Poios

Poios is a Greek pronoun that translates to "who" in English. It is used in both classical and modern Greek to ask for identification or to inquire about a person's identity. The word is derived from the ancient Greek verb ποῖος, meaning "of what kind" or "which". In contemporary Greek, poios is often employed in question forms such as ποιος συναντάς; (who do you meet?) or ποιος είναι; (who is it?), and is commonly accompanied by the noun it refers to. The pronoun can also function as an adjective in certain contexts, for example ποιοσδήποτε (anyone).

The orthography and pronunciation of poios vary slightly between regions. In standard modern Greek, the spelling is ποιος and it is pronounced [ˈpɔjos]. In Venetian Greek dialects and other archaic forms, alternative spellings such as ποιος or ποιός can appear, though these are less standard. Poios remains a foundational element of Greek syntax, giving speakers a simple mechanism for forming interrogative sentences about people. Because it is grammatically neutral with respect to gender, it can refer to any person regardless of male or female.

In literary texts, poios occasionally appears as part of larger epithets or in rhetorical questions, demonstrating its versatility in both informal conversation and formal writing. The term has also appeared in modern Greek media and fan literature, where it may be employed as a character name or a brand identifier. Although primarily a question word, its frequent usage and historical continuity make poios a subject of linguistic interest for scholars studying Greek grammar and the evolution of pronouns.