Breakdown of Η ενσυναίσθηση βοηθάει όταν θέλουμε να καταλάβουμε πραγματικά πώς νιώθει κάποιος άλλος.
Questions & Answers about Η ενσυναίσθηση βοηθάει όταν θέλουμε να καταλάβουμε πραγματικά πώς νιώθει κάποιος άλλος.
In Greek, abstract nouns often take the definite article, even when English doesn’t use any article.
- Η ενσυναίσθηση = literally “the empathy”, but in most contexts it just means “empathy” in general.
- This is very common:
- Η αγάπη = (the) love
- Η ελευθερία = (the) freedom
So Η ενσυναίσθηση βοηθάει… is the natural way to say “Empathy helps…” in Greek. You could drop the article in some very general or slogan‑like styles, but with abstract nouns the article is usually there.
Ενσυναίσθηση is:
- Gender: feminine
- Case: nominative (it’s the subject of the verb βοηθάει)
- Number: singular
Clues:
- The article Η is the feminine nominative singular article.
- The ending -η is very commonly used for feminine nouns in the nominative singular (e.g. η πόλη, η αγάπη – different spelling but same idea: feminine noun).
So Η ενσυναίσθηση is a standard feminine noun phrase in the nominative, acting as the subject: Empathy helps…
Both βοηθάει and βοηθά are correct 3rd‑person singular forms of βοηθάω (to help).
- βοηθάει: slightly more “full” form
- βοηθά: more colloquial/shortened, also very common
Meaning: “(he/she/it) helps” or “(something) is helpful”.
In this sentence, Η ενσυναίσθηση βοηθάει… = “Empathy helps…”.
You could also say Η ενσυναίσθηση βοηθά… with no change in meaning. Both are natural.
In this sentence:
- όταν θέλουμε = “when we want”
Όταν is used for “when” in the sense of whenever / every time that, referring to time.
- όταν = when (time, whenever)
- αν = if (condition)
Compare:
- Η ενσυναίσθηση βοηθάει όταν θέλουμε να καταλάβουμε…
⇒ Empathy helps when we want to understand… - Η ενσυναίσθηση βοηθάει αν θέλουμε να καταλάβουμε…
⇒ Empathy helps if we want to understand… (only on the condition that we want to)
So όταν is correct here because the idea is “on occasions when we want to understand,” not a logical condition.
Modern Greek doesn’t use an infinitive like English “to understand”. Instead, it uses να + a finite verb form, often called the subjunctive.
- θέλουμε = we want
- να καταλάβουμε = (that) we understand / (for us) to understand
Structure:
- θέλω + να + [subjunctive] = I want to …
- θέλω να καταλάβω = I want to understand
- θέλουμε να καταλάβουμε = we want to understand
So να καταλάβουμε is not an infinitive; it’s a 1st person plural verb in the subjunctive, introduced by να. Functionally, though, it corresponds to English “to understand” in this context.
Greek verbs have two basic aspects:
- Imperfective (ongoing, repeated): καταλαβαίνουμε
- Perfective (single, complete event): καταλάβουμε
Θέλουμε να καταλάβουμε uses the perfective, because the idea is “we want to reach understanding”, to achieve it as a result.
If you said θέλουμε να καταλαβαίνουμε, it would sound more like:
- “we want to be (in the state of) understanding / we want to keep understanding”, a more continuous or repeated process.
In this context (“to really understand how someone feels”), the natural choice is the perfective να καταλάβουμε, focusing on achieving that understanding.
Πραγματικά is an adverb meaning “really, truly, genuinely”.
Here:
- να καταλάβουμε πραγματικά πώς νιώθει…
⇒ to really understand how … feels.
Position:
- It usually goes before or after the verb or clause it modifies:
- να καταλάβουμε πραγματικά πώς νιώθει
- να καταλάβουμε πώς νιώθει πραγματικά (slightly different emphasis)
In this sentence, putting πραγματικά before πώς νιώθει emphasizes the depth/true nature of the understanding: we want to really grasp how they feel.
- πώς νιώθει = “how (he/she/they) feels”
- πώς = how
- νιώθει = (he/she/it) feels (from νιώθω = to feel)
You can often use νιώθω and αισθάνομαι similarly about feelings:
- πώς αισθάνεται also means “how (he/she) feels”.
Differences:
- νιώθω is more common and a bit more colloquial.
- αισθάνομαι can sound slightly more formal/standard, though it’s also everyday.
Both would be fine here:
- …πώς νιώθει κάποιος άλλος
- …πώς αισθάνεται κάποιος άλλος
No major change in meaning.
The subject of νιώθει is κάποιος άλλος (“someone else”).
Greek doesn’t need a separate pronoun like he/she when the subject is already expressed:
- κάποιος άλλος νιώθει = someone else feels
- In the sentence, word order is: πώς νιώθει κάποιος άλλος = how someone else feels
So νιώθει is 3rd person singular and agrees with κάποιος άλλος. There’s no need to add αυτός / αυτή (“he/she”) unless you want to emphasize that particular person.
Κάποιος άλλος means “someone else” or “another person”.
- κάποιος = someone, somebody (indefinite pronoun, masculine form used generically)
- άλλος = other / another
Order: indefinite pronoun + adjective is the normal pattern here:
- κάποιος άλλος = some other (person)
- Literally: “some other (one)”
If you said άλλος κάποιος, it would sound unusual or would need a special context or emphasis. The fixed, natural phrase for “someone else” is κάποιος άλλος.
Note: Even though κάποιος is grammatically masculine, in general statements like this it is understood as gender‑neutral (“someone” of any gender).
You could see a phrase like Ενσυναίσθηση βοηθάει…, especially in headings, slogans, or very telegraphic style, but in normal, full sentences it sounds incomplete or slightly odd.
In standard, natural Greek:
- Η ενσυναίσθηση βοηθάει… is what you want.
Dropping the article is not grammatically impossible, but with abstract nouns it’s usually more idiomatic to keep Η.
Ενσυναίσθηση is pronounced approximately: en-see-NÉE-sthee-see
More precisely (using English approximations):
- εν‑ = “en” as in end
- ‑συ‑ = “see” (but shorter)
- ‑ναί‑ = stressed syllable, like “NEH”
- ‑σθη‑ = “sth-ee” (the σθ is like “st” + “th” together; say them quickly)
- ‑ση = “see”
Stress: on the ναί syllable → εν‑συ‑ΝΑΪ‑σθη‑ση.
The written accent (ενσυναίσθηση) shows you where to stress it.