Learn Hardcore Greek: Την Κυριακή μένω σχεδόν πάντα στο σπίτι.

Την Κυριακή = On Sunday (time expression, accusative)
Η Κυριακή = Sunday (as a subject), e.g. Η Κυριακή είναι μέρα ξεκούρασης. – Sunday is a day of rest.

In the sentence Την Κυριακή μένω σχεδόν πάντα στο σπίτι, Την Κυριακή is not the subject; it’s an adverbial phrase of time (“when do I stay at home?”), so Greek uses the accusative with the definite article την.

Does Την Κυριακή here mean “on Sundays in general” or “this coming Sunday”?

It can mean either, depending on context and intonation, but there is a tendency:

With present tense and an adverb like σχεδόν πάντα, it usually sounds habitual:
Την Κυριακή μένω σχεδόν πάντα στο σπίτι.
→ On Sundays I almost always stay at home (as a habit).
To clearly refer to this coming Sunday, Greek speakers more often use the future:
Την Κυριακή θα μείνω στο σπίτι.
→ This Sunday I will stay at home.

So in isolation, most learners’ books (and most speakers) will take your sentence as a general habit on Sundays.

Why is the subject “I” not written? Why don’t we say Εγώ μένω σχεδόν πάντα στο σπίτι?

Greek is a “pro‑drop” language: the subject pronoun is usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

μένω = I stay / I live
μένεις = you stay
μένει = he/she/it stays

So μένω already means “I stay”, and Εγώ is normally unnecessary.

You only add Εγώ if you want to emphasize the subject:

Εγώ μένω σχεδόν πάντα στο σπίτι.
→ I (as opposed to others) almost always stay at home.

What exactly does μένω mean here? Does it mean “I live” or “I stay”?

Μένω has two main everyday meanings:

to live / reside
- Μένω στην Αθήνα. – I live in Athens.
to stay / remain (not go out, not move away)
- Σήμερα μένω στο σπίτι. – Today I am staying at home.

In Την Κυριακή μένω σχεδόν πάντα στο σπίτι, context and the adverb σχεδόν πάντα make it clear it means “I stay (at home, I don’t go out much)”, not “I live at home” (which would be obvious and odd to state this way).

Why is the present tense μένω used instead of a form that clearly means “I usually stay”?

In Greek, the simple present tense is naturally used for:

general truths
habits and routines

So μένω here covers the English idea of “I usually stay / I tend to stay”.

To focus strongly on usualness, Greek may add an adverb like:

συνήθως – usually
γενικά – in general

For example:
Την Κυριακή συνήθως μένω στο σπίτι. – On Sunday I usually stay at home.

But using μένω alone with a time expression (Την Κυριακή) and an adverb like σχεδόν πάντα is already understood as a habitual statement.

How does σχεδόν πάντα work? Why is σχεδόν placed before πάντα?

πάντα = always
σχεδόν = almost, nearly

When σχεδόν modifies another word, it usually comes before it:

σχεδόν πάντα – almost always
σχεδόν ποτέ – almost never
σχεδόν έτοιμος – almost ready

So σχεδόν πάντα is the normal, natural order.
The reverse πάντα σχεδόν is not wrong, but it is much less common and sounds marked or slightly stylistic. Learners should stick with σχεδόν πάντα.

Where can σχεδόν πάντα appear in the sentence? Is the word order flexible?

Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially for adverbs. All of these are possible and correct:

Την Κυριακή μένω σχεδόν πάντα στο σπίτι.
Την Κυριακή σχεδόν πάντα μένω στο σπίτι.
Σχεδόν πάντα την Κυριακή μένω στο σπίτι.

Differences are mostly rhythm and slight focus:

The original version (μένω σχεδόν πάντα στο σπίτι) sounds very natural and neutral.
Την Κυριακή σχεδόν πάντα μένω στο σπίτι slightly emphasizes the frequency (“almost always”).
Σχεδόν πάντα την Κυριακή μένω στο σπίτι starts with the idea of frequency and can sound more contrastive, like “As for how often—almost always, on Sunday I stay at home.”

For everyday speech, your original word order is perfect.

What is στο in στο σπίτι? Is it one word or two?

στο is a contraction of:

σε (preposition = in, at, to)
το (neuter singular article = the)

So:

σε + το → στο
στο σπίτι → in/at the house, at home

Other common contractions:

σε + τον → στον
σε + την → στη(ν)
σε + τους → στους

In writing and speech, Greeks almost always use the contracted forms (στο σπίτι, not σε το σπίτι).

Why do we say στο σπίτι here, but in other sentences people say just σπίτι, for example Πάω σπίτι?

Both exist, but they’re used a bit differently:

στο σπίτι literally = “to/at the house”
- Μένω στο σπίτι. – I stay at home.
- Είμαι στο σπίτι. – I am at home.
σπίτι with no article often functions more like an adverb (“home”) rather than a full noun phrase:
- Πάω σπίτι. – I am going home.
- Γύρισα σπίτι αργά. – I came home late.

In your sentence we describe a state/location (“I stay at home”), so στο σπίτι is the usual choice.
Just μένω σπίτι is possible colloquially, but μένω στο σπίτι is the more standard and clear form.

Why is Κυριακή capitalized? Are days of the week always written with a capital letter in Greek?

Yes. In modern Greek, days of the week are normally capitalized, just like in English:

Δευτέρα, Τρίτη, Τετάρτη, Πέμπτη, Παρασκευή, Σάββατο, Κυριακή

So Κυριακή takes a capital Κ in Την Κυριακή μένω σχεδόν πάντα στο σπίτι.