in Greek. Greeks give direct commands — Δώσε μου, Πες μου, Έλα — far more comfortably than English speakers do, and among family and friends the plain imperative is completely normal, not brusque. But to a stranger, a shopkeeper, an official, or anyone you would address with the formal plural, a bare Δώσε μου can land as abrupt. Greek has a whole ladder of softeners to climb, and this page walks up it rung by rung.

The register ladder

Here is one request — "open the door for me" — at rising levels of politeness. Everything above the first line avoids the bare imperative entirely.

Greek	Register	English feel
Άνοιξέ μου την πόρτα.	bare imperative — intimate	Open the door for me.
Μου ανοίγεις την πόρτα;	question — casual polite	Will you get the door?
Μπορείς να μου ανοίξεις την πόρτα;	can-you — neutral	Can you open the door for me?
Μήπως μπορείτε να μου ανοίξετε την πόρτα;	μήπως + plural — polite	Could you possibly open the door?
Θα μπορούσατε να μου ανοίξετε την πόρτα;	conditional + plural — formal	Would you be able to open the door?

Notice that every step keeps the same core request and just wraps it in more distance. That is the whole art of it. Let us take the main rungs one at a time.

Turn the command into a question

The simplest softener: don't order, ask. A plain present-tense question — "Do you pass me…?" — functions as a polite request, exactly like English "Will you…?" The pronoun stays in front of the verb, because a question is not a positive imperative (see the flip on clitics with the imperative).

Μου δίνεις το αλάτι, σε παρακαλώ;

mu dhínis to aláti, se parakaló

Could you pass me the salt, please?

Μου κρατάς λίγο την τσάντα;

mu kratás lígho tin tsánda

Would you hold my bag for a second?

Περνάς μια στιγμή από το γραφείο μου;

pernás mia stighmí apó to ghrafío mu

Could you drop by my office for a moment?

Μπορείς / μπορείτε να — "can you"

Adding μπορείς να (can you, singular) or μπορείτε να (plural / polite) makes the request explicit and a notch more courteous. The verb after μπορώ is always a να-subjunctive.

Μπορείς να μου κλείσεις το παράθυρο;

borís na mu klísis to paráthiro

Can you close the window for me?

Μπορείτε να μιλήσετε λίγο πιο σιγά;

boríte na milísete lígho pio sighá

Could you speak a little more slowly?

Climb to the conditional for real politeness

The most polite rung is the conditional θα μπορούσες / θα μπορούσατε ("could you") and θα ήθελα ("I would like"). This is the register of a formal request, a shop, an email to someone you don't know. The full paradigm is on the conditional-politeness page.

Θα μπορούσατε να με βοηθήσετε με τις βαλίτσες;

tha borúsate na me voithísete me tis valítses

Could you help me with the suitcases?

Θα ήθελα ένα ποτήρι κρασί, παρακαλώ.

tha íthela éna potíri krasí, parakaló

I'd like a glass of wine, please.

The imperfect that isn't about the past

One quietly brilliant softener: the imperfect of θέλω. Ήθελα literally means "I wanted," but Greeks use it for a present wish — "I'd like" — precisely because pushing the desire into the past makes it feel less imposing, less of a demand on you right now. This politeness use of the imperfect is covered on its own page.

Ήθελα να ρωτήσω κάτι για το δρομολόγιο.

íthela na rotíso káti ya to dhromolóyio

I wanted to ask something about the schedule.

Ήθελα να δω αυτό το παλτό στη βιτρίνα.

íthela na dho aftó to paltó sti vitrína

I'd like to see that coat in the window.

Μήπως — "by any chance"

The particle μήπως at the front of a request adds a tentative "would you happen to… / could you possibly…" It leaves the other person an easy exit, which is the essence of politeness. Pair it with a question, with μπορείς, or with a plain present.

Μήπως έχετε ψιλά για τα εισιτήρια;

mípos échete psilá ya ta isitíria

Do you happen to have change for the tickets?

