Breakdown of Τον φάκελο αυτόν πρέπει να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή μέχρι την επόμενη συνάντηση.
Questions & Answers about Τον φάκελο αυτόν πρέπει να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή μέχρι την επόμενη συνάντηση.
Πρέπει να means must / I have to and is followed by a verb in the subjunctive (the so‑called να-form).
Κρατήσω is:
- Aorist subjunctive, 1st person singular of κρατάω / κρατώ (to hold / keep).
In modern Greek:
- πρέπει να + aorist subjunctive (πρέπει να τον κρατήσω) usually talks about a single, overall action or result:
→ I must (successfully) keep it safe (so that in the end it is safe).
You could hear πρέπει να τον κρατάω (imperfective aspect) but that would stress the ongoing process of keeping it safe, and here the aorist feels more natural and neutral for this obligation.
This is an example of clitic doubling, which is very common in Greek.
- Τον φάκελο αυτόν = this folder (fronted for emphasis or topic)
- να τον κρατήσω = to keep it (referring back to the folder)
When a direct object is moved to the front (topicalized) like this, Greek very often repeats it with a weak object pronoun (τον, την, το, etc.) in the main clause.
You can grammatically say:
- Τον φάκελο αυτόν πρέπει να κρατήσω ασφαλή…
but to most native speakers this sounds either:
- a bit stiff / bookish, or
- like you’re emphasizing the verb κρατήσω unnaturally.
So Τον φάκελο αυτόν πρέπει να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή… is the most natural everyday word order.
Both are correct and mean this folder, but the nuance changes slightly:
Αυτόν τον φάκελο
– This is the default, neutral order: demonstrative + article + noun.
– Used in most contexts.Τον φάκελο αυτόν
– Puts a bit more emphasis on “this one (as opposed to some other folder)”.
– Feels a bit more contrastive: that folder, no – *this folder.*
In your sentence, both are fine:
- Τον φάκελο αυτόν πρέπει να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή…
- Αυτόν τον φάκελο πρέπει να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή…
They are practically interchangeable; the choice is about subtle emphasis and style.
Ασφαλής is the base adjective meaning safe. Its masculine forms in the singular are:
- Nominative: ασφαλής
- Genitive: ασφαλούς
- Accusative: ασφαλή
In the sentence:
- τον φάκελο is masculine, singular, accusative.
- So the adjective that describes it as a predicate also appears in masculine accusative singular: ασφαλή.
Structure:
- να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή = to keep it safe
(literally: to keep him safe – because φάκελος is grammatically masculine)
Ασφαλές is the neuter form of the adjective (neuter nominative/accusative singular).
But:
Φάκελος (folder) is masculine, not neuter.
So the adjective has to agree with the noun in gender, number, and case:- τον φάκελο ασφαλή (masc. acc. sg. + masc. acc. sg.) ✅
- το φάκελο ασφαλές ❌ (wrong, because το would also have to change the noun’s gender)
Here it is predicate, not attributive.
Attributive position (before/after the noun with the article):
- ο ασφαλής φάκελος = the safe folder
- ο φάκελος ο ασφαλής = the folder that is safe
Predicate position (separate from the noun, often after a verb like “be”, “keep”, “make”):
- να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή = to keep it safe
So in this sentence, ασφαλή describes the resulting state of the folder due to the action κρατήσω.
Yes, that is also correct and natural:
- Πρέπει να κρατήσω αυτόν τον φάκελο ασφαλή μέχρι την επόμενη συνάντηση.
This version:
- Leaves the object after the verb (more neutral order).
- Does not need clitic doubling, so there is no second τον.
Both versions are fine:
- Τον φάκελο αυτόν πρέπει να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή… (fronted object + clitic doubling)
- Πρέπει να κρατήσω αυτόν τον φάκελο ασφαλή… (neutral order, no doubling)
The meaning is the same; the difference is mainly in emphasis and style.
In να τον κρατήσω, τον is a weak object pronoun (clitic):
- It normally appears right before the verb in the να-clause:
- να τον κρατήσω, να την δω, να το φέρω, etc.
You cannot stress it or separate it like:
- να κρατήσω ΤΟΝ ❌ (ungrammatical)
The stressed forms (e.g. εμένα, εσένα) are different pronouns and used in different syntactic contexts, not here.
Την επόμενη συνάντηση is in the accusative case:
- την (fem. acc. sg.)
- επόμενη (fem. acc. sg.)
- συνάντηση (fem. acc. sg.)
The preposition μέχρι (“until”) is followed by a noun phrase in the accusative:
- μέχρι την Τετάρτη = until Wednesday
- μέχρι το βράδυ = until the evening
- μέχρι την επόμενη συνάντηση = until the next meeting
μέχρι + noun / time expression
- μέχρι την επόμενη συνάντηση = until the next meeting
- Followed by a noun phrase in the accusative.
μέχρι να + verb (subjunctive)
- μέχρι να συναντηθούμε = until we meet
- Followed by a να-clause (subjunctive).
You could paraphrase your sentence as:
- Πρέπει να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή μέχρι την επόμενη συνάντηση.
- Πρέπει να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή μέχρι να ξαναβρεθούμε.
(until we meet again)
In Greek, each noun has a fixed grammatical gender:
ο φάκελος (folder) → masculine
- Accusative singular: τον φάκελο
η συνάντηση (meeting) → feminine
- Accusative singular: την συνάντηση / τη συνάντηση
Articles, adjectives, and pronouns must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they refer to:
- τον φάκελο αυτόν (masc. acc. sg.)
- την επόμενη συνάντηση (fem. acc. sg.)
In this context, να τον κρατήσω ασφαλή means clearly to keep it safe, not just physically hold it in my hands.
- κρατάω / κρατώ can mean:
- to hold (physically): Κρατάω το ποτήρι. = I’m holding the glass.
- to keep, retain, store: Κράτα την απόδειξη. = Keep the receipt.
Together with ασφαλή, the meaning becomes to keep it in a safe condition.
Because of the aorist subjunctive (κρατήσω), the focus is on the overall obligation and the end result: that by the time of the next meeting, the folder will have been kept safe.
If you said πρέπει να τον κρατάω ασφαλή, that would put more emphasis on:
- the ongoing, continuous action of keeping it safe over time.
In everyday speech, for such obligations and deadlines, the aorist πρέπει να τον κρατήσω is the most standard and neutral choice.