Breakdown of Σου προτείνω να αναπνέεις βαθιά πριν από τη συνάντηση.
Questions & Answers about Σου προτείνω να αναπνέεις βαθιά πριν από τη συνάντηση.
Very literally, it is:
- Σου προτείνω = To you I suggest / I propose to you
- να αναπνέεις βαθιά = that you breathe deeply
- πριν από τη συνάντηση = before the meeting
So a close literal version would be:
“To you I suggest that you breathe deeply before the meeting.”
Natural English would be:
“I suggest (that) you breathe deeply before the meeting.”
Greek explicitly marks “to you” with σου, and uses να + verb where English uses that + clause or just a bare verb (I suggest you breathe…).
σου is the weak (clitic) pronoun meaning “to you / for you” (2nd person singular). Historically it is a genitive form, but in Modern Greek it often plays the role of an indirect object, similar to an old dative:
- Σου προτείνω… = I suggest to you …
Clitic pronouns like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους usually go right before the main verb in a simple positive sentence:
- Σου προτείνω… – I suggest to you…
- Μου γράφεις; – Are you writing to me?
So its position before the verb is the normal, unmarked order in Modern Greek.
No, «Σε προτείνω» is not correct with this meaning.
- σε is normally a direct object pronoun (I recommend you (as a person) for a job, I choose you, etc.).
- σου is the indirect object (“to you”, “for you”), which is what we need after προτείνω = I suggest (something) to someone.
Correct patterns are:
- Σου προτείνω να αναπνέεις βαθιά.
I suggest you breathe deeply.
If you really want to avoid the clitic, you could say, more explicitly and a bit more heavily:
- Προτείνω σε εσένα να αναπνέεις βαθιά.
I suggest to you that you breathe deeply.
But Σου προτείνω… is by far the most natural.
να is not “to” in the English infinitive sense. It is a subjunctive particle.
Modern Greek has no infinitive (no direct equivalent of to breathe, to eat, etc.). Instead, it uses να + subjunctive to express:
- wishes: Να είσαι καλά. – May you be well.
- purpose: Πήγα να σε δω. – I went to see you.
- suggestions/requests: Σου προτείνω να αναπνέεις βαθιά. – I suggest you breathe deeply.
So να αναπνέεις is a subordinate clause in the subjunctive, roughly equivalent to English that you breathe or to breathe depending on the context.
Formally, αναπνέεις is the 2nd person singular present form of αναπνέω (to breathe).
In Modern Greek, the present indicative and the present subjunctive often look identical. What makes it subjunctive here is not the form itself but the particle «να»:
- (εσύ) αναπνέεις – you breathe / you are breathing (indicative, main clause)
- να αναπνέεις – that you (should) breathe (subjunctive, after να)
So in Σου προτείνω να αναπνέεις βαθιά, αναπνέεις is present subjunctive, even though it looks like the present indicative.
This is an important aspect difference:
να αναπνέεις – present subjunctive
- Focus on an ongoing or repeated action (to be breathing deeply, to habitually breathe deeply).
- Here, it can suggest “breathe deeply (keep your breathing deep) before the meeting” or “make it a practice to breathe deeply before meetings.”
να αναπνεύσεις – aorist subjunctive
- Focus on a single, complete action (to take a deep breath / to breathe deeply once or as a single act).
- Σου προτείνω να αναπνεύσεις βαθιά πριν από τη συνάντηση.
≈ I suggest (that) you take a deep breath before the meeting.
So:
- να αναπνέεις = ongoing / repeated deep breathing
- να αναπνεύσεις = one (or one set of) deep breath(s)
In English we usually say simply “breathe deeply” or “take a deep breath”, so Greek aspect is more fine‑grained here than English.
αναπνέεις is pronounced approximately:
- [a‑na‑PNEES], more accurately [a.naˈpnis].
Details:
- ανα‑ = a‑na
- πν = [pn] pronounced together (like p
- n in “help Neil”).
- έ is stressed [e], but because of the ει, the final sound becomes [i].
- ει in Modern Greek is pronounced simply [i], like English ee in see.
- Final ς = [s].
So despite the double vowel ει, phonetically you get /is/ at the end: [anaˈpnis].
Here βαθιά is an adverb, meaning “deeply”.
- It modifies the verb αναπνέεις: breathe how? → deeply.
