Τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι στο σπίτι.

At night I sleep at home.

Breakdown of Τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι στο σπίτι.

• το σπίτι: the home
• σε: at
• κοιμάμαι: to sleep
• τη νύχτα: at night

Questions & Answers about Τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι στο σπίτι.

Why is it Τη νύχτα and not Η νύχτα?

Because τη is the accusative form of the feminine definite article, while η is the nominative form.

• Η νύχτα = the night (as the subject of a sentence)

  • Example: Η νύχτα είναι κρύα. – The night is cold.

• Τη νύχτα = the night in the accusative, here used as a time expression, meaning at night / during the night.

  • Example: Τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι. – At night, I sleep.

In Greek, expressions of time like “in the morning”, “at night”, etc., often use the accusative without a preposition:

• το πρωί – in the morning
• το βράδυ – in the evening
• τη νύχτα – at night

What exactly does Τη νύχτα mean? Is it “at night”, “the night”, or “tonight”?

Τη νύχτα literally is “the night” in the accusative case, but in this kind of phrase it functions as “at night / during the night” in a general or habitual sense.

It does not mean specifically “tonight”. For “tonight” you would usually say:

• απόψε or σήμερα το βράδυ

So:

• Τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι στο σπίτι.
  = At night I (usually) sleep at home.

It describes a general routine, not a specific upcoming night.

What is the difference between νύχτα and βράδυ?

Both relate to night time, but there is a nuance:

• το βράδυ – the evening, or early night (roughly from sunset until late evening)
• η νύχτα – the night, usually the later, darker part of the 24‑hour cycle, when people normally sleep

Examples:

• Το βράδυ βλέπω τηλεόραση. – In the evening I watch TV.
• Τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι. – At night I sleep.

They overlap somewhat in everyday speech, but βράδυ feels earlier, νύχτα feels later / deeper into the night.

Why does the verb end in -μαι? What kind of verb is κοιμάμαι?

Κοιμάμαι is one of the so‑called “deponent” or middle/passive‑form active‑meaning verbs in Modern Greek.

• It is conjugated with the -μαι endings (which historically are middle/passive),
  but it has an active meaning: to sleep.

In the present tense:

• (εγώ) κοιμάμαι – I sleep
• (εσύ) κοιμάσαι – you sleep
• (αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) κοιμάται – he/she/it sleeps
• (εμείς) κοιμόμαστε – we sleep
• (εσείς) κοιμάστε – you (pl.) sleep
• (αυτοί/ές/ά) κοιμούνται – they sleep

So κοιμάμαι here is 1st person singular present: I sleep.

Why is there no “I” (εγώ) in the sentence?

In Greek, the subject pronoun (εγώ = I, εσύ = you, etc.) is usually omitted because the verb ending tells you who the subject is.

• κοιμάμαι = I sleep (the ending -μαι shows 1st person singular)
• You only need εγώ if you want to add emphasis or contrast:
  • Εγώ τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι στο σπίτι, όχι στο ξενοδοχείο.
    I sleep at home at night, not at the hotel.

So the simple Τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι στο σπίτι. already clearly means “At night I sleep at home.”

What does στο mean, and how is it formed?

Στο is a contraction of:

• σε (a common preposition meaning in, at, on, to)
• το (the neuter singular definite article the)

So:

• σε + το = στο

στο σπίτι literally = in/at the house, usually translated as “at home” or “in the house”, depending on context.

Other similar contractions:

• σε + την = στην (στην πόλη – in the city)
• σε + τους = στους (στους φίλους μου – to my friends)

Does στο σπίτι really mean “at home”, or just “in the house”?

Στο σπίτι literally is “in/at the house”, but very often it simply means “at home”, just like English “at home” doesn’t always emphasize the physical building.

• Τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι στο σπίτι.
  = At night I sleep at home.

If you want to emphasize the idea “at home (not out)”, στο σπίτι is perfectly natural.

You can also sometimes see κοιμάμαι σπίτι (without article or preposition) in colloquial speech, also meaning “I sleep at home”, but στο σπίτι is the clearest and most standard.

Why is there no preposition before τη νύχτα, like “σε τη νύχτα” or “στη νύχτα”?

With expressions of time in Greek, it is very common to use the accusative case alone without a preposition to mean “on / in / at [time]”.

So you say:

• τη νύχτα – at night
• το πρωί – in the morning
• το μεσημέρι – at noon
• το βράδυ – in the evening

You do not say:

• ✗ σε τη νύχτα
• ✗ στη νύχτα

Those would be unnatural in this context. The accusative time phrase on its own does the job.

What tense/aspect is κοιμάμαι here? Does it mean “I am sleeping” or “I sleep”?

Κοιμάμαι is the present tense in Greek, which can express:

1. Habitual / general action – what you normally do

   • Τη νύχτα κοιμάμαι στο σπίτι.
     → At night I (normally) sleep at home.

2. Action right now (if the context makes that clear)

   • Σςς! Κοιμάμαι. – Shh! I’m sleeping.

In this sentence, because of τη νύχτα, it is clearly habitual, so the best translation is “I sleep (at night)”, not “I am sleeping (at night)”.

For future or one‑time actions you’d use different forms, e.g.:

• Θα κοιμηθώ στο σπίτι. – I will sleep at home.
• Κοιμήθηκα στο σπίτι. – I slept at home.

Why is it written Τη νύχτα and not Την νύχτα?

The feminine accusative singular article is την, but in modern spelling the final -ν is often dropped before certain consonants.

The general rule: the -ν at the end of την and στην is usually kept only:

• before vowels and
• before the consonants κ, π, τ, μπ, ντ, γκ, ξ, ψ

Before other consonants, it can be dropped in writing:

• τη νύχτα (instead of την νύχτα)
• τη μέρα (instead of την μέρα)

In speech, many people will still pronounce a light n sound in fast speech, but Τη νύχτα is the most common standard spelling in this case.