Μην τσαλακώνεις το πουκάμισο στην τσάντα, γιατί θα χρειαστεί πάλι σιδέρωμα.

Don’t crumple the shirt in the bag, because it will need ironing again.

Breakdown of Μην τσαλακώνεις το πουκάμισο στην τσάντα, γιατί θα χρειαστεί πάλι σιδέρωμα.

• γιατί: because
• χρειάζομαι: to need
• θα: will
• μην: not

Questions & Answers about Μην τσαλακώνεις το πουκάμισο στην τσάντα, γιατί θα χρειαστεί πάλι σιδέρωμα.

Why does the sentence start with Μην instead of Δεν?

Because Μην is used for negative commands in Modern Greek.

• Μην τσαλακώνεις... = Don’t wrinkle/crumple...
• Δεν τσαλακώνεις... would mean something like You are not wrinkling..., which is just a statement, not a command.

So Μην is the normal word you use when telling someone not to do something.

Why is the verb τσαλακώνεις here? It looks like a normal you form, not an imperative.

That is very normal in Greek. Negative commands are not formed with a special negative imperative form. Instead, Greek uses:

μην + subjunctive form

With many verbs, the imperfective subjunctive looks the same as the present-tense form. So:

• τσαλακώνεις can look like you wrinkle / you are wrinkling
• but after μην, it means don’t wrinkle / don’t be wrinkling

So Μην τσαλακώνεις is a perfectly standard way to say Don’t wrinkle it.

What is the difference between Μην τσαλακώνεις and Μην τσαλακώσεις?