Learn Hardcore Greek: Πηγαίνω στο φαρμακείο για να πάρω φάρμακο για το κεφάλι μου. - I go to the pharmacy to get medicine for my head.

Πηγαίνω ends in -ω, which marks 1st person singular → “I go / I am going”.
So Πηγαίνω στο φαρμακείο… on its own already means “I am going to the pharmacy…”.

You only say εγώ for emphasis (e.g. Εγώ πηγαίνω, όχι εσύ – I’m going, not you).

What is the difference between Πηγαίνω and Πάω?

Both mean “I go / I am going” and are very common.

Πηγαίνω – slightly more “complete”/formal-sounding, very neutral.
Πάω – shorter, very frequent in everyday speech.

In this sentence, you could say either:

Πηγαίνω στο φαρμακείο…
Πάω στο φαρμακείο…

Both are correct and natural.

What does στο φαρμακείο literally mean, and why στο?

στο is a contraction of σε + το:

σε = “to / in / at”
το = the neuter singular article “the”

So:

σε το φαρμακείο → στο φαρμακείο

Literally: “to the pharmacy” or “at the pharmacy”, depending on context.
Greek almost always uses the definite article with places like this, so you say στο φαρμακείο rather than something like “to pharmacy”.

What does για να πάρω mean, and why do we need both words για and να?

για να together introduces a purpose clause: it means “(in order) to”.

για on its own often means “for”.
να is a particle that typically goes with a verb in the subjunctive.

In this sentence:

για να πάρω = “(in order) to get / to take”
Πηγαίνω στο φαρμακείο για να πάρω…
→ “I am going to the pharmacy in order to get…”

It answers the question “Why are you going?”

What exactly is the form πάρω? How is it different from παίρνω?

Both come from the verb παίρνω = “to take / to get”.

παίρνω is the present tense (indicative):
- παίρνω = I take / I am taking
πάρω is the aorist subjunctive form:
- Used after να, για να, θέλω να, etc.
- Focuses on the complete action (“to take once / to get”).

So:

για να παίρνω φάρμακο would suggest a repeated/ongoing action (“so that I can be taking medicine regularly”),
but για να πάρω φάρμακο is the normal way to say “to get (some) medicine” once on this occasion.

Why is φάρμακο used without an article here? Why not το φάρμακο?

φάρμακο means “medicine / drug / medication”.

In this sentence, no article is used because we mean some medicine, not one specific, identified medicine:

να πάρω φάρμακο → “to get (some) medicine”
να πάρω το φάρμακο → “to take/get the medicine” (a particular medicine already known from context)

Greek often omits the article when talking about something in a general or indefinite way, similar to “some” or “any” in English.

Why do we say για το κεφάλι μου instead of just για το κεφάλι or για το μου κεφάλι?

A few points:

Possession pattern
In Greek, possession is usually expressed as:
- article + noun + possessive pronoun
- το κεφάλι μου = “my head” (literally “the head my”)
You cannot say το μου κεφάλι in modern Greek.
Why not just για το κεφάλι?
- για το κεφάλι would mean “for the head” (in a general sense).
- για το κεφάλι μου clearly means “for my head”.
Meaning in context
Although literally “medicine for my head”, it’s normally understood as “medicine for my headache / head pain” in this context.

The preposition για appears twice. Does it mean the same thing in both places?

It’s the same word για, but with slightly different uses:

για να πάρω
- Here για is part of the fixed combination για να = “in order to”.
- It introduces the purpose clause.
φάρμακο για το κεφάλι μου
- Here για means “for”, expressing the use or target of the medicine:
- “medicine for my head / for my headache”.

So it’s the same preposition, but in the first case it’s glued to να as a purpose marker, and in the second it keeps its basic meaning “for”.

Could the word order be different, like Πηγαίνω για να πάρω φάρμακο στο φαρμακείο?

Yes, Greek word order is relatively flexible. Different orders are possible, with small shifts in emphasis:

Πηγαίνω στο φαρμακείο για να πάρω φάρμακο για το κεφάλι μου.
→ Neutral, standard: I’m going to the pharmacy in order to get medicine…
Πηγαίνω για να πάρω φάρμακο στο φαρμακείο για το κεφάλι μου.
→ Still understandable, but slightly more marked; it might sound a bit less natural than the original.

The original sentence is the most typical and natural order. Beginning with Πηγαίνω στο φαρμακείο clearly sets the main action and destination first.

Is there a more common way to say “medicine for my headache” in Greek?

Yes. More idiomatic Greek usually mentions the headache rather than “the head”:

Πηγαίνω στο φαρμακείο για να πάρω φάρμακο για τον πονοκέφαλο.
= “I am going to the pharmacy to get medicine for (the) headache.”

If you want to keep the possessive:

…για τον πονοκέφαλό μου.
= “…for my headache.”

Your original sentence is still understandable; it just sounds a bit more literal.

Could I use αγοράσω instead of πάρω?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:

πάρω φάρμακο = “get/take medicine”
(could be buying, but also receiving, being given, etc.)
αγοράσω φάρμακο (from αγοράζω = “to buy”)
= “buy medicine” specifically.

So:

Πηγαίνω στο φαρμακείο για να πάρω φάρμακο…
→ I’m going to get some medicine (in some way).
Πηγαίνω στο φαρμακείο για να αγοράσω φάρμακο…
→ I’m going to buy some medicine.

Both are grammatically correct; πάρω is a bit broader and very common.