Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο.

On vacation I don’t do anything difficult.

Breakdown of Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο.

• δεν: not
• τίποτα: anything
• δύσκολος: difficult
• κάνω: to do
• στις διακοπές: on vacation

Questions & Answers about Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο.

Why is it στις διακοπές and not something like a singular form?

Στις διακοπές literally means “in/at/on the holidays/vacation”.

• στις is a contraction of σε + τις:

  • σε = in, at, on, to
  • τις = the (feminine, plural, accusative)
  • σε + τις → στις

• διακοπές is plural: οι διακοπές = the holidays, (the) vacation.
  In Greek, “vacation/holidays” is almost always used in the plural (like “the holidays” in English), so:

  • Στις διακοπές ≈ “On (the) vacation / During (the) holidays”.

Using the singular η διακοπή usually means “a break / an interruption / a cut (e.g. power cut)”, not “vacation”, so στη διακοπή would sound wrong in this context.

Could I say σε διακοπές instead of στις διακοπές? Is there a difference?

You can say σε διακοπές, but the nuance changes:

• στις διακοπές = during the holidays / on vacation (more like a general time period, or “when I’m on vacation”)
• σε διακοπές = (being) on vacation, but feels more like a state or situation, often without the article:
  • Είμαι σε διακοπές. = I’m on vacation.
    (literally “I am on holidays”)

In your sentence, the most natural is Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο.
You could say Όταν είμαι σε διακοπές, δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο. (“When I’m on vacation, I don’t do anything difficult.”), but then the structure of the sentence changes.

How do you pronounce Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο?

A careful pronunciation guide:

• Greek spelling: Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο.
• Latin transliteration (with stress):
  Stis diakopés den káno típota dýskolo.
• IPA:
  /stis ðjakɔˈpes ðen ˈkano ˈtipota ˈðiskolo/

Stress falls on:

• διακοπές
• κάνω
• τίποτα
• δύσκολο

Is δεν κάνω τίποτα a “double negative”? Why are there two negative-looking words?

Yes, compared to English, this looks like a “double negative”, but in Greek this is normal and correct. Greek is a negative concord language: negative words “agree” with each other instead of cancelling out.

• δεν = not (the standard negation particle before verbs)
• τίποτα = “anything / nothing”, depending on context

Together:

• Δεν κάνω τίποτα. = I don’t do anything / I do nothing.

Using only one of them would be wrong or change the meaning:

• ✗ Κάνω τίποτα. – not a normal negative sentence; said with rising intonation, it can be a question: “Am I doing anything?” / “Do I do anything?”
• ✗ Δεν κάνω κάτι. = literally “I don’t do something” (grammatical, but the meaning is different and usually odd in this context).

So in negative statements with τίποτα, you almost always need δεν (or another negative word like μην in some structures).

What exactly does τίποτα mean? Is it “nothing” or “anything”? How else is it used?

Τίποτα can mean “nothing” or “anything”, depending on the sentence type:

1. In negative sentences (with δεν / μην):
   It corresponds to English “nothing / anything” in a negative sense:

   • Δεν κάνω τίποτα. = I don’t do anything / I do nothing.
   • Δεν έχω τίποτα. = I don’t have anything / I have nothing.

2. In questions:
   It usually means “anything” / “something”:

   • Κάνεις τίποτα; = Are you doing anything? / Are you up to anything?
   • Έχεις τίποτα; = Do you have anything?

3. Colloquially, as a stand‑alone reply:

   • Τι κάνεις; – Τίποτα.
     “What are you doing? – Nothing.”

In your sentence, τίποτα δύσκολο = “anything difficult” → “I don’t do anything difficult.”

Why is δύσκολο neuter singular? Shouldn’t it agree with διακοπές which is feminine plural?

Δύσκολο here agrees with τίποτα, not with διακοπές.

• τίποτα is historically a neuter singular pronoun (from τίποτε), and adjectives that describe it are normally in neuter singular:
  • κάτι καλό = something good
  • τίποτα σημαντικό = nothing important / anything important (in questions)
  • τίποτα δύσκολο = anything difficult / nothing difficult

In your sentence, the structure is:

• (Στις διακοπές) [time phrase]
• δεν κάνω [verb + negation]
• τίποτα δύσκολο [object = “anything difficult”]

So δύσκολο correctly matches τίποτα (neuter singular), not διακοπές.

Why is the negative word δεν placed before κάνω and not before τίποτα?

In Greek, δεν normally comes right before the verb (or before object pronouns attached to it):

• Δεν κάνω τίποτα. = I don’t do anything.
• Δεν το κάνω. = I don’t do it.
• Δεν τον είδα. = I didn’t see him.

Putting δεν before τίποτα would be ungrammatical:

• ✗ Στις διακοπές κάνω δεν τίποτα δύσκολο. – wrong.
• ✗ Στις διακοπές κάνω τίποτα δεν δύσκολο. – wrong.

So the correct pattern is: > [δεν] + [verb] + [objects/complements like τίποτα δύσκολο]

Can I change the word order of the sentence? What are some natural variations?

Yes, Greek word order is fairly flexible. Some common, natural options:

1. Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο.
   Neutral, standard: “On vacation I don’t do anything difficult.”

2. Δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο στις διακοπές.
   Similar meaning; slightly more focus on “I don’t do anything difficult”, then specifying “on vacation”.

3. Τίποτα δύσκολο δεν κάνω στις διακοπές.
   Emphasis on “nothing difficult at all”; it feels a bit more emphatic or contrastive.

4. Στις διακοπές τίποτα δύσκολο δεν κάνω.
   Also quite emphatic, with “on vacation” and “nothing difficult” both highlighted.

What you cannot naturally say:

• ✗ Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω δύσκολο τίποτα. – very unnatural word order for this meaning.

How would I say the same idea in the past or future?

You mostly change the verb κάνω:

• Present (habitual / general):
  Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο.
  = On vacation I don’t do anything difficult. / When I’m on vacation, I don’t do anything difficult.

• Past (simple, completed – aorist):
  Στις διακοπές δεν έκανα τίποτα δύσκολο.
  = On vacation I didn’t do anything difficult.

• Future (simple):
  Στις διακοπές δεν θα κάνω τίποτα δύσκολο.
  = On vacation I won’t do anything difficult.

• Past habitual (often with “ever / never”):
  Στις διακοπές δεν έκανα ποτέ τίποτα δύσκολο.
  = On vacation I never used to do anything difficult.

Could I say Στις διακοπές δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολα instead of δύσκολο?

No, that would change the meaning and sound strange here.

• δύσκολο is an adjective: “difficult (thing)”.
  τίποτα δύσκολο = anything difficult / nothing difficult.

• δύσκολα is an adverb: “with difficulty / in a difficult way”.
  Δεν κάνω τίποτα δύσκολα would roughly mean “I don’t do anything with difficulty”, i.e. “I don’t do anything in a difficult way”, which is not the same as “I don’t do anything difficult.”

So for the intended meaning “I don’t do anything difficult”, you need:

• τίποτα δύσκολο, not τίποτα δύσκολα.