Learn Hardcore Greek: Στην πόλη μου ο νόμος είναι ξεκάθαρος: απαγορεύεται να οδηγείς ποδήλατο τη νύχτα χωρίς φως. - In my city the law is clear: it is forbidden to ride a bicycle at night without a light.

Στην πόλη μου ο νόμος είναι ξεκάθαρος: απαγορεύεται να οδηγείς ποδήλατο τη νύχτα χωρίς φως.

In my city the law is clear: it is forbidden to ride a bicycle at night without a light.

Breakdown of Στην πόλη μου ο νόμος είναι ξεκάθαρος: απαγορεύεται να οδηγείς ποδήλατο τη νύχτα χωρίς φως.

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Questions & Answers about Στην πόλη μου ο νόμος είναι ξεκάθαρος: απαγορεύεται να οδηγείς ποδήλατο τη νύχτα χωρίς φως.

Why is it Στην πόλη μου and not σε η πόλη μου? What exactly is στην?

Στην is the combination of the preposition σε (in/at/to) + the feminine definite article την (the).

σε + την πόλη → στην πόλη
It’s written as one word in modern Greek: στον, στη(ν), στο, στους, στις, στα.

Σε always takes the accusative case, so πόλη is in the accusative (την πόλη) even though we translate it as in my city, not to my city.

Why does μου come after πόλη instead of before, like “my city”?

Greek usually puts the unstressed possessive pronoun after the noun:

η πόλη μου = my city
το βιβλίο σου = your book
η μητέρα του = his / her mother

μου here is an unstressed (clitic) pronoun; it cannot stand alone and normally follows the noun.

There is also a stressed form (δικός μου, δική μου, δικό μου) used for emphasis, but the neutral, everyday way to say my city is η πόλη μου.

What is the subject of the sentence? Is Στην πόλη μου the subject?

No. The subject is ο νόμος (the law).

The structure is:

Στην πόλη μου – prepositional phrase (in my city), setting the context
ο νόμος – subject (the law)
είναι ξεκάθαρος – predicate (is clear)

So: In my city, the law is clear…

Greek word order is flexible, and it is common to put a place or time expression first for emphasis or context.

What does ξεκάθαρος mean, and why does it end in -ος?

ξεκάθαρος means clear, unambiguous.

It is an adjective that agrees with ο νόμος in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: nominative

So we get:

ο ξεκάθαρος νόμος – the clear law (masc.)
η ξεκάθαρη απόφαση – the clear decision (fem.)
το ξεκάθαρο μήνυμα – the clear message (neut.)

In the sentence it appears in the predicate: ο νόμος είναι ξεκάθαρος = the law is clear.

What kind of verb is απαγορεύεται? Why is there no subject like “it”?

απαγορεύεται is an impersonal passive form, 3rd person singular, from απαγορεύω (to forbid, to prohibit).

απαγορεύω – I forbid
απαγορεύεται – it is forbidden / is prohibited

In Greek, many verbs are used impersonally without a dummy subject (it):

Απαγορεύεται να καπνίζετε. – Smoking is forbidden / You must not smoke.
Επιτρέπεται να μπείτε. – It is allowed to enter / You may enter.

So απαγορεύεται here means it is forbidden, but Greek doesn’t need a separate word like English it.

Why do we use να οδηγείς after απαγορεύεται? Is this the subjunctive?

Yes. να οδηγείς is the present subjunctive of οδηγώ.

In modern Greek, να + verb is used where English often uses:

to + verb (infinitive)
or that + clause

After verbs like απαγορεύεται, επιτρέπεται, θέλω, μπορώ, etc., you almost always see να + subjunctive:

Απαγορεύεται να οδηγείς… – It is forbidden to drive / to ride…
Θέλω να πάω. – I want to go.

Why οδηγείς (present / imperfective) and not οδηγήσεις (aorist / perfective)?
Because the law talks about the activity in general, not a single, one‑off action. The present subjunctive is used for habitual or ongoing actions:

να οδηγείς ποδήλατο – to be riding / to ride (as an activity, anytime).

Why is οδηγείς used for a bicycle? I thought it meant “drive (a car)”.

οδηγώ mainly means to drive a vehicle, but it also covers riding a bicycle:

οδηγώ αυτοκίνητο – I drive a car
οδηγώ μηχανάκι – I ride a scooter / motorbike
οδηγώ ποδήλατο – I ride a bicycle

You will also hear:

κάνω ποδήλατο – literally “I do bicycle”, very common for “I ride a bicycle”.

