Learn Hardcore Greek: Θέλεις να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο; - Do you want us to do something together tomorrow?

Θέλεις – you want (2nd person singular of θέλω = I want)
να – particle that introduces a verb in the subjunctive (often corresponds to to or that in English)
κάνουμε – we do / we make (1st person plural of κάνω)
κάτι – something
μαζί – together
αύριο – tomorrow

So very literally: You want that we do something together tomorrow?
Natural English: Do you want to do something together tomorrow?

Why is there να after Θέλεις? Can’t I just say Θέλεις κάνουμε?

In Modern Greek, after verbs like θέλω (I want), πρέπει (I must), μπορώ (I can), you normally use να + verb, not a bare verb.

Greek does not use an infinitive like English to do.
Instead, it uses να + a finite verb:
- θέλω να κάνω – I want to do
- θέλεις να κάνουμε – you want (that) we do

So να is obligatory here.
Θέλεις κάνουμε is incorrect in standard Modern Greek.

Why is it κάνουμε (we do) and not κάνεις (you do)?

Because the speaker is suggesting something we do together, not something you do alone.

κάνεις = you do
κάνουμε = we do

The idea is: Do you want us to do something together?
So the verb must be we: να κάνουμε.

If you said Θέλεις να κάνεις κάτι αύριο;, that would mean:
Do you want to do something tomorrow? (about you acting alone, not us together).

Where is the word we/us in this sentence?

It’s inside the verb ending of κάνουμε.

κάνω – I do
κάνεις – you (sg) do
κάνει – he/she/it does
κάνουμε – we do
κάνετε – you (pl/formal) do
κάνουν(ε) – they do

Greek usually doesn’t need a separate pronoun like εμείς (we), because the verb ending already shows the subject.
So να κάνουμε = (for) us to do / for us to make.

Why isn’t there a word for you like εσύ in the sentence?

Modern Greek often drops subject pronouns because they are clear from the verb ending.

Θέλεις already tells us it’s you (singular), from the -εις ending.
Adding εσύ is only for emphasis or contrast:
- Εσύ θέλεις να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο;
  You (as opposed to someone else) – do you want to do something together tomorrow?

In neutral, everyday speech, Θέλεις να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο; is perfectly complete without εσύ.

Is this sentence formal or informal?

It is informal, because it uses 2nd person singular:

Θέλεις = you want (one person, informal)

For a polite / formal version to one person (or to more than one person), you would use θέλετε:

Θέλετε να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο;

This can mean:

Would you like us to do something together tomorrow? (polite to one person)
or
Do you (all) want us to do something together tomorrow? (to more than one person)

Can I change the word order? For example put αύριο or μαζί earlier in the sentence?

Yes, Greek word order is fairly flexible. All of these are possible, with small differences in emphasis:

Θέλεις να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο; (neutral)
Θέλεις να κάνουμε κάτι αύριο μαζί; (slight emphasis on together)
Θέλεις αύριο να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί; (slight emphasis on tomorrow)
Αύριο θέλεις να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί; (stronger emphasis on tomorrow – e.g. not today)

All are understandable and natural in the right context.
The original order is a very typical, neutral choice.

Is μαζί alone enough, or should I say μαζί σου or μαζί μου?

In this sentence, μαζί alone is enough because κάνουμε already includes we (speaker + listener).

να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί = for us to do something together

You only need μαζί μου / μαζί σου when you want to be explicit:

Θες να έρθεις μαζί μου; – Do you want to come with me?
Θες να πάω μαζί σου; – Do you want me to come with you?

Here, μαζί clearly refers to us together, so μαζί by itself is natural.

What tense and mood is κάνουμε here? It looks like the present tense.

Formally:

Form: present tense, 1st person plural of κάνω
Mood: subjunctive, because it’s used with να

Modern Greek subjunctive is mostly recognized by the presence of να, not by a special verb form.
So:

κάνουμε alone = we do / we are doing (present indicative)
να κάνουμε = that we do / (for) us to do (subjunctive)

In this sentence, να κάνουμε refers to a future action (tomorrow), but Greek still uses the present subjunctive form.

What is that punctuation mark at the end? It looks like a semicolon.

In Greek, the question mark is written as ; (the same symbol that English uses for a semicolon).

So:

Θέλεις να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο; – ends with a Greek question mark.
A real Greek semicolon/colon is a different symbol: · (the ano teleia, a raised dot), though it is not used very often in everyday writing.

So don’t read ; as “semicolon” in Greek — here it simply means ?

What’s the difference between θέλεις, θες, and θα ήθελες?

θέλεις – full form, very common, neutral:
- Θέλεις να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο;
  Do you want to do something together tomorrow?
θες – shorter, more casual, same meaning in practice:
- Θες να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο;
  Same as above, just a bit more informal in sound.
θα ήθελες – more polite/soft, literally would you like:
- Θα ήθελες να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο;
  Would you like to do something together tomorrow?

All are correct; choice depends on formality and how soft/polite you want to sound.

How can I make this sentence sound a bit more polite or softer?

A few options:

Use θα ήθελες instead of θέλεις:
- Θα ήθελες να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο;
  (Would you like us to do something together tomorrow?)
Add a softening particle like μήπως:
- Μήπως θα ήθελες να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο;
  (By any chance, would you like us to do something together tomorrow?)
For formal address (to one person politely), use plural θα θέλατε / θα ήθελες:
- Θα θέλατε να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο;
- Θα ήθελετε να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο; (also heard)

All of these are more tentative and polite than the bare Θέλεις…;

How would I naturally answer yes or no to this question in Greek?

Some natural answers:

Positive:

Ναι, θέλω. – Yes, I want to.
Ναι, θα ήθελα πολύ. – Yes, I’d really like to.
Ναι, φυσικά. – Yes, of course.
Ναι, μια χαρά. – Yes, great.

Negative (neutral/polite):

Όχι, δεν μπορώ αύριο. – No, I can’t tomorrow.
Όχι, λυπάμαι, αύριο δεν γίνεται. – No, I’m sorry, tomorrow doesn’t work.
Όχι, έχω κανονίσει κάτι άλλο. – No, I’ve arranged something else.

You usually add a little explanation rather than just Ναι or Όχι.

Is να κάνουμε here similar to saying let’s do in English?

Grammatically, να κάνουμε is subjunctive (“for us to do”), not an imperative.
But in this particular structure:

Θέλεις να κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο;

the meaning is close to a polite suggestion, like:

Do you want to…?
Shall we…?
almost like Let’s do something together tomorrow, what do you think?

If you want a more direct let’s, Greek typically uses ας:

Ας κάνουμε κάτι μαζί αύριο. – Let’s do something together tomorrow.

So:

Θέλεις να κάνουμε…; = suggesting, but in the form of a question
Ας κάνουμε… = a direct “let’s …” suggestion