Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.

I will be sitting in the living room until you come.

Breakdown of Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.

• έρχομαι: to come
• θα: will
• σε: in
• το σαλόνι: the living room
• κάθομαι: to sit
• μέχρι να: by the time

Questions & Answers about Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.

What exactly does θα κάθομαι mean here, and why is it not just θα κάτσω or θα καθίσω?

Θα κάθομαι is the future continuous / progressive form of κάθομαι.

• Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.
  = I’ll be sitting / I’ll be (staying) in the living room until you come.

It presents the action as ongoing over a period of time up to the moment you arrive. The focus is on the state or duration.

Contrast:

• Θα κάτσω / Θα καθίσω στο σαλόνι.
  = I’ll sit (down) in the living room.
  This is more like a single act of sitting down, not so much the whole period of waiting.

In your sentence, the speaker wants to say “I will be there (sitting, staying) during that whole time until you arrive”, so Greek prefers θα κάθομαι (continuous aspect).

Why is the verb κάθομαι in the “-ομαι” form? Is it reflexive or passive?

Κάθομαι is a verb that only appears in the middle/passive endings (-ομαι) in Modern Greek, but with active meaning:

• κάθομαι = I sit / I’m sitting / I stay seated / I’m staying (somewhere)

Historically, Greek had an active form (κάθω), but in modern usage you only meet κάθομαι, so you can just treat it as the normal dictionary form meaning “to sit / to be sitting”.

It is not reflexive in the English sense (“I sit myself”), and it’s not passive (“I am sat by someone”). It’s just the regular way to say “I sit / I’m sitting” in Greek.

Why is it στο σαλόνι and not just σε σαλόνι or σε το σαλόνι?

Σε + το (neuter definite article) contracts to στο:

• σε
  • το σαλόνι → στο σαλόνι

So the full underlying phrase is:

• Θα κάθομαι σε το σαλόνι → normally spoken and written as
  Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι.

Using σε σαλόνι (without article) would sound like “in a living room (some living room or other)”, which doesn’t fit the usual context of your own home. In Greek, you almost always use the article for familiar, specific places like το σπίτι, το σαλόνι, την κουζίνα, etc.

Does σαλόνι really mean “living room”? It looks like “salon” in English/French.

Yes, το σαλόνι is the normal everyday word for “living room” in Modern Greek.

• It does come from French salon, but in contemporary usage it simply means the main sitting room of a house or apartment.
• Another word you’ll see is το καθιστικό, which also means “living room / sitting room”. Often:
  • σαλόνι can feel a bit more like the main or formal living room.
  • καθιστικό can feel more like an everyday family sitting area.

In practice, many speakers use σαλόνι for any normal living room.

What is the role of μέχρι να here? Why not just μέχρι?

Μέχρι να is a conjunction meaning “until” (with reference to a future or not-yet-realised event) and it is followed by a subjunctive verb.

Structure:

• μέχρι να
  • subjunctive = until (something happens / you do X)

So:

• μέχρι να έρθεις = until you come / until you arrive

You can use plain μέχρι with a noun or time expression:

• μέχρι τις οκτώ = until eight o’clock
• μέχρι την Τετάρτη = until Wednesday

But when what follows is a clause with a verb about a future event, Greek prefers:

• μέχρι να
  • subjunctive
    Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.
    = I’ll be sitting in the living room until you come.

What form is έρθεις exactly, and from which verb does it come?

Έρθεις is the aorist (perfective) subjunctive, 2nd person singular, of the verb έρχομαι (to come).

Key forms of έρχομαι:

• Present indicative: έρχεσαι = you come / you are coming
• Aorist indicative: ήρθες = you came
• Aorist subjunctive: να έρθεις = (that) you come / for you to come

So in your sentence:

• μέχρι να έρθεις literally: until (for) you to come
  Functionally: until you come / until you arrive.

Perfective (aorist) subjunctive focuses on the single completed event (your arrival), which is exactly what “until you come” needs: the state of waiting continues up to that one event.

Why is it μέχρι να έρθεις, and not something like μέχρι να θα έρθεις?

In Greek, μέχρι να must be followed by a subjunctive form without “θα”.

• ✅ μέχρι να έρθεις
• ❌ μέχρι να θα έρθεις

Things to remember:

• θα is used with the indicative to form the future:
  θα έρθεις = you will come (future indicative).
• να introduces the subjunctive:
  να έρθεις = subjunctive; no θα allowed directly after να.

With μέχρι να, the future meaning is already clear from context and from the main clause (Θα κάθομαι is future). So Greek uses the subjunctive without θα:

• Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.
  Literally: I will be sitting in the living room until you come (subj.).

Can the word order change? For example, can I move στο σαλόνι or μέχρι να έρθεις?

Greek word order is fairly flexible, but small changes can slightly shift the focus or meaning.

Your original sentence:

• Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.
  = I’ll be sitting in the living room until you come.

Possible variations:

1. Στο σαλόνι θα κάθομαι μέχρι να έρθεις.
   Emphasis more on στο σαλόνι (“in the living room is where I’ll be until you come”).

2. Θα κάθομαι μέχρι να έρθεις στο σαλόνι.
   This can be understood as:

   • I’ll be sitting until you come to the living room
     Now στο σαλόνι is linked more strongly with έρθεις (where you will come).

So yes, you can move elements around, but:

• Keep μέχρι να together.
• Be aware that moving στο σαλόνι next to έρθεις tends to attach it to “come” rather than “sit”.

Is there a simpler way to say this without emphasizing “sitting”? For example, “I’ll be in the living room until you come.”

Yes. Two very natural alternatives:

1. Θα είμαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.

   • Literally: I will be in the living room until you come.
   • Neutral, focuses simply on your presence there.

2. Θα περιμένω στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.

   • I’ll wait in the living room until you come.
   • Emphasises the waiting.

Your original:

• Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις.
  adds the nuance that you’ll be sitting / staying seated there while waiting, a bit more “visual” or casual.

How do you pronounce Θα κάθομαι στο σαλόνι μέχρι να έρθεις?

Approximate pronunciation (stress marked with bold syllables):

• Θα – tha (like th in think
  • a as in father)
• κάθομαι – KA-tho-me
• στο – sto (like stoh)
• σαλόνι – sa-LO-ni
• μέχρι – ME-chri (ch like German ich / Spanish j in some dialects; often closer to a soft “h” for learners)
• να – na
• έρθεις – ER-this (again th as in think)

All together (one possible IPA-style approximation):

• [θa ˈkaθome sto saˈloni ˈmexti na ˈerθis]

Main stress is on κά in κάθομαι, λό in σαλόνι, μέ in μέχρι, and έρ in έρθεις.