Μήπως μπορείς να με πάρεις τηλέφωνο αργότερα;

mípos borís na me páris tiléfono arghótera

Could you possibly call me later?

The plural is already polite — and παρακαλώ tops it off

Because the plural verb is the formal way to address one person, a 2nd-plural imperative is inherently gentler than the singular: Περάστε (come in), Καθίστε (have a seat) are perfectly courteous even to a single guest — the plural does the softening by itself. Add σε / σας παρακαλώ ("please") and you are fully polite without any extra machinery.

Περάστε, σας περιμέναμε.

peráste, sas periméname

Come in, we were expecting you.

Καθίστε, παρακαλώ, έρχεται αμέσως.

kathíste, parakaló, érchete amésos

Please have a seat, he'll be right with you.

Σας παρακαλώ, κλείστε τα κινητά σας.

sas parakaló, klíste ta kinitá sas

Please turn off your phones.

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παρακαλώ pulls triple duty: "please" (attached to a request), "you're welcome" (answering ευχαριστώ), and "go ahead / after you" (waving someone through a door). The same word both softens a request and graciously grants one — context tells you which.

💡

For a stranger, the safest default is the plural everything: plural imperative (Περάστε) or plural question (Μου δίνετε…;). Dropping into the singular imperative with someone you have just met is the single clearest way to sound too familiar — it is a register slip, not a grammar mistake, but a native ear notices it instantly.

A note for English speakers

English hedges commands heavily — "would you mind…," "if you could just…," "sorry to bother you, but…" — and it feels wrong to hand someone a bare "Give me the salt." Greek is more tolerant: the bare imperative plus σε παρακαλώ (Δώσε μου το αλάτι, σε παρακαλώ) is completely acceptable at a family table or among colleagues, and over-hedging can even sound stiff. So calibrate: keep the bare imperative for intimates, reach for the question and μπορείς with acquaintances, and save the full conditional Θα μπορούσατε… for strangers and formal settings. Do not carpet every request with softeners the way English does.

Common Mistakes

1. Putting the pronoun after the verb in a request-question. A question is not a positive imperative, so the pronoun stays in front.

❌ Δίνεις μου το νερό;

Incorrect — in a question the pronoun precedes the verb, as in Μου δίνεις το νερό.

✅ Μου δίνεις το νερό;

mu dhínis to neró

Will you pass me the water?

2. Dropping the να after μπορώ. μπορώ always takes a να-subjunctive.

❌ Μπορείς μου φέρεις έναν καφέ;

Incorrect — μπορώ requires να, as in Μπορείς να μου φέρεις έναν καφέ.

✅ Μπορείς να μου φέρεις έναν καφέ;

borís na mu féris énan kafé

Can you bring me a coffee?

3. Mixing the polite plural with a singular verb. If you start formal, stay formal — every verb in the request must be plural.

❌ Θα μπορούσατε να μου δώσεις τον λογαριασμό;

Incorrect — the polite plural must run through: …να μου δώσετε…

✅ Θα μπορούσατε να μου δώσετε τον λογαριασμό;

tha borúsate na mu dhósete ton logharyazmó

Could you give me the bill?

4. Using a singular imperative for more than one addressee. Several people means a plural imperative.

❌ Πέρασε μέσα, παιδιά.

Incorrect — more than one person needs the plural: Περάστε.

✅ Περάστε μέσα, παιδιά.

peráste mésa, pedhiá

Come inside, kids.

Key Takeaways

The bare imperative is fine among intimates; soften it for strangers, superiors, and formal settings.
Ask instead of order: a present-tense question (Μου δίνεις…;) is a ready-made polite request — and the pronoun stays in front.
Climb the ladder: μπορείς να → μήπως μπορείτε να → θα μπορούσατε να, from neutral to formal.
Ήθελα ("I wanted") is a present wish softened by the imperfect; θα ήθελα and σας παρακαλώ are staples of a polite request.
The plural imperative (Περάστε, Καθίστε) is already polite to one person — and staying consistently plural is part of the courtesy.

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