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Φαντάζεσαι να μην είχαμε ρεπό και να έπρεπε να κάνουμε όλα αυτά μετά τη δουλειά;

Φαντάζεσαι να μην είχαμε ρεπό και να έπρεπε να κάνουμε όλα αυτά μετά τη δουλειά;
Can you imagine if we didn’t have a day off and had to do all this after work?

Breakdown of Φαντάζεσαι να μην είχαμε ρεπό και να έπρεπε να κάνουμε όλα αυτά μετά τη δουλειά;

και
and
η δουλειά
the work
έχω
to have
να
to
πρέπει
to have to
μην
not
μετά
after
κάνω
to do
όλος
all
αυτά
these
φαντάζομαι
to imagine
το ρεπό
the day off
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Questions & Answers about Φαντάζεσαι να μην είχαμε ρεπό και να έπρεπε να κάνουμε όλα αυτά μετά τη δουλειά;

Why does the sentence start with Φαντάζεσαι (2nd person singular)? Who is doing the imagining?

Φαντάζεσαι literally means you imagine / you’re imagining, but in this kind of question it works like English Can you imagine…? It’s addressing the listener directly (informal singular you).
The situations being imagined involve we (because of είχαμε and κάνουμε).

What exactly does Φαντάζεσαι να… mean, and why is να used here?

Φαντάζεσαι να… is a very common spoken pattern meaning Imagine… / Can you imagine… followed by a hypothetical scenario.
Greek often uses να + verb after verbs like φαντάζομαι to introduce the imagined situation.

Why is the negative να μην είχαμε using μην instead of δεν?

Because μην is the normal negation with the subjunctive-type structure introduced by να.

  • δεν is used mainly with the indicative (straight statements of fact).
    So after να, you typically negate with μη(ν): να μην…
Why is it να μην είχαμε (imperfect) instead of something like a present tense?

είχαμε is the imperfect of έχω (we had / we were having), and here it helps create a hypothetical / unreal feel, similar to English Imagine if we didn’t have a day off…
In these “imagine” scenarios, Greek commonly uses the imperfect to frame the situation as not real (or at least not actual).

What does ρεπό mean, and is it a “normal” Greek word?

ρεπό means a day off / time off (from work). It’s extremely common in everyday Greek and comes from a loanword (related to the idea of “rest”).
You’ll often see it with an article: το ρεπό (the day off). In practice it’s often treated as (effectively) indeclinable in casual speech.

Why is there a second να after και: …και να έπρεπε…?

Greek often repeats να when linking two parallel imagined/hypothetical clauses:

  • να μην είχαμε ρεπό
  • και να έπρεπε…

That repeated να keeps the two parts clearly in the same “imagined scenario” frame. It’s very natural in Greek.

What does έπρεπε mean here, and why is it past (imperfect)?

έπρεπε is the past/imperfect form of πρέπει and means we would have to / we had to / we were supposed to depending on context.
Here, with the “imagine” setup, it’s basically: …and (imagine that) we’d have to…
The imperfect matches the hypothetical setup and keeps the whole scenario “backshifted” (not presented as a simple present reality).

Why do we get να έπρεπε να κάνουμε (two να’s in the same stretch)?

They belong to two different structures: 1) και να έπρεπε… → this να links έπρεπε into the imagined scenario (parallel to να μην είχαμε…)
2) έπρεπε να κάνουμε… → πρέπει / έπρεπε normally takes a complement introduced by να (must/should + do)

So the second να is required by έπρεπε.

Why is it να κάνουμε (present subjunctive) after έπρεπε instead of a past tense like να κάναμε?

After πρέπει/έπρεπε, Greek normally uses να + present subjunctive for the action:

  • πρέπει να κάνουμε = we must do
  • έπρεπε να κάνουμε = we had to / we would have to do

The “pastness” (or hypothetical backshift) is carried mainly by έπρεπε, not by changing κάνουμε into a past form.

What’s going on with μετά τη δουλειά—why τη and why that case?

μετά normally takes the accusative in Modern Greek, so δουλειά appears with the accusative article:

  • την δουλειά → often shortened in speech/writing to τη δουλειά (dropping the ν) before a consonant sound.

Meaning-wise, μετά τη δουλειά is simply after work / after the job.

Why is there a ; at the end instead of a ?

In Greek, the question mark is written as a semicolon: ;
So the final ; is exactly the same as an English ?.

Is Φαντάζεσαι…; informal? What are common alternatives?

Yes, it’s conversational. Very common alternatives are:

  • Φαντάσου να… = Imagine… (imperative, also informal and very common)
  • Μπορείς να φανταστείς να…; = Can you imagine…? (a bit more explicit)
  • Φαντάζεστε…; = same as the original but formal/plural you