Learn Hardcore Greek: Χωρίς ταυτότητα δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξεις καινούριο λογαριασμό. - Without an ID card it is not allowed to open a new account.

If you said χωρίς την ταυτότητα, it would sound more like “without the ID (card)”, referring to a specific one both speakers know about (e.g. “without the ID you showed us yesterday”).

In the sentence given, the meaning is general, so no article is natural: χωρίς ταυτότητα.

What exactly does ταυτότητα mean here?

Ταυτότητα is a feminine noun and literally means identity.

In everyday Greek, η ταυτότητα very commonly means “ID card”, specifically a personal identification card (like a national ID card).

So in this context:

χωρίς ταυτότητα ≈ “without an ID card / without identification”

It does not mean “identity” in a philosophical sense here; it’s practical, legal identification.

What is επιτρέπεται grammatically? Is it a verb, and what form is it?

Yes, επιτρέπεται is a verb form. It is:

the 3rd person singular
present tense
passive voice
of the verb επιτρέπω = “to allow, to permit”

Literally, επιτρέπεται means “(it) is allowed / (it) is permitted”.

In Greek this is used as an impersonal passive:

Δεν επιτρέπεται να καπνίζετε εδώ. = Smoking is not allowed here.
Επιτρέπεται η είσοδος. = Entry is allowed.

In your sentence:

δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξεις… = it is not allowed to open… / you are not allowed to open…

Why is there no subject in this sentence? Who is not allowing it?

The Greek sentence:

Δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξεις καινούριο λογαριασμό.

has no explicit subject, just like English “It is not allowed” (where “it” is just a dummy subject and doesn’t refer to anything real).

Greek often uses impersonal passives of this kind:

Δεν επιτρέπεται να… = It’s not allowed to…
Απαγορεύεται να… = It’s forbidden to…
Πρέπει να… = One must…

The “who” is implied by context: authorities, rules, the bank, the system, etc. Greek does not need to state that subject explicitly.

Why is the negative δεν placed before επιτρέπεται and not before να or ανοίξεις?

In Greek, the standard position of the negative particle δεν (or δε before some consonants) is directly before the verb it negates.

The main verb in the sentence is επιτρέπεται:

Δεν επιτρέπεται = “is not allowed”

The part να ανοίξεις is a subordinate clause introduced by να; it is not being negated here. What is negated is the allowing, not the opening itself.

So:

Δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξεις…
= It is not allowed [for you] to open…

If you said επιτρέπεται να μην ανοίξεις, then the negation would move into the να-clause, and the meaning would change to “you are allowed not to open…”, which is different.

What is να ανοίξεις? Why do we use να and not something like an infinitive?

Modern Greek does not have an infinitive the way English does (“to open”, “to go”).

Instead, it uses να + subjunctive to express many functions that English expresses with “to + verb”, “that + clause”, etc.

να ανοίξεις is a subjunctive form, introduced by να.
It functions here like “to open” in English:
δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξεις ≈ “you are not allowed to open”.

So να is not “to” grammatically, but in usage here, the English equivalent is “to” + verb.

Why is it ανοίξεις and not ανοίγεις after να?

Both ανοίξεις and ανοίγεις are forms of ανοίγω (“to open”):

να ανοίξεις = aorist subjunctive
να ανοίγεις = present subjunctive

The difference is aspect:

να ανοίξεις: one complete, single action in the future / hypothetical (open it once)
να ανοίγεις: ongoing, repeated, or habitual action (to be opening / keep opening)

In your sentence:

Δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξεις καινούριο λογαριασμό.
The rule refers to a single act of opening an account (you may not perform that act without ID), so the aorist subjunctive (να ανοίξεις) is the natural choice.

Να ανοίγεις λογαριασμό would sound like “to be (regularly) opening accounts” and would be odd here.

Why is καινούριο in that form, and how does it agree with λογαριασμό?

The base adjective is καινούριος = “new” (often “brand new, unused”).

Its main singular forms:

Masculine:
- Nominative: καινούριος
- Accusative: καινούριο
Neuter:
- Nominative/Accusative: καινούριο

Λογαριασμός (account) is:

Masculine
Here in the accusative singular: λογαριασμό

So the adjective must also be masculine accusative singular:

καινούριο λογαριασμό = a new account

The form καινούριο here is masculine accusative, agreeing in gender, number, and case with λογαριασμό.

What is the difference between καινούριος and νέος for “new”?

Both can be translated as “new”, but there is a nuance:

καινούριος:
- Often “brand new, unused, just created/acquired”
- Emphasizes that something is fresh / not used before
- E.g. καινούριο αυτοκίνητο = a brand new car (from the dealership)
νέος:
- Can mean new, recent in time: νέος νόμος = a new (recently passed) law
- Also means young (for people): είναι πολύ νέος = he is very young

In your sentence, καινούριο λογαριασμό implies a newly opened account, not an old one being reused.

You could also hear νέο λογαριασμό, which is understandable, but καινούριο is more typical for something just being created for the first time.

Why is it λογαριασμό and not λογαριασμός?

The noun is ο λογαριασμός (account, bill).

Greek nouns change form according to case:

Nominative singular (subject): λογαριασμός
Accusative singular (direct object): λογαριασμό

In the sentence:

The verb is να ανοίξεις (“to open”)
“Account” is what you open, so it is the direct object of the verb
Direct objects in Greek take the accusative case

Therefore: καινούριο λογαριασμό (accusative), not λογαριασμός (nominative).

Can the word order change? For example, can I say: Δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξεις καινούριο λογαριασμό χωρίς ταυτότητα?

Yes, that word order is also perfectly correct:

Χωρίς ταυτότητα δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξεις καινούριο λογαριασμό.
Δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξεις καινούριο λογαριασμό χωρίς ταυτότητα.

Both are grammatical and mean the same thing.

The original version Χωρίς ταυτότητα… puts “without ID” at the beginning for emphasis, like:

“Without ID, you’re not allowed to open a new account.”

The alternative version sounds slightly more neutral in terms of emphasis, closer to:

“You’re not allowed to open a new account without ID.”

Greek allows relatively flexible word order, especially for moving adverbial phrases (like χωρίς ταυτότητα) to the front for emphasis.

How would I say this more formally or in a very official style?

A more formal / bureaucratic version often uses a noun phrase instead of a verb:

Δεν επιτρέπεται το άνοιγμα νέου λογαριασμού χωρίς ταυτότητα.
= The opening of a new account without ID is not allowed.

Here:

το άνοιγμα = the opening (noun)
νέου λογαριασμού = of a new account (genitive)
The structure sounds more like something you would see on forms, signs, or official documents.

In spoken but still polite Greek, your original sentence is already fine; maybe combined with plural for formality (see next question).

How would I change this if I want to speak formally to one person or to many people?

Greek uses 2nd person plural both for plural “you” and for polite singular “you”.

So you can make the να ανοίξεις part plural:

Χωρίς ταυτότητα δεν επιτρέπεται να ανοίξετε καινούριο λογαριασμό.

This can mean:

speaking politely to one person, or
speaking to several people together.

Everything else stays the same. The verb επιτρέπεται remains singular and impersonal; only the subjunctive verb ανοίξετε changes to match the (polite or plural) “you”.