Τους βλέπω τώρα.

I see them now.

Breakdown of Τους βλέπω τώρα.

• τώρα: now
• βλέπω: to see
• τους: them

Questions & Answers about Τους βλέπω τώρα.

What exactly does τους mean here, and who can it refer to?

In Τους βλέπω τώρα, τους is an unstressed object pronoun meaning “them”.

• It is 3rd person plural, accusative case (direct object).
• It is used mainly for masculine or mixed-gender groups of people.
• In context, it could be:
  • a group of men: “I see them (the men) now.”
  • a mixed group: “I see them now.”

For only women, the corresponding clitic pronoun is τις (feminine plural). For things (neuter plural), it is τα.

So τους here is “them” as the direct object of βλέπω (“I see”).

How do we know that the subject is “I” if there is no εγώ (“I”) in the sentence?

Greek usually drops the subject pronoun because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

The verb βλέπω is the 1st person singular form of “to see” in the present tense:

• εγώ βλέπω = I see

Since βλέπω clearly marks “I”, it’s normal and more natural to just say:

• Τους βλέπω τώρα. = “I see them now.”

You would only add εγώ for emphasis or contrast, e.g.:

• Εγώ τους βλέπω τώρα. = I see them now (implying maybe others don’t).

Why is τους placed before the verb βλέπω and not after it?

Unstressed object pronouns like τους, τον, την, το, etc. usually go right before the main verb in positive statements.

Pattern in the present tense (and most simple tenses):

• (Subject) + pronoun + verb + …
• (Εγώ) τους βλέπω τώρα. = (I) them see now.

Putting τους after the verb (βλέπω τους) is not correct in standard modern Greek in this context.

Exceptions (where the pronoun can follow) occur mainly with imperatives and some verb forms, e.g.:

• Δες τους! = “Look at them!” (pronoun after the imperative)

Is βλέπω “I see” or “I am seeing”? Why isn’t there an extra verb like “am”?

Greek does not make a grammatical distinction between “I see” and “I am seeing” the way English does.

• βλέπω on its own can mean both:
  • “I see”
  • “I am seeing / I’m looking at”

The meaning comes from context and adverbs:

• Τους βλέπω τώρα.
  → Because of τώρα (“now”), this naturally feels like English “I’m seeing them now” / “I can see them now.”

Greek only uses είμαι (“to be”) as a normal verb (“I am”), not as a helper to form a continuous tense like English “am seeing.”

What does τώρα mean, and can it go in other positions in the sentence?

τώρα means “now”.

It can appear in different positions, with slight changes in emphasis, but the basic meaning stays the same:

• Τους βλέπω τώρα.
  Neutral: “I see them now.”

• Τώρα τους βλέπω.
  Emphasis on “now”: “Now I see them” (implying “I didn’t see them before”).

• Τώρα τους βλέπω εγώ.
  Even stronger contrast/emphasis, often in spoken language:
  “Now I see them” (maybe someone else saw them before, or now it’s my turn).

In all these, the clitic pronoun (τους) must stay attached to the verb area; it cannot freely move anywhere in the sentence.

Is τους always masculine? What if I’m talking about women or things?

τους in this use is the masculine plural direct object pronoun (“them”).

For other genders:

• Masculine plural (“them,” men or mixed group):

  • Τους βλέπω τώρα. = I see them now.

• Feminine plural (“them,” women):

  • Τις βλέπω τώρα. = I see them (the women) now.

• Neuter plural (“them,” things/objects):

  • Τα βλέπω τώρα. = I see them (the things) now.

So you choose τους / τις / τα depending on the gender and number of what you’re referring to.

Is τους here the same word as “their” in phrases like το βιβλίο τους (“their book”)?

It’s the same form, but a different function.

• In Τους βλέπω τώρα, τους is an object pronoun = “them”.

• In το βιβλίο τους = “their book”, τους is a possessive pronoun = “their”.

Greek often uses the same form for different pronoun roles, so you have to use context and sentence structure to tell them apart.

Here it’s clearly “them” because it stands before a verb and acts as the direct object of βλέπω.

How would the sentence change if I wanted to say “He sees them now” or “We see them now”?

You keep τους the same, and change the verb ending:

• He sees them now.

  • Αυτός τους βλέπει τώρα.
    (subject pronoun αυτός is optional; usually people just say Τους βλέπει τώρα.)

• We see them now.

  • Εμείς τους βλέπουμε τώρα.
    (again, usually just Τους βλέπουμε τώρα.)

Present tense forms of βλέπω (singular/plural):

• (εγώ) βλέπω = I see
• (εσύ) βλέπεις = you see (singular)
• (αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) βλέπει = he/she/it sees
• (εμείς) βλέπουμε = we see
• (εσείς) βλέπετε = you see (plural / formal)
• (αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά) βλέπουν(ε) = they see

How do I say “I don’t see them now” in Greek? Where does δεν go?

To make it negative, you add δεν before the pronoun + verb:

• Δεν τους βλέπω τώρα. = “I don’t see them now.”

Word order pattern:

• δεν + pronoun + verb + (other words)
  
  • Δεν τους βλέπω τώρα.
  • Δεν τον βλέπω τώρα. = I don’t see him now.
  • Δεν τη βλέπω τώρα. = I don’t see her now.

Could I leave out τους and just say Βλέπω τώρα to mean “I see them now”?

No, Βλέπω τώρα by itself does not clearly mean “I see them now.”

• Βλέπω τώρα. more naturally means “I see (something) now” / “I can see now” in a very general sense, or “I understand now,” depending on context.

If you specifically mean “I see them now”, you have to express “them” somehow:

• With the pronoun:

  • Τους βλέπω τώρα.

• Or with a full noun phrase:

  • Βλέπω τα παιδιά τώρα. = I see the children now.

Often in conversation, the noun phrase may have appeared earlier, and then you use just the pronoun to refer back to it, which is exactly what Τους βλέπω τώρα does.