"Το απαγορεύω."

[spdl79]

Is anyone able to explain why we would use το here instead of αυτό?

[troll1995]

Personal pronouns are conjugated too and have a genitive and accusative form. They are as follows:
Singular
Nominative: εγώ, εσύ, αυτός, αυτή, αυτό
Genitive: εμένα (μου), εσένα (σου), αυτού (του), αυτής (της), αυτού (του)
Accusative: εμένα (με),εσένα (σε), αυτόν (τον), αυτήν (την), αυτό (το)
Plural:
Nominative: εμείς, εσείς, αυτοί, αυτές, αυτά
Genitive: εμάς (μας), εσάς (σας), αυτών (τους), αυτών (τους), αυτών (τους)
Accusative: εμάς (μας), εσάς (σας), αυτούς (τους), αυτές (τις), αυτα (τα)

The forms outside parenthesis are the strong or independent forms, those in the parenthesis the weak or dependent. (!) Don't confuse those with the articles, they are different things. The nominative is used when it is the subject of the sentence. The genitive when it is the indirect object and the accusative when it is the direct object. For indirect objects you can use the weak genitive form before the verb or σε+Strong accusative form after the verb. But this is the difference: Μου δίνει ένα μήλο=He gives me an apple, Δίνει ένα μήλο σε εμένα= He gives an apple to me.
Now, when using the accusative for a direct object, you use the weak form before the verb. Το δίνει= He gives it. Δίνει αυτό is a really weird thing to say unless you say το δίνει αυτό = he gives THIS (not it). A sentence compiling all the above is Μας το δίνει= he give it to us.

[solidgitarius]

Personal pronouns are conjugated too

Mmm... no. Verbs are conjugated, but pronouns and nouns are declined.

[Giorgio182480]

Whenever Greek Duo tries to teach me a noun with more than 4 syllables, I politely decline.

[spdl79]

Thank you so much for the detailed answer! I did actually know the nom/gen/acc pronouns before starting the course, but not really how to use them properly. When I came across this question, I did wonder why an article was being used, but I get it now, ie, it's accusative neuter 'it'. Thanks again!

[Rob183829]

In Greek is there a subtle difference in meaning/emphasis between using the σε+strong or weak forms in a phrase. E.g. Is one more informal or used more in written Greek, would it be considered pedantic to use one or the other, etc.?

[troll1995]

Σε+strong forms are more emphatic, there is no other difference.

[fotiosgaridis]

Hello,
"I forbid it" translates as "Το απαγορεύω". "Το απαγορεύω αυτό" or "Αυτό το απαγορεύω" would be "I forbid this".
The main difference is that when you use "this" = "αυτό" you use a demonstrative pronoun useful in a context where you are discussing something materially visible or you're referring to a concrete concept. Without the demonstrative pronoun, you use a personal pronoun (in this case only with the article "το") that it is more vague, general or abstract and it can sound more formal or severe:

Examples (maybe not the best ones):

• Μπορώ να βγω με την Μαρία; / May I go out with Mary?

• Το απαγορεύω / I forbid it.
  Here we can imagine a severe father forbidding to his child going out with Mary.

• Ωραίο κρασί, μπορώ να ανάψω και ένα τσιγάρο; / Nice wine, may I light up a cigarette too?

• Όχι, αυτό το απαγορεύω. OR Όχι, αυτό απαγορεύεται. / No, I forbid this. OR No, this is forbidden. Imagine a situation with two friends in a house or a place where it's not possible to smoke.

Hope this clarifies a little bit.

[spdl79]

Awesome, thank you, that's really helpful too!

Have to say, as much as I love Memrise, and as much as there are a couple of really helpful people on their Greek boards (Neal/nphx in particular), the community here is particularly awesome.

[nphx2]

;) The problem with Memrise is the fact that the forums are not tightly coupled with courses any more. And even when they were, it was far from ideal. (But Duolingo discussions are not perfect either)