Οι νέοι χρήστες συχνά δεν διαβάζουν τους κανόνες του κοινωνικού δικτύου.

New users often don’t read the rules of the social network.

Breakdown of Οι νέοι χρήστες συχνά δεν διαβάζουν τους κανόνες του κοινωνικού δικτύου.

• δεν: not
• διαβάζω: to read
• συχνά: often
• νέος: new
• ο κανόνας: the rule
• κοινωνικός: social
• το δίκτυο: the network
• ο χρήστης: the user

Questions & Answers about Οι νέοι χρήστες συχνά δεν διαβάζουν τους κανόνες του κοινωνικού δικτύου.

Why is it Οι νέοι χρήστες and not something like τους νέους χρήστες at the beginning?

Οι νέοι χρήστες is the subject of the sentence, so it’s in the nominative case.

• Οι = definite article, nominative plural, masculine
• νέοι = adjective, nominative plural, masculine
• χρήστες = noun, nominative plural, masculine

In Greek, the subject normally uses the nominative case, and the article + adjective + noun all have to agree in gender, number, and case.

Τους νέους χρήστες would be accusative plural (used for a direct object), which would mean “the new users” as an object of some verb, not as the subject. For example:

• Βλέπω τους νέους χρήστες. = I see the new users. (Here they are the object.)

What exactly does νέοι mean here? Does it mean “young” or “new”?

Νέοι can mean both young and new, depending on context.

In this sentence, Οι νέοι χρήστες is usually understood as new users (users who have just joined the platform).

If you wanted to emphasize “young in age”, you could also say οι νεαροί χρήστες (the young users) or rely on context.
If you want to be very clear you mean “new (not old) users”, you can also say οι καινούριοι χρήστες; that leans more strongly toward “newly arrived / recently joined” than “young”.

Why is the adjective νέοι placed before χρήστες? Could it go after?

The normal position for an adjective with a definite article is:

article – adjective – noun
→ οι νέοι χρήστες

You can technically say οι χρήστες οι νέοι, but that sounds marked and emphasizes νέοι in a contrastive way (like “the users, the new ones (as opposed to the old ones)”).

For straightforward “new users” in neutral style, οι νέοι χρήστες is the natural word order.

Where should συχνά go in the sentence? Could I move it?

In the sentence:

Οι νέοι χρήστες συχνά δεν διαβάζουν τους κανόνες...

συχνά = “often” and it’s placed before the negated verb phrase δεν διαβάζουν.

Other possible positions:

• Οι νέοι χρήστες δεν διαβάζουν συχνά τους κανόνες...
  → still correct, now the “often” is more strongly tied to the whole verb phrase “read the rules often”.

• Συχνά οι νέοι χρήστες δεν διαβάζουν τους κανόνες...
  → also correct; this puts emphasis on συχνά (“Often, new users don’t read the rules...”)

All three are grammatical; the differences are mainly in emphasis and rhythm, not in basic meaning.

Why do we use δεν before διαβάζουν? Can it ever come after?

Δεν is the standard negation particle used before a verb in the present (and most other tenses):

• δεν διαβάζουν = they do not read

In normal modern Greek word order, δεν always comes directly before the verb (or before any clitic pronouns + verb). You can’t put it after the verb, so διαβάζουν δεν is wrong.

Examples:

• δεν βλέπω = I don’t see
• δεν τον βλέπω = I don’t see him (δεν + pronoun + verb)

What tense and person is διαβάζουν, and why not a different form like διάβασαν?

διαβάζουν is:

• Present tense
• Active voice
• 3rd person plural (“they”)

So (αυτοί) διαβάζουν = “they read” / “they are reading”.

The present tense in Greek is used for habitual actions, just like English simple present here:

• “New users often do not read the rules.”

If you used διάβασαν (aorist, simple past, 3rd plural), you would say:

• Οι νέοι χρήστες συχνά δεν διάβασαν τους κανόνες...
  → “New users often didn’t read the rules...” (talking about repeated situations in the past; sounds a bit odd without more context).

For a general statement of habit or tendency, present tense (διαβάζουν) is the natural choice.

