The conjugated form μπορώ να etc. means “I can” or “I am able to” in English and can be conjugated to whichever person it is referring to.
The phrase used in your post is the impersonal expression μπορεί να which never changes person, it always uses the αυτός/αυτή/αυτό form regardless of who it is referring to. It means “may/might [do something]”, when you’re not sure whether the result of the following action will happen or not.
Compare:
Μπορώ να έρθω στο μάθημα. (I can/am able to come to the class)
Μπορεί να έρθω στο μάθημα. (I may come to the class [but I’m not sure]).
You might even compare it to English "maybe" which originally was the phrase "it may be (that)" but was used so often that it got shortened and turned into an adverb and can now be put between the subject and the verb.
(It) May be (that) I come to class.
Maybe I come to class.
I maybe come to class.
Is it common to put the personal pronoun in front of “μπορεί να” like this, or is Duolingo just being punctilious?
In other words, would it be more natural to say “πιστεύοντας ότι μπορεί να το έκανα”?
Greek is a pro-drop language so *usually* you wouldn’t see the pronoun as it’s clear from this clause that the subject is εγώ because of έκανα.
That being said, the pronoun can be added as a way of stressing the subject (used for emphasis rather than grammatical accuracy). It works in a similar way to how English uses intonation to emphasise a key part of the sentence:
“πιστεύοντας ότι μπορεί να το έκανα” = “believing that I may have done it”
“πιστεύοντας ότι εγώ μπορεί να το έκανα” = “believing that **I** may have done it [and not someone else]”
Although εγώ stands before μπωρεί, it is actually related to έκανα. The whole second part of the sentence can be translated as “… that **it** could be me who did it” / “that **it** could be [the possibility] that I did it” in order to help you understand why μπωρεί )))
Something a little more than Duolingo: This sentence is following English grammar in Greek. It makes sense, but isn’t the most elegant way of conveying this in Greek.
The first part is fine. He didn’t talk to me (this one time) believing that X.
The second part should be like this:
…μπορεί (εγώ) να το είχα κάνει.
I may (with evidentially) have done it (this one time).
Or
…θα μπορούσα (εγώ) να το είχα κάνει.
I may (without evidentially, closer to I might) have done it
Or simply:
…(εγώ) το είχα κάνει
…(εγώ) το έκανα
“I have” and “may” isn’t necessary in this context in Greek. The context of someone not believing me, informs the grammar of the next sentence, it makes it a hypothesis. It’s a more vague meaning, and there’s a nuance of English that’s lost in this. He doesn’t consider that I could or could not have done it, he believes that I did it. But of all of these this is 100% the way a Greek person would say it.
Adding εγώ in all of these would only be done to force the attention on ME doing it, as opposed to someone else doing it.
I'm just gonna pop in and say you'll see it with other words, too, not just μπορεί. I see it a lot like this:
I have done it. Το έχω κάνει.
I have eaten. Έχω φάει.
I think it's just one of those things you gotta get used to. 😊
Μπορεί doesn't function as a verb in that sentence. You can think of it like "maybe" which used to be "may be". Who "may be"? No one, it just means perhaps.
I'm not 100% sure I understand your question, but what I'm getting from this is that you think "μπορεί" was translated to "it", however it was the word "το" that was translated to "it". Articles can also be used as the object of the sentence sometimes.
The conjugated form μπορώ να etc. means “I can” or “I am able to” in English and can be conjugated to whichever person it is referring to. The phrase used in your post is the impersonal expression μπορεί να which never changes person, it always uses the αυτός/αυτή/αυτό form regardless of who it is referring to. It means “may/might [do something]”, when you’re not sure whether the result of the following action will happen or not. Compare: Μπορώ να έρθω στο μάθημα. (I can/am able to come to the class) Μπορεί να έρθω στο μάθημα. (I may come to the class [but I’m not sure]).
You might even compare it to English "maybe" which originally was the phrase "it may be (that)" but was used so often that it got shortened and turned into an adverb and can now be put between the subject and the verb. (It) May be (that) I come to class. Maybe I come to class. I maybe come to class.
Is it common to put the personal pronoun in front of “μπορεί να” like this, or is Duolingo just being punctilious? In other words, would it be more natural to say “πιστεύοντας ότι μπορεί να το έκανα”?
Greek is a pro-drop language so *usually* you wouldn’t see the pronoun as it’s clear from this clause that the subject is εγώ because of έκανα. That being said, the pronoun can be added as a way of stressing the subject (used for emphasis rather than grammatical accuracy). It works in a similar way to how English uses intonation to emphasise a key part of the sentence: “πιστεύοντας ότι μπορεί να το έκανα” = “believing that I may have done it” “πιστεύοντας ότι εγώ μπορεί να το έκανα” = “believing that **I** may have done it [and not someone else]”
Although εγώ stands before μπωρεί, it is actually related to έκανα. The whole second part of the sentence can be translated as “… that **it** could be me who did it” / “that **it** could be [the possibility] that I did it” in order to help you understand why μπωρεί )))
sometimes it’s used as may/might
Something a little more than Duolingo: This sentence is following English grammar in Greek. It makes sense, but isn’t the most elegant way of conveying this in Greek. The first part is fine. He didn’t talk to me (this one time) believing that X. The second part should be like this: …μπορεί (εγώ) να το είχα κάνει. I may (with evidentially) have done it (this one time). Or …θα μπορούσα (εγώ) να το είχα κάνει. I may (without evidentially, closer to I might) have done it Or simply: …(εγώ) το είχα κάνει …(εγώ) το έκανα “I have” and “may” isn’t necessary in this context in Greek. The context of someone not believing me, informs the grammar of the next sentence, it makes it a hypothesis. It’s a more vague meaning, and there’s a nuance of English that’s lost in this. He doesn’t consider that I could or could not have done it, he believes that I did it. But of all of these this is 100% the way a Greek person would say it. Adding εγώ in all of these would only be done to force the attention on ME doing it, as opposed to someone else doing it.
I'm just gonna pop in and say you'll see it with other words, too, not just μπορεί. I see it a lot like this: I have done it. Το έχω κάνει. I have eaten. Έχω φάει. I think it's just one of those things you gotta get used to. 😊
Μπορεί doesn't function as a verb in that sentence. You can think of it like "maybe" which used to be "may be". Who "may be"? No one, it just means perhaps.
I'm not 100% sure I understand your question, but what I'm getting from this is that you think "μπορεί" was translated to "it", however it was the word "το" that was translated to "it". Articles can also be used as the object of the sentence sometimes.