Breakdown of Είχα να πάω σε βάφτιση από τότε που ήταν μικρή η ξαδέρφη μου.
είμαι
to be
πάω
to go
έχω
to have
να
to
Questions & Answers about Είχα να πάω σε βάφτιση από τότε που ήταν μικρή η ξαδέρφη μου.
What kind of expression is είχα να πάω?
This is a very common Greek pattern: έχω / είχα να + verb.
It is used to say that a long time has passed since someone last did something, or that they had not done something for some time up to a point in the past.
So here, είχα να πάω σε βάφτιση... means something like:
- I hadn’t been to a christening...
- It had been a long time since I had gone to a christening...
Even though είχα by itself just means I had, in this structure it creates that it had been since... / I hadn’t done... for a long time meaning.
Why is there να after είχα?
Because έχω / είχα να is a fixed grammatical construction in Greek.
After να, Greek normally uses the form that learners often call the subjunctive form. So:
- να πάω
- να δω
- να φύγω
In this sentence, να does not mean in order to. It is just part of the structure είχα να πάω, which expresses how long it had been since I went.
Why is it πάω and not πηγαίνω or πήγα?