Breakdown of Μέχρι να έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι, το σαλόνι θα έχει καθαριστεί και το βραδινό θα έχει ετοιμαστεί.
Questions & Answers about Μέχρι να έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι, το σαλόνι θα έχει καθαριστεί και το βραδινό θα έχει ετοιμαστεί.
In Greek, μέχρι να (and similar expressions like ώσπου να) is followed by the subjunctive, not by θα + verb.
- Μέχρι να + subjunctive literally means “until (the moment that) …” and is used for events that have not yet happened.
- The future meaning comes from the context, not from θα inside that clause.
So:
- Μέχρι να έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι…
= By the time the guests come / Until the guests come…
You would not say ✗ μέχρι θα έρθουν. That combination is ungrammatical in Modern Greek. The future is expressed in the main clause:
…το σαλόνι θα έχει καθαριστεί…
έρθουν is aorist subjunctive, 3rd person plural of έρχομαι (to come).
The subjunctive paradigm (aorist) is:
- να έρθω, να έρθεις, να έρθει, να έρθουμε, να έρθετε, να έρθουν(ε)
Why aorist subjunctive here?
- With μέχρι να, Greek normally uses the aorist subjunctive for a single, completed event in the future: the guests’ arrival, which happens once.
- έρχονται can be present indicative or present subjunctive. Present subjunctive would suggest an ongoing or repeated action (“until they are coming / until they keep coming”), which doesn’t fit the idea of one arrival.
So Μέχρι να έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι is the natural choice.
Both are future perfect passive forms.
Structure:
θα + έχει + perfect passive participle
- θα – future particle
- έχει – 3rd person singular of έχω (to have)
- καθαριστεί – perfect passive participle of καθαρίζω
- ετοιμαστεί – perfect passive participle of ετοιμάζω / ετοιμάζομαι
So:
- θα έχει καθαριστεί ≈ “will have been cleaned”
- θα έχει ετοιμαστεί ≈ “will have been prepared”
These forms express that, at some later point in time (when the guests arrive), the actions will already be completed.
All three are future, but they focus on slightly different things:
θα καθαριστεί
- Simple future passive.
- “It will be cleaned (at some point in the future).”
- Neutral about when exactly it will be finished, relative to another event.
θα έχει καθαριστεί
- Future perfect passive.
- “It will have been cleaned (by then).”
- Explicitly says the cleaning will already be finished before a certain future moment (here: before/when the guests arrive).
θα είναι καθαρισμένο
- Future of είμαι
- passive participle used as an adjective.
- “It will be clean / in a cleaned state.”
- Focuses more on the state/result than on the action itself.
- Future of είμαι
In this sentence, θα έχει καθαριστεί matches the English nuance “will have been cleaned by the time…”, but in everyday speech many Greeks would also say:
- …το σαλόνι θα είναι καθαρισμένο… or
- …θα έχουμε καθαρίσει το σαλόνι…
with almost the same meaning.
Yes, you can say that, and it is fully correct:
- Θα έχουμε καθαρίσει το σαλόνι = “We will have cleaned the living room.”
- Θα έχουμε ετοιμάσει το βραδινό = “We will have prepared dinner.”
Differences:
The passive forms (θα έχει καθαριστεί, θα έχει ετοιμαστεί) focus on the result and the objects:
- the living room will be clean,
- the dinner will be ready. The “doer” is not mentioned; it’s unimportant or obvious.
The active forms (θα έχουμε καθαρίσει, θα έχουμε ετοιμάσει) explicitly include an implied subject/agent (“we”). They emphasize what we will have done.
Both are natural. The choice is about what you want to highlight: the completed results (passive) or the people doing the actions (active).
βραδινό is originally an adjective meaning “evening” (related to βράδυ, evening).
In Greek, adjectives can be used as nouns when the noun is understood from context. Here, το βραδινό is short for το βραδινό γεύμα = “the evening meal”.
So:
- το πρωινό = (the) breakfast (πρωινό γεύμα)
- το μεσημεριανό = (the) lunch (μεσημεριανό γεύμα)
- το βραδινό = (the) dinner (βραδινό γεύμα)
They are all neuter singular because γεύμα (meal) is neuter: το γεύμα.
Yes. οι καλεσμένοι literally means “the invited ones”.
- It comes from καλώ (to invite / to call).
- καλεσμένος, -η, -ο is the past/passive participle used as an adjective: “invited”.
- οι καλεσμένοι (masculine plural with article) functions as a noun: “the (invited) guests”.
So οι καλεσμένοι = “the guests”, with the nuance that they are specifically people who have been invited.
Greek word order is flexible, but there are strong preferences:
- After να, the verb normally comes immediately:
- να έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι is the standard order.
- να οι καλεσμένοι έρθουν is ungrammatical; you cannot place the article + noun (οι καλεσμένοι) directly after να and then the verb.
You could change the order slightly for emphasis, e.g.:
- Μέχρι να έρθουν όλοι οι καλεσμένοι… (adding όλοι)
- Όταν έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι… (with όταν instead of μέχρι να)
But the pattern να + verb + subject is the norm here.
Because the sentence starts with a dependent clause and then continues with the main clause:
- Dependent clause: Μέχρι να έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι,
- Main clause: το σαλόνι θα έχει καθαριστεί και το βραδινό θα έχει ετοιμαστεί.
In Greek, when a subordinate clause comes first, it is usually separated by a comma from the main clause, very much like in English:
- “When the guests arrive, the living room will have been cleaned…”
If you reverse the order, you usually omit the comma:
- Το σαλόνι θα έχει καθαριστεί και το βραδινό θα έχει ετοιμαστεί μέχρι να έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι.
It exists and is correct, but it is less common in speech than in English.
In everyday conversation, many speakers would prefer simpler alternatives:
- Το σαλόνι θα είναι καθαρισμένο και το βραδινό θα είναι έτοιμο.
- Θα έχουμε καθαρίσει το σαλόνι και θα έχουμε ετοιμάσει το βραδινό.
The version with θα έχει καθαριστεί / θα έχει ετοιμαστεί sounds a bit more formal or bookish, but it is absolutely grammatical and understandable.
μέχρι να + subjunctive itself does not fix the time as future; the actual time reference comes from the rest of the sentence.
You can use it with:
Future reference:
Μέχρι να έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι, θα έχει καθαριστεί το σαλόνι.Present/future-like commands:
Περίμενε μέχρι να τελειώσω.
“Wait until I finish.”Past reference (past main verb):
Περίμενα μέχρι να τελειώσεις.
“I waited until you finished.”
The form in the subordinate clause stays subjunctive (with να), even when the main verb is in the past.
Approximate pronunciation (stress in CAPS; “th” = English “this”):
έρθουν → ÉR-thoun
- έρ-θουν, stress on the first syllable.
- ου = “oo” as in food.
καθαριστεί → ka-tha-ri-STÍ
- κα-θα-ρι-στεί, stress on the last syllable.
ετοιμαστεί → e-ti-ma-STÍ
- ε-τοι-μα-στεί, again stress on the last syllable.
βραδινό → vra-di-NÓ
- βρα-δι-νό, stress on the last syllable.
In all of them, the accent mark (´) in the written Greek shows you exactly where the stress falls.