Questions & Answers about Όλοι ρωτάνε πώς γράφεται το όνομά μου.
Why is the verb passive in πώς γράφεται instead of active like πώς γράφουν?
Greek uses the passive voice with γράφεται to mean “is spelled/ is written (orthographically).” The subject is the word or name itself: το όνομά μου γράφεται…. If you use the active, e.g., Πώς γράφεις το όνομά σου;, you’re asking a person “How do you write your name?” (i.e., what letters do you use), not “How is it spelled” in general.
What’s the difference between πώς and πως?
- πώς (with accent) = “how.” It introduces questions, including indirect ones: ρωτάνε πώς γράφεται…
- πως (no accent) = “that,” a conjunction similar to ότι: είπε πως θα έρθει = “he said that he will come.”
They sound the same; the accent distinguishes them in writing.
Why does το όνομά μου have two accent marks in one word (on ό and ά)?
Because μου is an enclitic. When a proparoxytone word (accent on the antepenultimate), like όνομα, is followed by an enclitic (e.g., μου, σου), it gets an extra accent on the last syllable: το όνομά μου. This is a standard rule of the monotonic system.
Compare:
- το όνομα (no enclitic)
- το όνομά μου (extra accent added)
With paroxytone words (accent on the penultimate), no extra accent is added: το σπίτι μου (not “σπίτί”).