Breakdown of Το χέρι της πονάει και το πόδι της είναι κουρασμένο, αλλά νιώθει δυνατή.
Questions & Answers about Το χέρι της πονάει και το πόδι της είναι κουρασμένο, αλλά νιώθει δυνατή.
Της here means “her” and shows possession: το χέρι της = her hand, το πόδι της = her leg.
Grammatically:
- της is the weak (clitic) genitive pronoun for “her” / “of her”.
- The full set is: μου (my), σου (your), του (his/its), της (her/its), μας (our), σας (your), τους (their).
- In this use it behaves like a possessive and normally goes after the noun:
- το βιβλίο μου – my book
- το χέρι της – her hand
- τα παιδιά τους – their children
So the Greek structure is literally “the hand of-her hurts”, but in English we translate it simply as “her hand hurts.”
In Greek, the gender of nouns is grammatical, not necessarily connected to the person’s biological gender.
- το χέρι (hand) → neuter
- το πόδι (leg) → neuter
Both are always neuter, no matter whose hand or leg it is (a man’s, a woman’s, a child’s, an animal’s).
So:
- το χέρι της – her hand
- το χέρι του – his hand
The -ο / -ι ending is a very common neuter ending, and adjectives referring to these nouns must also be neuter (as in κουρασμένο for το πόδι).
The verb is πονάω (alternative form πονώ) = to hurt / to be in pain.
In the present tense, both forms are used:
- Εγώ πονάω / πονώ – I hurt
- Αυτός / αυτή / αυτό πονάει / πονά – he / she / it hurts
So:
- Το χέρι της πονάει
- Το χέρι της πονά
Both are grammatically correct. In everyday spoken Greek, πονάει is more common and sounds a bit more natural; πονά can sound a bit more formal or written, but you’ll hear both.
All three are possible and very common:
- Το χέρι της πονάει.
- Πονάει το χέρι της.
- Της πονάει το χέρι.
Meaning-wise, they all correspond to “Her hand hurts.”, but there are small differences in emphasis and style:
Το χέρι της πονάει.
Neutral, straightforward word order; subject (το χέρι της) first.Πονάει το χέρι της.
Slight emphasis on the pain (the verb). Very natural in speech; still correct standard Greek.Της πονάει το χέρι.
Very common in colloquial speech. Here:- της is a clitic that highlights the experiencer (“it hurts her”).
- Literal idea: “Her, the hand hurts (her).”
All three are fine for everyday use; for learners, 1 and 2 are slightly more “textbook”/neutral.
Κουρασμένος / κουρασμένη / κουρασμένο is an adjective meaning “tired”. It changes form to agree with the noun in gender and number.
- Masculine: κουρασμένος – for masculine nouns (e.g. ο άντρας είναι κουρασμένος – the man is tired)
- Feminine: κουρασμένη – for feminine nouns (e.g. η γυναίκα είναι κουρασμένη – the woman is tired)
- Neuter: κουρασμένο – for neuter nouns (e.g. το πόδι είναι κουρασμένο – the leg is tired)
In the sentence, κουρασμένο agrees with το πόδι (neuter singular), so it must be κουρασμένο.
Yes. To describe her, you use the feminine form:
- Είναι κουρασμένη. – She is tired.
Compare:
- Το πόδι της είναι κουρασμένο. – Her leg is tired. (neuter, agrees with πόδι)
- Είναι κουρασμένη. – She is tired. (feminine, agrees with implied αυτή = she)
So the adjective κουρασ- stays the same, but its ending changes to match the noun or the implied pronoun.
Αλλά is a coordinating conjunction meaning “but”.
The sentence structure is:
- Το χέρι της πονάει και το πόδι της είναι κουρασμένο,
– her hand hurts and her leg is tired, - αλλά νιώθει δυνατή.
– but she feels strong.
The comma before αλλά separates the first idea (two body parts in a bad state) from the contrasting idea (she still feels strong). This is similar to English:
- Her hand hurts and her leg is tired, *but she feels strong.*
In writing, Greek usually uses a comma before αλλά when it introduces a new clause that contrasts with the previous one.
- νιώθει δυνατή = she feels strong (subjective, about how she experiences herself)
- είναι δυνατή = she is strong (more objective, a general statement about her strength)
Νιώθει comes from νιώθω = to feel (emotionally or physically).
Using νιώθει δυνατή emphasizes her inner feeling, even if her body is in pain.
English has the same nuance:
- She feels strong vs She is strong.
In the given sentence, using νιώθει δυνατή underlines the contrast: her body parts are not in great shape, but despite that, her inner sense is that she’s strong.
Δυνατός / δυνατή / δυνατό is the adjective “strong”.
- Masculine: δυνατός – ο άντρας είναι δυνατός (the man is strong)
- Feminine: δυνατή – η γυναίκα είναι δυνατή (the woman is strong)
- Neuter: δυνατό – το παιδί είναι δυνατό (the child / it is strong)
In αλλά νιώθει δυνατή, the subject is she (the pronoun αυτή is just omitted, which is very common in Greek). The adjective must agree with this implied feminine subject, so it takes the feminine form δυνατή.
If it were a man, you’d say:
- αλλά νιώθει δυνατός – but he feels strong.
Grammatically this is possible, but it sounds less natural and can be unclear.
Το χέρι της πονάει και το πόδι της είναι κουρασμένο
→ Very clear: her hand hurts and her leg is tired.Το χέρι της πονάει και το πόδι είναι κουρασμένο
→ Literally: her hand hurts and the leg is tired.
It does not explicitly say that the leg is also hers. Context might make it obvious, but in normal Greek you usually repeat the possessive pronoun to avoid any doubt.
So in everyday speech and writing, Greek speakers almost always say το πόδι της again.