Breakdown of Πρέπει να μεταφέρω δύο βαριά κουτιά στο υπόγειο πριν έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι.
να
to
δύο
two
πρέπει
to have to
πριν
before
Questions & Answers about Πρέπει να μεταφέρω δύο βαριά κουτιά στο υπόγειο πριν έρθουν οι καλεσμένοι.
Why does the sentence start with Πρέπει? Who is “doing” the needing?
Πρέπει is an impersonal verb meaning it is necessary / one must. It doesn’t have a subject like English I must.
So Πρέπει να μεταφέρω… literally works like It’s necessary for me to carry…, where μεταφέρω (1st person) shows that you are the one who must do it.
Why is there να after Πρέπει?
In Greek, after verbs/expressions like πρέπει, you normally use να + verb (the subjunctive structure) instead of an infinitive.
So Greek says Πρέπει να μεταφέρω (not “Πρέπει μεταφέρειν” or similar), meaning I must/need to carry.
What tense/mood is μεταφέρω here?
μεταφέρω is present subjunctive (formally it looks like the present tense, but with να it functions as subjunctive).
It expresses what you need to do, not something happening right now. It’s equivalent to (to) carry / move in I need to carry/move.
Why use μεταφέρω instead of a more basic verb like φέρω?