βαθύς, -ιά, -ύ is the adjective “deep”:
- βαθύ πηγάδι – a deep well (neuter)
- βαθιά λίμνη – a deep lake (feminine)
The feminine form βαθιά is also used as an adverb, like many Greek adjectives whose feminine (or neuter) form doubles as an adverb:
- Μιλάει ήρεμα. – He/she speaks calmly. (ήρεμα as adverb)
- Αναπνέει βαθιά. – He/she breathes deeply.
So in να αναπνέεις βαθιά, βαθιά = deeply, not deep.
Both are possible:
- πριν από τη συνάντηση
- πριν τη συνάντηση
πριν can be:
An adverb / conjunction:
- Πριν φύγω, θα σε πάρω τηλέφωνο. – Before I leave, I’ll call you.
Part of the prepositional phrase πριν από + accusative noun:
- πριν από τη συνάντηση – before the meeting
- πριν από το μάθημα – before the class
In everyday speech, πριν από + noun is very common and sounds completely natural.
πριν + noun without από is also correct and often slightly more concise:
- Πριν τη συνάντηση, αναπνέεις βαθιά.
In this sentence πριν από τη συνάντηση is just the writer’s stylistic choice; it doesn’t change the basic meaning.
Greek uses the definite article more often than English, especially with events and time expressions:
- πριν από τη συνάντηση – before the meeting
- μετά το μάθημα – after class
- στη δουλειά – at (the) work → often just “at work” in English.
Here, τη συνάντηση is:
- τη = feminine singular accusative definite article
- συνάντηση = feminine singular accusative noun
The accusative is required because it is the object of the preposition από (in πριν από).
You could sometimes omit the article in more telegraphic styles (headlines, notes), but in normal speech and writing πριν από τη συνάντηση is the standard, natural form.
Both τη συνάντηση and την συνάντηση are orthographically acceptable, but modern usage tends to:
- Keep the final -ν of την:
- before vowels and some consonants (κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ)
- Drop the -ν:
- before most other consonants, including σ.
Since συνάντηση starts with σ, many speakers and writers drop the ν and write:
- τη συνάντηση
Some style guides prefer always writing την, but the form τη συνάντηση is extremely common and fully standard in everyday Modern Greek.
Yes. Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially for adverbial phrases like πριν από τη συνάντηση. Some natural variations:
- Πριν από τη συνάντηση, σου προτείνω να αναπνέεις βαθιά.
- Σου προτείνω, πριν από τη συνάντηση, να αναπνέεις βαθιά.
- Σου προτείνω να αναπνέεις βαθιά πριν από τη συνάντηση. (original)
The clitic pronoun «σου» generally stays immediately before the verb προτείνω (in a simple main clause), so:
- ✔ Σου προτείνω να…
- ✘ Προτείνω σου να… (incorrect)
Shifting πριν από τη συνάντηση around mostly affects emphasis, not grammar.
Σου προτείνω… is informal, because:
- σου = “to you” (singular, familiar)
For a formal or plural “you”, use σας and the plural verb:
- Σας προτείνω να αναπνέετε βαθιά πριν από τη συνάντηση.
Here:
- Σας προτείνω = I suggest to you (formal/plural)
- να αναπνέετε = 2nd person plural present subjunctive (you [plural/formal] breathe).
Yes, you can omit σου:
- Προτείνω να αναπνέεις βαθιά πριν από τη συνάντηση.
This then feels more like a general suggestion (I suggest (in general) that one/you should breathe deeply before the meeting), or it relies on context to know who the suggestion is directed at.
Including σου:
- Σου προτείνω…
makes it very clear that the suggestion is specifically to you and sounds more natural in direct conversation with one person.
συνάντηση means “meeting”, “encounter”, or “appointment”, often in the sense of a planned meeting (business meeting, therapy session, etc.).
It is a feminine noun. Main singular forms:
- Nominative (subject): η συνάντηση – the meeting
- Genitive: της συνάντησης – of the meeting
- Accusative (object): τη(ν) συνάντηση – the meeting (after a preposition, as in our sentence)
Plural:
- οι συναντήσεις – the meetings
- των συναντήσεων – of the meetings
- τις συναντήσεις – the meetings (object)
In πριν από τη συνάντηση, we have the feminine accusative singular: τη συνάντηση.