Κράτα το χαρτάκι με τον αριθμό σου, γιατί το θέλουν στο γκισέ.

Keep the little slip of paper with your number, because they want it at the counter.

Breakdown of Κράτα το χαρτάκι με τον αριθμό σου, γιατί το θέλουν στο γκισέ.

• θέλω: to want
• σου: your
• με: with
• σε: at

Questions & Answers about Κράτα το χαρτάκι με τον αριθμό σου, γιατί το θέλουν στο γκισέ.

Why is Κράτα used here? Is it a command?

Yes. Κράτα is the informal singular imperative of κρατάω / κρατώ, meaning keep, hold onto, or hang on to.

So Κράτα το χαρτάκι means Keep the slip.

A few useful comparisons:

• Κράτα = command to one person, informal
• Κρατήστε = command to more than one person or one person formally

So if a clerk were speaking politely, they might say Κρατήστε το χαρτάκι.

Why Κράτα and not κράτησε?

This is a very common learner question because Greek has different imperative forms that can suggest slightly different aspect.

• Κράτα is the imperfective/present imperative
• Κράτησε is the aorist imperative

In many situations:

• Κράτα suggests keep holding onto it / keep it
• Κράτησε often sounds more like take it / hold it / keep it once

In this sentence, Κράτα fits well because the idea is don’t throw it away; keep it with you.

What does χαρτάκι mean exactly?