So using οδηγείς ποδήλατο is natural Greek for “ride a bicycle”.

Why is there no article before ποδήλατο? Could we say να οδηγείς το ποδήλατο?

να οδηγείς ποδήλατο without an article presents bicycle‑riding as an activity in general:

να οδηγείς ποδήλατο – to ride a bicycle / to ride bikes (in general)

If you say να οδηγείς το ποδήλατο, it sounds like you are talking about a specific bicycle (often contextually “your” bike):

Απαγορεύεται να οδηγείς το ποδήλατο του φίλου σου.
It’s forbidden to ride your friend’s bike.

In rules and laws, Greek typically omits the article to express a generic activity:

Απαγορεύεται να καπνίζετε. – Smoking is forbidden.
Απαγορεύεται να τρως εδώ. – It’s forbidden to eat here.

Why is it τη νύχτα and not just νύχτα, or στη νύχτα?

τη νύχτα here means at night (in general), and this pattern article + time word in the accusative is very common:

το πρωί – in the morning
το βράδυ – in the evening / at night
τη Δευτέρα – on Monday
τη νύχτα – at night

You can say νύχτα alone in some contexts, but τη νύχτα is the standard adverbial expression meaning at night.

στη νύχτα would literally be in the night, which is not how you normally express the time when something happens. It sounds odd here and would usually need a special, poetic or metaphorical context.

Also, τη is just την with the final ν dropped before a consonant (here ν in νύχτα), which is normal in modern spelling.

Why is τη νύχτα in the accusative case? I thought time expressions often used the genitive.

In modern Greek, the accusative is the normal case for adverbial time expressions:

κάθε μέρα – every day
την Κυριακή – on Sunday
τον χειμώνα – in (the) winter
τη νύχτα – at night

The genitive can appear in some older or more formal expressions, but for everyday “when?” or “how long?” questions, you usually see the accusative.

So τη νύχτα is simply the standard way to say at night.

Why is there no article before φως in χωρίς φως? Could we say χωρίς το φως?

χωρίς φως means without light in a general, indefinite sense – without any light.

Greek often omits the article after χωρίς when it means without any…:

χωρίς νερό – without water
χωρίς λεφτά – without money
χωρίς φως – without light

If you say χωρίς το φως, you mean without the light, referring to a particular, known light:

Μην κλείνεις το παράθυρο· δεν μπορώ χωρίς το φως.
Don’t close the window; I can’t (live) without the light.

In a law about bicycles, the idea is general, so χωρίς φως is the natural choice.

Why do we use the second person οδηγείς if the law is general and not about “you” personally?

Greek, like English, often uses you in a generic sense for rules and instructions.

Απαγορεύεται να οδηγείς ποδήλατο…
Literally: It is forbidden that you ride a bicycle…
Meaning: One must not / People must not / You can’t ride a bicycle…

This is the same as English signs:

You must not smoke here.
You can’t park here.

So οδηγείς doesn’t refer only to the person being addressed; it means anyone in general.

Can we change the word order to Ο νόμος στην πόλη μου είναι ξεκάθαρος? Does it sound natural?

Yes, that word order is also natural and correct:

Ο νόμος στην πόλη μου είναι ξεκάθαρος: …

Meaning-wise, it is almost the same: The law in my city is clear…

Subtle nuance:

Στην πόλη μου ο νόμος είναι ξεκάθαρος…
Puts a bit more emphasis on in my city (as opposed to other places).
Ο νόμος στην πόλη μου είναι ξεκάθαρος…
Slightly more neutral; focus begins on the law.

Both are fine in everyday Greek.

Could we replace απαγορεύεται with δεν επιτρέπεται? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

Στην πόλη μου ο νόμος είναι ξεκάθαρος: δεν επιτρέπεται να οδηγείς ποδήλατο τη νύχτα χωρίς φως.

δεν επιτρέπεται = is not allowed, is not permitted.

Both απαγορεύεται and δεν επιτρέπεται express prohibition.

Nuance:

απαγορεύεται feels a bit stronger and more direct: “is forbidden”.
δεν επιτρέπεται sounds slightly more formal / bureaucratic: “is not permitted”.

In practice, they are very close in meaning, and both are used in legal or official contexts.

In writing, do we always join σε + the article (like στην) into one word?

In modern standard Greek, yes, you normally write them as one word:

σε + τον → στον
σε + την → στην (or στη before many consonants)
σε + το → στο
σε + τους → στους
σε + τις → στις
σε + τα → στα

So Στην πόλη μου is the standard written form, not σε την πόλη μου.