Learn Greek › A2 › νά
νά
to (marks the subjunctive, e.g. "want to go") /ˈna/
particleA2#815 most common
Also: that, here is / there is
Example sentences
Θέλω να πάω σπίτι.
I want to go home.
Να η Μαρία!
There's Maria!
Πρέπει να φύγω τώρα.
I have to leave now.
Μπορείς να με βοηθήσεις;
Can you help me?
Να προσέχεις στο δρόμο!
Be careful on the road!
Ελπίζω να μην έχει βρέξει όταν φτάσουμε.
I hope it hasn't rained by the time we arrive.
Word family
θαfuture tense marker, historically a fusion of θέλει ("it wants") and νάας"let", hortative particle used in similar subjunctive constructions
μηνnegation used together with νά-clauses (να μην πας = "don't go")
πού"that/which", relative particle sometimes confused with νά by learnersEtymology
Νά comes from Ancient Greek ἵνα (hína), a conjunction meaning "so that" or "in order that". Over centuries of spoken use, the word lost its initial vowel and final syllable, wearing down to the single syllable νά. Modern Greek has no infinitive verb form, so νά plus a subjunctive verb took over the job that "to" plus a verb does in English.
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