Learn Hardcore Greek: Αυτός θέλει νερό και μετά τσάι.

Greek is a “pro‑drop” language, so you can omit the subject pronoun. Bold Θέλει νερό και μετά τσάι. already means “He/She/It wants water and then tea.” You keep bold Αυτός to emphasize “he (as opposed to someone else),” or to make the gender explicit. For a woman, you could say bold Αυτή θέλει…, but the verb form stays the same: bold θέλει.

How do you pronounce the sentence?

Approximate pronunciation (IPA first, then a simple guide):

bold Αυτός: [afˈtos] (af-TOS; bold αυ sounds like “af” here)
bold θέλει: [ˈθeli] (THEH-lee; bold θ like “th” in think; bold ει = “ee”)
bold νερό: [neˈro] (ne-RO)
bold και: [ce] (keh; not “kai”)
bold μετά: [meˈta] (me-TA)
bold τσάι: [ˈtsai] (TSAI, like “ts” + “eye”)

Full sentence: [afˈtos ˈθeli neˈro ce meˈta ˈtsai].

Why is there no article (like “the”) with bold νερό and bold τσάι?

Greek often drops the article with mass/uncountable nouns when you mean “some” in a non-specific way.

bold Θέλει νερό. = “He wants (some) water.”
bold Θέλει τσάι. = “He wants (some) tea.”

If you add the definite article, you refer to specific items:

bold Θέλει το νερό και μετά το τσάι. = “He wants the water and then the tea.”

What is bold θέλει exactly, and how is bold θέλω conjugated?

bold Θέλει is 3rd person singular present of bold θέλω (to want). Present tense:

bold εγώ θέλω (I want)
bold εσύ θέλεις (you want, sg.)
bold αυτός/αυτή/αυτό θέλει (he/she/it wants)
bold εμείς θέλουμε (we want)
bold εσείς θέλετε (you want, pl./formal)
bold αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά θέλουν(ε) (they want)

To express “want to do,” use bold θέλω να + verb:

bold Θέλει να πιει τσάι. = “He wants to drink tea.”

What does bold και μετά mean? Could I just say bold μετά?

bold Και μετά literally means “and then,” linking this clause to the previous part. You can also say bold μετά alone (“then, afterwards”). With your sentence, both are natural:

bold …νερό και μετά τσάι.
bold …νερό, μετά τσάι. bold Και adds the sense of “and (then)” continuing the sequence.

Can I move bold μετά around? What word orders are natural?

Yes, Greek word order is flexible. Common options:

bold Θέλει νερό και μετά τσάι. (neutral)
bold Αυτός θέλει πρώτα νερό και μετά τσάι. (adds “first” = bold πρώτα)
bold Μετά θέλει τσάι. (emphasizes the later time: “Afterwards he wants tea.”)
bold Θέλει νερό· μετά θέλει τσάι. (two short clauses; the middot is optional)

The meaning remains a sequence; changing order shifts emphasis.

When do I use bold μετά vs bold μετά από?

bold μετά as an adverb means “afterwards/then”: bold Μετά θα φύγουμε. = “Afterwards we’ll leave.”
bold μετά (από) as a preposition means “after [noun/phrase]”:
- bold Μετά το φαγητό / Μετά από το φαγητό θα φύγουμε. = “After the meal we’ll leave.” Both bold μετά το… and bold μετά από το… are common in Modern Greek; bold μετά από is a bit more explicit/formal.

How would I say “He wants both water and tea” (not one after the other)?

Use the correlative structure bold και … και …:

bold Θέλει και νερό και τσάι. = “He wants both water and tea.” (no sequencing implied) Compare with bold …και μετά τσάι. (sequential: water first, then tea)

How do I make the sentence more polite, like “would like”?

Use the conditional with bold θα ήθελε:

bold Θα ήθελε νερό και μετά τσάι. = “He would like water and then tea.” For “I would like,” say bold Θα ήθελα…. You can add bold παρακαλώ (“please”) for extra politeness.

How do I turn it into a question or a negation?

Yes/no question: bold Θέλει νερό και μετά τσάι; (Note: Greek uses ; as the question mark.)
Negation: bold Δεν θέλει νερό· θέλει τσάι. = “He doesn’t want water; he wants tea.”

Can I write bold κι μετά instead of bold και μετά?

Typically, bold κι is the shortened form of bold και used before a vowel sound (e.g., bold κι εγώ, κι αυτό). Before a consonant like bold μ in bold μετά, standard usage keeps bold και. You’ll hear bold κι μετά in casual speech, but bold και μετά is the norm in writing here. Before a vowel, bold κι is natural: bold κι ύστερα.

Is bold τσάι ever written with a diaeresis (¨) on ι?

Standard modern spelling is bold τσάι without a diaeresis. The accent on bold ά already breaks the digraph bold αι, signaling two syllables (á‑i). You may occasionally see bold τσαΐ, but it’s uncommon in monotonic orthography.

What are the genders and cases of bold νερό and bold τσάι here?

Both bold νερό and bold τσάι are neuter singular, functioning as direct objects (accusative). In neuter, nominative and accusative look the same. Their definite forms are bold το νερό and bold το τσάι. The subject bold Αυτός is masculine nominative singular.

Can bold θέλει mean “needs” as well as “wants”?

Yes, context can make bold θέλω/θέλει mean “need,” especially in impersonal or requirement-like uses:

bold Το ποδήλατο θέλει αέρα. = “The bike needs air.” With a person, bold Θέλω νερό usually means “I want water,” but in context (thirst, urgency) it can feel like “I need water.”

Are there synonyms for bold μετά, and do they differ?

Common alternatives:

bold έπειτα, bold ύστερα = “then/afterwards” (very similar to bold μετά)
bold στη συνέχεια = “subsequently/in succession” (a bit more formal)
bold κατόπιν = “thereafter” (formal)
bold αργότερα = “later” (not necessarily immediately after) All can replace bold μετά depending on tone and nuance.

Do I need commas around bold και μετά?

No comma is required. bold Αυτός θέλει νερό και μετά τσάι. is standard. You might add a comma for a rhetorical pause (bold …νερό, και μετά τσάι), but it’s not necessary in normal prose.

How would I say “She wants…” or “They want…”?

“She wants …”: bold Αυτή θέλει νερό και μετά τσάι.
“They want …”: bold Αυτοί θέλουν(ε) νερό και μετά τσάι. (bold θέλουνε is a colloquial variant of bold θέλουν.)

How could I say “a little water (first)”?

Add a quantity word:

bold Θέλει λίγο νερό και μετά τσάι. = “He wants a little water and then tea.” For extra clarity of order: bold Θέλει πρώτα λίγο νερό και μετά τσάι.