Η δασκάλα μάς ζητάει να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία και να κάνουμε ερωτήσεις.

The teacher asks us to take initiative and ask questions.

Breakdown of Η δασκάλα μάς ζητάει να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία και να κάνουμε ερωτήσεις.

• και: and
• να: to
• κάνω ερώτηση: to ask a question
• μας: us
• η δασκάλα: the female teacher
• ζητάω: to ask
• παίρνω πρωτοβουλία: to take initiative

Questions & Answers about Η δασκάλα μάς ζητάει να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία και να κάνουμε ερωτήσεις.

Why is there an accent on μάς? What is the difference between μας and μάς?

Μας means us / our. It is normally written without an accent, because it is monosyllabic.

Writers sometimes add an accent (μάς) to show that it is stressed/emphatic or to avoid ambiguity. In this sentence:

• Η δασκάλα μάς ζητάει…
  can be read as
  The teacher is asking us (in particular)…

You could also write:

• Η δασκάλα μας ζητάει να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία…

This is also correct and very common. The pronunciation is the same; the accent just suggests extra emphasis on us in writing.

Why is the verb ζητάει used here instead of ρωτάει? Don’t they both mean “to ask”?

English ask covers two different ideas that Greek usually separates:

• ζητάω = to ask for / request / demand something

  • e.g. Μας ζητάει να κάνουμε ερωτήσεις. = She asks/requests us to ask questions.

• ρωτάω = to ask a question (to request information)

  • e.g. Μας ρωτάει κάτι. = She asks us something / She asks us a question.

In this sentence, the teacher is requesting that the students do something (take initiative and ask questions), so ζητάει is the correct verb.
Using ρωτάει here (Η δασκάλα μας ρωτάει να παίρνουμε…) would be wrong.

Could we say ζητά instead of ζητάει? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can also say:

• Η δασκάλα μάς ζητά να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία…

Differences:

• ζητάει and ζητά are both 3rd person singular present of ζητάω / ζητώ.
• Meaning: identical.
• Style:
  • ζητάει is a bit more colloquial / spoken.
  • ζητά looks slightly shorter and a bit more formal or neutral.
  • ζητώ is the most formal/old-fashioned base form.

All are understood; in everyday speech you’ll hear ζητάει a lot.

Why do we use να παίρνουμε instead of να πάρουμε?

Greek uses two different aspects in the subjunctive:

• Imperfective (continuous): να παίρνουμε
• Aorist (single/complete): να πάρουμε

Here:

• να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία suggests:
  • repeated / habitual / ongoing action:
    “to keep taking initiative”, “to generally take initiative”.

If we said:

• Η δασκάλα μάς ζητάει να πάρουμε πρωτοβουλία,
  this would sound more like “the teacher is asking us to (once) take the initiative” in a particular situation.

Because the idea is about a general attitude or regular behavior, Greek prefers the imperfective να παίρνουμε.

Why is να used before παίρνουμε and κάνουμε? What is its function?

Modern Greek does not have an infinitive like English to do, to take. Instead, it uses να + subjunctive forms to express that idea.

After verbs of wanting, asking, needing, etc., you usually have:

• [main verb] + να + [subjunctive]

Here:

• μάς ζητάει = she asks us
• να παίρνουμε = to take (initiative)
• να κάνουμε = to ask (questions)

So να:

• introduces a subordinate clause (what she is asking us to do),
• marks the subjunctive mood.

Why is it να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία (singular), not πρωτοβουλίες (plural)?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

• να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία

  • very common collocation
  • “to take initiative” in general, as a quality/attitude.

• να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλίες

  • “to take initiatives”, more like multiple concrete actions or specific initiatives.

In your sentence, the teacher is encouraging a general habit of being proactive, so the singular πρωτοβουλία fits naturally.

Why does ερωτήσεις (questions) have no article? Shouldn’t it be τις ερωτήσεις?

Greek often leaves out the article when talking about things in general or in an indefinite way, especially in the plural or with “some-any” meaning.

Compare:

• να κάνουμε ερωτήσεις
  = to ask questions (in general)

• να κάνουμε τις ερωτήσεις
  = to ask the questions (specific, already known questions)

Here the teacher is not referring to any specific set of questions; she wants students to ask questions in general, so no article is appropriate: ερωτήσεις, not τις ερωτήσεις.

Why is μάς placed before ζητάει? Can we say Η δασκάλα ζητάει μάς…?

With weak object pronouns like με, σε, τον, μας, σας, the normal rule in Greek is:

• They go before the verb in most tenses:
  
  • Η δασκάλα μάς ζητάει… = correct
  • Η δασκάλα ζητάει μας… = wrong (unless it’s από μας / σε μας, etc.)

Pronouns go after the verb only:

• with affirmative imperatives (e.g. πες μου, γράψ’ το),
• with some non-finite forms or fixed expressions.

So here, μάς must appear before ζητάει.

Is μάς here “us” as a direct object, or could it also be “our” (possessive)?

In this sentence, μάς is the direct object pronoun:

• ζητάει (τι; ποιον;) μάς
  “she asks us”

The possessive our is also μας:

• η δασκάλα μας = our teacher

But the position and structure make the meaning clear:

• η δασκάλα μας (noun + μας) → typically our teacher
• η δασκάλα μάς ζητάει… (subject + object pronoun + verb) → the teacher asks us…

The accent can also help a reader see it as the object pronoun.

Could we leave out μάς and just say Η δασκάλα ζητάει να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία…?

Yes, grammatically you can, but the meaning changes slightly:

• Η δασκάλα μάς ζητάει…
  → specifically she asks us (the students she is talking to).

• Η δασκάλα ζητάει να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία…
  → more general: “the teacher asks (people / students in general) to take initiative…”

In context, if it’s clear who “we” are, Greek can drop the pronoun, but including μάς makes it explicit that we are the ones being asked.

What is the difference between να κάνουμε ερωτήσεις and simply να ρωτάμε?

Both refer to asking questions, but they are used slightly differently:

• να κάνουμε ερωτήσεις

  • literally “to make questions” → “to ask questions”
  • common, slightly more neutral/formal.

• να ρωτάμε

  • literally “to ask (people)” → “to be asking (things)”
  • more direct/colloquial: “to ask”.

You could say:

• Η δασκάλα μάς ζητάει να ρωτάμε όταν δεν καταλαβαίνουμε.
  “The teacher asks us to ask (questions) when we don’t understand.”

The original version να κάνουμε ερωτήσεις emphasizes the questions themselves; να ρωτάμε focuses on the action of asking.

What does πρωτοβουλία literally mean, and is παίρνω πρωτοβουλία a set expression?

Πρωτοβουλία comes from:

• πρώτος = first
• βουλή = will / decision (in ancient/older Greek)

So it’s like “first decision” → initiative.

The expression παίρνω πρωτοβουλία is an established collocation meaning:

• to take initiative,
• to take the first step / act on your own without being told.

So the whole phrase να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία is very natural Greek for “to take initiative”.

Is η δασκάλα specifically a female teacher? How would you say it if the teacher is male or if gender is unknown?

Yes:

• η δασκάλα = the (female) teacher
• ο δάσκαλος = the (male) teacher

If you don’t know or don’t want to specify gender, in everyday speech people often use the masculine as a generic:

• ο δάσκαλος μάς ζητάει να παίρνουμε πρωτοβουλία…
  “The teacher asks us to take initiative…”

In many contexts, especially in schools, if everyone knows the teacher is a woman, η δασκάλα is the natural choice.