Learn Hardcore Greek: Ποιο επάγγελμα θα ήθελες να κάνεις στο μέλλον; - Which profession would you like to do in the future?

Ποιο means “which (one)” and it agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to.
Here it refers to επάγγελμα (profession), which is neuter singular, so we use ποιο (neuter singular).

ποιος / ποια / ποιο = which / who (masc / fem / neuter)
τι = what (in general, not agreeing in gender/number)

You could also say:

Τι επάγγελμα θα ήθελες να κάνεις στο μέλλον;

Both are correct; ποιο επάγγελμα sounds a bit more like “which profession (out of the possible ones)”, while τι επάγγελμα is more neutral “what profession”.

What’s the nuance of επάγγελμα compared to δουλειά?

Both can be translated as “job” or “work”, but there’s a nuance:

επάγγελμα = profession, occupation (a bit more formal or neutral, often about long‑term career)
δουλειά = job, work (more everyday, can also mean “task”, “work to do”)

So:

Ποιο επάγγελμα θα ήθελες να κάνεις στο μέλλον;
= What profession would you like to do in the future?

A more casual version might be:

Τι δουλειά θα ήθελες να κάνεις στο μέλλον;
= What job would you like to do in the future?

The original sentence is slightly more “school / textbook / guidance counselor” style because of επάγγελμα.

Why is it θα ήθελες and not just θέλεις or θα θέλεις?

θέλεις = you want
θα θέλεις = you will want (simple future)
θα ήθελες = you would like / would you like (more polite / hypothetical)

Θα ήθελες is θα + a past tense form (ήθελες, imperfect of θέλω) and together they make a conditional / polite form:

Θα ήθελες να… ≈ “Would you like to…?”

So the Greek sentence feels like:

“Which profession would you like to do in the future?”

Using θέλεις instead:

Ποιο επάγγελμα θέλεις να κάνεις στο μέλλον;
= “What profession do you want to do in the future?”
This is more direct, less “softened” than θα ήθελες.

Is θα ήθελες actually a future tense? How does it work grammatically?

Grammatically:

ήθελες = “you wanted” (imperfect of θέλω)
θα + imperfect in modern Greek often forms a conditional / polite meaning, not a real future.

So θα ήθελες is not “you will want” but rather:

“you would like / you would want”

This pattern is common:

Θα ήθελα έναν καφέ. = I would like a coffee.
Θα προτιμούσα να φύγω. = I would prefer to leave.

So in this sentence, θα ήθελες is a polite, somewhat hypothetical question about your preferences, not about a fixed future fact.

Why do we say να κάνεις επάγγελμα (“do a profession”) instead of using είσαι (“be”) or γίνεις (“become”)?

In Greek, the common idiom is:

κάνω ένα επάγγελμα / μια δουλειά = literally “I do a profession / a job”

So:

Τι επάγγελμα κάνεις; = What do you do for a living? / What is your job?
Ποιο επάγγελμα θα ήθελες να κάνεις; = Which profession would you like to do?

You can also see:

Τι θέλεις να γίνεις όταν μεγαλώσεις; = What do you want to become when you grow up?
Τι επάγγελμα θέλεις να ακολουθήσεις; = What profession do you want to follow? (more formal)

But να κάνεις (ένα) επάγγελμα is the most natural everyday phrasing here.

Why is there no “you” pronoun (εσύ) in the sentence?

In Greek, the subject pronoun is usually dropped because the verb ending already shows the person:

ήθελες → 2nd person singular (“you wanted”)
therefore εσύ is understood.

So:

Ποιο επάγγελμα θα ήθελες να κάνεις στο μέλλον;
literally has “you” built into ήθελες and κάνεις.

You can add εσύ for emphasis:

Εσύ ποιο επάγγελμα θα ήθελες να κάνεις στο μέλλον;
= You, which profession would you like to do in the future? (emphasizing “you”)

What case is επάγγελμα in, and why is there no article?

Επάγγελμα is neuter singular accusative here. It is the direct object of να κάνεις:

(να κάνεις) ποιο επάγγελμα = (to do) which profession

No article is used because we have a question word (ποιο) in front:

ποιο επάγγελμα = which profession
ένα επάγγελμα = a profession
το επάγγελμα = the profession

In English we don’t say “Which the profession…?”, so similarly in Greek we don’t say ποιο το επάγγελμα here.

What does στο μέλλον literally mean, and why is it written as one word στο?

Στο μέλλον literally means “in the future”.

σε = in, at, to
το = the (neuter singular article)
σε + το → στο (contraction, written as one word)

So στο μέλλον = σε + το μέλλον = in the future.

You could also omit it and say:

Ποιο επάγγελμα θα ήθελες να κάνεις;
= What profession would you like to do?

Adding στο μέλλον just makes the time frame explicit.

Can the word order change? For example, can I start with στο μέλλον?

Yes, Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially for emphasis. All of these are possible:

Ποιο επάγγελμα θα ήθελες να κάνεις στο μέλλον; (neutral)
Στο μέλλον ποιο επάγγελμα θα ήθελες να κάνεις; (emphasis on “in the future”)
Ποιο επάγγελμα στο μέλλον θα ήθελες να κάνεις; (less common, but understandable)

The original order is the most standard and natural, but moving στο μέλλον to the front is totally fine to highlight the time frame.

What’s the difference between ποιο and πιο? They look almost the same.

This is a common point of confusion:

ποιο (with ο) = which (one) (interrogative / relative pronoun)
- Ποιο επάγγελμα…; = Which profession…?
πιο (with ι) = more (comparative adverb)
- Ποιο είναι πιο δύσκολο; = Which is more difficult?

In our sentence it must be ποιο with ο, because we are asking which profession.

Is this sentence formal or informal? How would I say it politely to an adult I don’t know?

As written, it is informal, because ήθελες / κάνεις are 2nd person singular (talking to one person you know well, a child, a friend, etc.).

For polite / plural “you”, you would use 2nd person plural:

Ποιο επάγγελμα θα θέλατε να κάνετε στο μέλλον;
= Which profession would you like to do in the future? (formal or talking to more than one person)

So:

θα ήθελες / θα ήθελα → informal singular “would you like / I would like”
θα θέλατε / θα θέλαμε → formal/plural “would you like / we would like”

Could we say να ήθελες instead of θα ήθελες?

No. Να ήθελες is not used in standard modern Greek in this meaning.

For polite “would you like”, the natural form is:

Θα ήθελες…; (informal singular)
Θα θέλατε…; (formal/plural)

Να introduces subjunctive or subordinate clauses (e.g. να κάνεις, να πας, να δεις), not this kind of conditional politeness.