Δεν θέλω να σου χρωστάω λεφτά για πολύ, γι’ αυτό πέρασα από την τράπεζα πριν έρθω.

I don’t want to owe you money for long, so I stopped by the bank before I came.

Breakdown of Δεν θέλω να σου χρωστάω λεφτά για πολύ, γι’ αυτό πέρασα από την τράπεζα πριν έρθω.

• θέλω: to want
• δεν: not
• να: to
• πριν: before

Questions & Answers about Δεν θέλω να σου χρωστάω λεφτά για πολύ, γι’ αυτό πέρασα από την τράπεζα πριν έρθω.

Why is there να after θέλω?

Greek does not use an infinitive the way English does. So after θέλω you normally get να plus a finite verb.

• θέλω να φύγω = I want to leave
• θέλω να κοιμηθώ = I want to sleep

So Δεν θέλω να σου χρωστάω is literally something like I don’t want that I be owing you, but in natural English it is just I don’t want to owe you.

Why is it να σου χρωστάω and not some other form like να σου χρωστήσω?

χρωστάω here is the imperfective form, which fits the idea of an ongoing state: to be owing or to be in debt.

The speaker means: I don’t want to keep owing you money for long.

If you used a perfective form such as χρωστήσω, it would sound more like to come to owe or to owe as a single completed event, which is not the point here. The sentence is about a continuing situation, so χρωστάω is the natural choice.

What does σου mean here, and why does it come before the verb?

σου means to you.

It is the weak form of the pronoun, often called a clitic, and in Greek these short object pronouns usually come before the verb:

• σου χρωστάω = I owe you
• σου λέω = I tell you
• σου δίνω = I give you

So να σου χρωστάω λεφτά = to owe you money.