This is a construction page, not an ordinary verb page. Impersonal πρόκειται has only present πρόκειται and past επρόκειτο. What follows it decides between two meanings: να + verb points to an expected or arranged future, while για + noun identifies what something is about.
Πρόκειται να ανακοινωθούν τα αποτελέσματα αύριο.
prókite na anakinothún ta apotelézmata ávrio
The results are due to be announced tomorrow. (formal)
Πρόκειται για μια απλή παρεξήγηση.
prókite ya mia aplí pareksíghisi
It's a simple misunderstanding.
The complete inventory
| Slot | Form or status |
|---|---|
| Present | πρόκειται, third-person singular only |
| Past | επρόκειτο, third-person singular only |
| 1st / 2nd person and plural | Does not exist in these constructions |
| Aorist / perfect | Does not exist |
| Imperative | Does not exist |
| -μένος perfect participle | Does not exist |
The person belongs to the verb after να: Πρόκειται να φύγω / φύγεις / φύγουν. English allows I am going to, but Greek does not conjugate πρόκειται to match I.
This explains why the construction is called impersonal: Greek supplies no dummy subject comparable to English it in it is about a mistake. The verb simply remains singular while the complement carries the content. See impersonal constructions for the larger pattern.
Πρόκειται να παντρευτούν τον Μάιο.
prókite na pandreftún ton Máio
They're going to get married in May. (announced or arranged)
επρόκειτο να often suggests a plan that was not carried out, especially when an αλλά clause cancels it. That is a contextual implication, not a counterfactual tense built into the form: it can also report a past schedule without saying what ultimately happened.
Επρόκειτο να φύγουμε το πρωί, αλλά ακυρώθηκε η πτήση.
eprókito na fíghume to proí, alá akiróthike i ptísi
We were going to leave in the morning, but the flight was cancelled.
In conversation, plain θα is normally enough. Colloquial είναι να can mean “is expected/supposed to,” especially with arrivals.
Είναι να έρθει αύριο, αλλά δεν ξέρω τι ώρα.
íne na érthi ávrio, alá dhen kséro ti óra
He's supposed to come tomorrow, but I don't know what time. (informal)
Government
Use πρόκειται να + dependent verb or πρόκειται για + accusative. The frames are not interchangeable, and για never governs a genitive here.
Δεν πρόκειται να ξανασυμβεί, το υποσχέθηκα.
dhen prókite na ksanasimví, to iposchéthika
It isn't going to happen again; I promised.
Περί τίνος πρόκειται; Δεν έχω διαβάσει τον φάκελο.
perí tínos prókite; dhen écho dhiavási ton fákelo
What is this about? I haven't read the file. (formal)
Frozen participial survivors
Do not broaden “no -μένος participle” into “no participle.” προκείμενος, -η, -ο survives as a learned adjective, while προκειμένου να “in order to,” εν προκειμένω “in this matter,” and στην προκειμένη περίπτωση “in the case at hand” are fixed (formal) expressions, not cells of the live πρόκειται paradigm. Their older case shapes are explained under fossilized dative expressions and absolute constructions.
Προκειμένου να αποφύγουμε καθυστερήσεις, στείλτε τα έγγραφα σήμερα.
prokiménu na apofívume kathisterísis, stílte ta éngrafa símera
In order to avoid delays, send the documents today. (formal)
Στην προκειμένη περίπτωση χρειάζεται νέα αίτηση.
stin prokiméni períptosi chriázete néa étisi
In the case at hand, a new application is required. (formal)
Set phrases
Δεν πρόκειται! “No chance!” (informal, emphatic); δεν πρόκειται να ξαναγίνει “it will not happen again”; περί τίνος πρόκειται; “what is this about?” (formal); πρόκειται για λάθος “it is a mistake.”
Common Mistakes
❌ Πρόκειται ότι θα κλείσει το κατάστημα.
Incorrect — the future frame is πρόκειται να + dependent verb, not ότι.
✅ Πρόκειται να κλείσει το κατάστημα.
prókite na klísi to katástima
The shop is due to close. (formal)
Key Takeaways
- The complete impersonal inventory is πρόκειται / επρόκειτο.
- πρόκειται να + verb marks an expected or arranged future; πρόκειται για + accusative identifies a topic or case.
- προκειμένου να, εν προκειμένω, στην προκειμένη περίπτωση are frozen learned survivors, not evidence for a productive participial paradigm.
Related Topics
- συμβαίνει (to happen)B2 — The third-person-only event verb συμβαίνει, including συνέβη, diagnostic questions, the συμβαίνει να frame, and its genuinely missing person and voice forms.
- πρέπει (must/have to)A2 — A defective-form inventory for impersonal πρέπει, kept distinct from the third-person verb πρέπω and its surviving formal active participle πρέπων.
- Impersonal πρέπει / μπορεί ναB1 — The two invariable modal frames — πρέπει να for obligation ('must / have to') and μπορεί να for possibility ('may / might') — where the modal never changes and the person is carried by the να-verb, plus their pasts έπρεπε να and μπορεί να + past.
- Impersonal ConstructionsB1 — Map Greek impersonal frames by the complement they select: bare weather predicates, modal and evaluative να-clauses, factual που-clauses, and propositional ότι/πως-clauses.
- Fossilized Dative ExpressionsC1 — The ancient dative endings still embedded in modern Greek phrases — εν ολίγοις, εν μέρει, εν γνώσει, τω όντι, εν προκειμένω and the whole εν-family — how to recognise a fossil by its ending, what register each one belongs to, and why you must never build a new one.
- Principal Parts: Complete IndexA2 — A consolidated index of the principal parts of 151 frequent Modern Greek verbs, including defective and register-limited paradigms.