Μου αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές στο σαλόνι.

I like the red sofa in the living room.

Breakdown of Μου αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές στο σαλόνι.

• μου: me
• σε: in
• ο καναπές: the sofa
• το σαλόνι: the living room
• αρέσω: to like
• κόκκινος: red

Questions & Answers about Μου αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές στο σαλόνι.

Why is it Μου αρέσει and not something like Εγώ αρέσω for I like?

Greek doesn’t say I like X; it says X pleases me.

• αρέσει is the 3rd person singular of the verb αρέσω = to please.
• μου is to me (indirect object, genitive case).

So Μου αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές literally means The red sofa pleases me.
You don’t say εγώ αρέσω τον καναπέ – that would mean I please the sofa, which is nonsense.

What exactly is μου here? Does it mean my or to me?

In this sentence μου means to me, not my.

• Grammatically, it’s a weak (clitic) pronoun in the genitive case, used for indirect objects.
• Functionally, it corresponds to English to me / for me.

So:

• Μου αρέσει ο καναπές = The sofa pleases me / I like the sofa.
  In another sentence, μου can be possessive:
• ο καναπές μου = my sofa.

Why is it ο κόκκινος καναπές and not τον κόκκινο καναπέ?

Because ο κόκκινος καναπές is the subject of the verb αρέσει.

• Greek subjects are in the nominative case: ο καναπές.
• Direct objects take the accusative: τον καναπέ.

In Μου αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές, the sofa is doing the “pleasing,” so it must be nominative: ο κόκκινος καναπές.

Why is the adjective κόκκινος and not κόκκινο or κόκκινη?

Adjectives in Greek agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• καναπές is masculine, singular, nominative.
• So the adjective must be masculine, singular, nominative as well: κόκκινος.

Other forms would be:

• κόκκινη – feminine
• κόκκινο – neuter

Here only κόκκινος is correct with ο καναπές.

Why do we need the article ο in ο κόκκινος καναπές? Could we just say Μου αρέσει κόκκινος καναπές?

In standard Greek, when you talk about a specific sofa, you normally use the definite article.

• ο κόκκινος καναπές = the red sofa (a particular one)
• κόκκινος καναπές (without article) sounds incomplete or like you’re talking about some random red sofa in a very marked or poetic style.

So for everyday speech, Μου αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές is the natural form.

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

στο is a contraction of σε + το.

• σε = in / at / to (basic preposition)
• το = neuter singular definite article the

So:

• σε + το σαλόνι → στο σαλόνι = in the living room.

Other common contractions:

• σε + τον → στον
• σε + την → στη(ν)
• σε + τους → στους, etc.

Where is the verb is in this sentence? In English we say The red sofa is in the living room or I like the red sofa.

The verb of the sentence is αρέσει itself.

• αρέσει means it pleases / is pleasing.
• Greek doesn’t need an extra είναι (is) here.

So Μου αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές στο σαλόνι =
The red sofa in the living room pleases me → I like the red sofa in the living room.

How would the sentence change if I want to say I like the red sofas in the living room (plural)?

You need to make the verb, article, adjective, and noun all plural and masculine:

• Μου αρέσουν οι κόκκινοι καναπέδες στο σαλόνι.

Changes:

• αρέσει → αρέσουν (because the subject is now plural)
• ο → οι (masculine nominative singular → plural)
• κόκκινος → κόκκινοι (adjective to plural)
• καναπές → καναπέδες (noun to plural)

Can I change the word order, for example Ο κόκκινος καναπές στο σαλόνι μού αρέσει? Is that still correct?

Yes, it is correct; Greek allows flexible word order.

Some possibilities:

• Μου αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές στο σαλόνι. (neutral order)
• Ο κόκκινος καναπές στο σαλόνι μού αρέσει. (emphasis on the sofa)
• Στο σαλόνι μού αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές. (emphasis on the location)

The basic meaning stays the same, but moving parts around changes what you emphasize.

How do I say I like the red sofa in my living room?

You add a possessive μου to σαλόνι:

• Μου αρέσει ο κόκκινος καναπές στο σαλόνι μου.

Now you have:

• Μου = to me (indirect object)
• σαλόνι μου = my living room (possessive μου after the noun)

Greek often puts the possessive after the noun: το σαλόνι μου = my living room.

How do you pronounce αρέσει, καναπές, and σαλόνι?

Approximate pronunciations:

• αρέσει → a-RE-si

  • α like a in father
  • ρέ stressed, ε like e in bed
  • σι like see

• καναπές → ka-na-PES

  • κα, να with a as in father
  • πές stressed, e as in bed

• σαλόνι → sa-LO-ni

  • σα with a as in father
  • λό stressed, o like o in lot (British)
  • νι like nee

In Greek, the written accent mark (´) shows which syllable is stressed.

Why do some words have an accent mark (αρέσει, καναπές, σαλόνι) but μου doesn’t?

The accent mark in modern Greek shows the stressed syllable of words with two or more syllables.

• αρέσει: stress on ρέ
• καναπές: stress on πές
• σαλόνι: stress on λό

Monosyllabic words like μου normally don’t get a written accent, even though they are pronounced with some stress in context.
So μου has no accent mark simply because it is one syllable.