What is the role of τους κανόνες? Why τους and not οι?

Τους κανόνες is the direct object (“the rules”) of the verb διαβάζουν.

• τους = definite article, accusative plural, masculine
• κανόνες = noun, accusative plural, masculine (singular: ο κανόνας)

In Greek, direct objects use the accusative case. That’s why we use τους (accusative plural) rather than οι (nominative plural).

Compare:

• Οι κανόνες είναι αυστηροί. = The rules are strict. (subject → nominative)
• Δεν διαβάζουν τους κανόνες. = They don’t read the rules. (object → accusative)

How does του κοινωνικού δικτύου work grammatically? What case is this?

του κοινωνικού δικτύου is a genitive phrase meaning “of the social network”. It modifies τους κανόνες (“the rules of the social network”).

Breakdown:

• του = definite article, genitive singular, neuter
• κοινωνικού = adjective, genitive singular, neuter
• δικτύου = noun, genitive singular, neuter (nominative: το δίκτυο)

In Greek, the genitive case is commonly used to show possession, belonging, or association. So:

• οι κανόνες του κοινωνικού δικτύου
  = “the rules of the social network”

How can I tell that του belongs to δικτύου and not to κανόνες?

You can see the agreement:

• τους κανόνες
  
  • τους = accusative plural masculine
  • κανόνες = accusative plural masculine

They match each other.

• του κοινωνικού δικτύου
  
  • του = genitive singular neuter
  • κοινωνικού = genitive singular neuter
  • δικτύου = genitive singular neuter

These three match each other.

Articles and adjectives in Greek agree with their own noun in gender, number, and case. So του clearly goes with δικτύου, not with κανόνες.

Why is it δικτύου and not δίκτυο?

Δίκτυο is the nominative and accusative singular form:

• το δίκτυο = the network (subject or object)

Δικτύου is the genitive singular form:

• του δικτύου = of the network

In οι κανόνες του κοινωνικού δικτύου, “of the (social) network” must be in the genitive, so you use του δικτύου (and with the adjective: του κοινωνικού δικτύου).

Could I leave out some of the articles, like saying νέοι χρήστες δεν διαβάζουν κανόνες?

You can say νέοι χρήστες δεν διαβάζουν κανόνες, and it would be understood, but it sounds:

• less specific
• more like “new users don’t read rules (in general)” rather than “the rules of the social network”.

Greek tends to use the definite article more frequently than English when referring to specific, known things.

• Οι νέοι χρήστες δεν διαβάζουν τους κανόνες του κοινωνικού δικτύου.
  → specific: those particular rules of that specific social network.

Without the articles, your sentence sounds more generic and a bit more informal or telegraphic.

Why is κοινωνικού in the same form as δικτύου? Is that also an adjective?

Yes, κοινωνικού is the adjective from κοινωνικός (“social”).

Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun they modify in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since δικτύου is neuter, singular, genitive, the adjective must also be neuter, singular, genitive, so you get:

• το κοινωνικό δίκτυο = the social network (nominative/accusative)
• του κοινωνικού δικτύου = of the social network (genitive)

How is συχνά formed? Is it an adjective or an adverb?

Συχνά here is an adverb meaning often.

It comes from the adjective συχνός (“frequent”), and many Greek adverbs are formed by taking the masculine/neuter adjective and using the -ά ending:

• καλός → καλά = well
• εύκολος → εύκολα = easily
• συχνός → συχνά = often, frequently

So συχνά modifies the verb διαβάζουν (“they read often / they often read”).

How would the sentence change if I used καινούριοι χρήστες instead of νέοι χρήστες?

If you say:

• Οι καινούριοι χρήστες συχνά δεν διαβάζουν τους κανόνες του κοινωνικού δικτύου.

it is still correct and very natural. The nuance:

• νέοι χρήστες can be “new users” but νέος often also carries the idea of young; context usually clarifies.
• καινούριοι χρήστες focuses more clearly on newly arrived / recently joined users, with little or no implication about age.

So using καινούριοι makes the “new (recent)” meaning more explicit and avoids the “young” reading.