Breakdown of Παίρνω το τηλεκοντρόλ από το τραπεζάκι και πατάω το κόκκινο κουμπί για να ανοίξει η τηλεόραση.
Questions & Answers about Παίρνω το τηλεκοντρόλ από το τραπεζάκι και πατάω το κόκκινο κουμπί για να ανοίξει η τηλεόραση.
In Greek, the present tense with imperfective aspect (παίρνω, πατάω) usually covers both:
- simple present: I take, I press
- present continuous: I am taking, I am pressing
Context decides which English version you use.
So:
- Παίρνω το τηλεκοντρόλ = I take / I’m taking the remote
- πατάω το κόκκινο κουμπί = I press / I’m pressing the red button
There is no separate continuous form like “I am taking” in Greek; the same form serves both functions.
Τηλεκοντρόλ (remote control) is treated as a neuter noun in Modern Greek:
- το τηλεκοντρόλ = the remote (nominative/accusative singular)
It’s a loanword and is usually indeclinable, meaning it keeps the same form:
- Singular: το τηλεκοντρόλ
- Plural: τα τηλεκοντρόλ
- Genitive: often also του τηλεκοντρόλ
So you mainly show case and number by changing the article (το, του, τα), not the noun itself.
Τραπεζάκι is the diminutive of τραπέζι (table).
- τραπέζι = table
- τραπεζάκι = little table, often a coffee table / side table / small low table
The suffix -άκι often adds the idea of “small” or sometimes affectionate tone.
In this sentence, το τραπεζάκι naturally suggests a coffee table or small table in a living room, where the remote is resting.
Από in this context means “from”:
- από το τραπεζάκι = from the small table / off the small table
The structure is:
- Παίρνω κάτι από κάπου = I take something from somewhere
So the sentence literally has:
“I take the remote from the small table.”
Από always governs the accusative case, which is why you see το τραπεζάκι (accusative neuter singular).
Για να introduces a purpose clause, meaning “in order to / so that”.
- για να ανοίξει η τηλεόραση
= in order for the TV to turn on / so that the TV turns on
Pattern:
- για να + subjunctive = to express purpose or intended result
So the structure is:
- πατάω το κόκκινο κουμπί
για να ανοίξει η τηλεόραση
= I press the red button in order for the TV to turn on.
Without για, να alone has broader uses (after many verbs, to express wishes, etc.), but για να clearly marks purpose.
Ανοίξει is the aorist subjunctive, 3rd person singular of ανοίγω.
- Present indicative: ανοίγει = it opens / it is opening
- Aorist subjunctive: να ανοίξει = (for) it to open (as a single completed event)
With για να, Greek almost always uses the subjunctive, and in this kind of purpose clause you typically choose the aorist subjunctive to refer to a single, completed action:
- για να ανοίξει η τηλεόραση
= for the TV to turn on (once, as a result of pressing the button)
If you said για να ανοίγει η τηλεόραση, it would sound like “so that the TV is (kept) opening / keeps opening,” which is odd here.
In the clause για να ανοίξει η τηλεόραση, the TV is the subject of the verb ανοίξει.
- η τηλεόραση = nominative singular feminine → subject
- ανοίξει = 3rd person singular → agrees with the subject
So grammatically it’s:
- (Για να) ανοίξει (ποιος;) η τηλεόραση
= (For) the TV to turn on
If you used την τηλεόραση, that would be accusative, which marks the object, but here the TV is not something being opened by someone in this clause; it is the thing that does the opening (it turns on).
In Greek, the subject pronoun is usually omitted, because the verb ending already shows the person:
- παίρνω = I take
- πατάω = I press
So:
- Παίρνω το τηλεκοντρόλ…
is perfectly natural and normal Greek.
You can add εγώ for emphasis or contrast:
- Εγώ παίρνω το τηλεκοντρόλ, όχι εσύ.
= I take the remote, not you.
But in a neutral description like this sentence, you normally leave it out.
All three are in the accusative case (neuter singular):
- το τηλεκοντρόλ = direct object of παίρνω
- (από) το τραπεζάκι = object of the preposition από, which takes the accusative
- το κόκκινο κουμπί = direct object of πατάω
So:
- Παίρνω τι; → το τηλεκοντρόλ
- Από πού; → από το τραπεζάκι
- Πατάω τι; → το κόκκινο κουμπί
In Greek, both direct objects and objects of most prepositions are in the accusative.
The normal adjective–noun order in Greek is:
- article + adjective + noun
So:
- το κόκκινο κουμπί = the red button
- το (article, neuter sing.)
- κόκκινο (adjective, neuter sing. accusative, agrees with κουμπί)
- κουμπί (noun, neuter sing. accusative)
You can say το κουμπί είναι κόκκινο = the button is red, but then κόκκινο is a predicate adjective after the verb είναι, not directly modifying the noun in a noun phrase.
So for “the red button” as a noun phrase, το κόκκινο κουμπί is the standard structure.
Yes. Greek word order is fairly flexible, especially with objects and prepositional phrases. All of these are possible and grammatical:
- Παίρνω το τηλεκοντρόλ από το τραπεζάκι.
- Παίρνω από το τραπεζάκι το τηλεκοντρόλ.
The most neutral in everyday speech is probably the original:
- Παίρνω το τηλεκοντρόλ από το τραπεζάκι
Moving phrases around can slightly change emphasis, but not the basic meaning.
For pressing buttons, pedals, keys, etc., πατάω is the most common everyday verb:
- πατάω το κουμπί = I press the button
- πατάω το γκάζι = I press the gas pedal
Πιέζω also means press / push, but it is:
- less common with buttons in everyday speech
- more used in contexts like pressure, squeezing, pushing down (e.g. πιέζω κάποιον = I put pressure on someone)
So in this sentence, πατάω το κόκκινο κουμπί is the natural, idiomatic choice.
Yes, you can say:
- Πατάω το κόκκινο κουμπί και ανοίγει η τηλεόραση.
= I press the red button and the TV turns on.
Differences:
και ανοίγει η τηλεόραση
- Describes two events in sequence: I press, and then it turns on.
- It’s more like simply narrating what happens.
για να ανοίξει η τηλεόραση
- Emphasizes purpose / intended result: I press the button in order for the TV to turn on.
- Focuses on why I press it.
Both are correct; the original sentence focuses more on the purpose of pressing the button.
In Greek, many verbs like ανοίγω work both transitively and intransitively:
- Transitive:
- Ανοίγω την τηλεόραση. = I open / turn on the TV.
- Intransitive:
- Η τηλεόραση ανοίγει. = The TV opens / turns on.
The form of the verb is the same; whether it’s transitive or intransitive is understood from context and subject.
In για να ανοίξει η τηλεόραση, the TV is the subject, so it’s the intransitive meaning:
- να ανοίξει η τηλεόραση = for the TV to turn on
The verb appears in the active voice, but the meaning is intransitive, just like English “the door opens”, “the TV turns on”.