No infinitive: the να construction
Greek lost the infinitive completely — a form meaning "to do", "to drink", "to go" does not exist. Where English lines up two verbs ("I want to drink"), Greek puts να and conjugates the second verb as well. For example: “Θέλω να πιω νερό” — I want to drink some water. A rule from the Greek course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Greek lost the infinitive completely — a form meaning "to do", "to drink", "to go" does not exist. Where English lines up two verbs ("I want to drink"), Greek puts να (na) and conjugates the second verb as well.
"I want to drink" comes out literally as "I want that I drink": θέλω να πιω (thélo na pio). "We want to drink" is θέλουμε να πιούμε — the second verb moves together with the first.
Practical consequence: the dictionary form of a Greek verb is the first person of the present (μιλάω (miláo) — "I speak"), not an infinitive. That is how this course writes verbs, and that is how any Greek dictionary does.
The same feature lives in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Romanian: a Balkan club of neighboring languages that took on each other's machinery.
By example
- Θέλω να πιω νερόthélo na pio neróI want to drink some water
- Μπορείτε να μιλάτε πιο αργά;boríte na miláte pio argá?Could you speak more slowly?
- Πάμε να φάμεpáme na fámeLet's go and eat
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Why Greek has no infinitive?
Greek lost the infinitive completely — a form meaning "to do", "to drink", "to go" does not exist. Where English lines up two verbs ("I want to drink"), Greek puts να and conjugates the second verb as well.
How to say I want to drink in Greek?
"I want to drink" comes out literally as "I want that I drink": θέλω να πιω. "We want to drink" is θέλουμε να πιούμε — the second verb moves together with the first.
What να is in Greek?
Practical consequence: the dictionary form of a Greek verb is the first person of the present (μιλάω — "I speak"), not an infinitive. That is how this course writes verbs, and that is how any Greek dictionary does.
Why both verbs are conjugated in θέλω να πιω?
The same feature lives in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Romanian: a Balkan club of neighboring languages that took on each other's machinery.
What does it look like in an example sentence Greek?
“Θέλω να πιω νερό” (thélo na pio neró) — I want to drink some water. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.