Breakdown of Μερικές φορές θυμώνω με τον εαυτό μου όταν ξεχνάω τη δουλειά μου.
Questions & Answers about Μερικές φορές θυμώνω με τον εαυτό μου όταν ξεχνάω τη δουλειά μου.
Literally, «μερικές φορές» means “several times” or “a few times”, but idiomatically it is used like English “sometimes”.
You can place it:
- At the beginning: Μερικές φορές θυμώνω…
- Or later: Θυμώνω μερικές φορές με τον εαυτό μου…
Both are correct; putting it at the beginning sounds very natural and a bit more neutral/emphatic, like English “Sometimes, I get angry…”.
In Greek, the verb θυμώνω (to get angry) normally takes the preposition με when you say who you are angry with:
- θυμώνω με κάποιον = I am angry with someone
- θυμώνω με τον εαυτό μου = I am angry with myself
Without με, θυμώνω usually means “I make someone angry” (transitive use), but that’s much less common in everyday speech and sounds different:
- Τον θυμώνω = I make him angry / I irritate him
So for “I get angry with myself,” you must say θυμώνω με τον εαυτό μου, with με.
«τον εαυτό μου» means “myself”.
It is literally:
- τον = the (masculine, singular, accusative article)
- εαυτό = self
- μου = my / me (possessive clitic)
So, word-for-word: “the self of me” → myself.
Greek does not have single-word reflexive pronouns like “myself, yourself” in English. Instead, it uses:
- τον εαυτό μου = myself
- τον εαυτό σου = yourself
- τον εαυτό του = himself
…and so on.
Note that εαυτός is grammatically masculine even when referring to a woman:
- A woman can also say θυμώνω με τον εαυτό μου.
Greek reflexive forms with εαυτός follow normal noun case endings. In this sentence, «τον εαυτό μου» is the direct object of the verb θυμώνω, so it must be accusative singular masculine:
- Nominative: ο εαυτός (the self – subject)
- Accusative: τον εαυτό (the self – object)
That’s why you get:
- θυμώνω με τον εαυτό μου (I’m angry with myself)
Forms like «εαυτώ μου» are old-fashioned / archaic (you might see them in very formal or ancient-style texts). «εαυτός μου» is nominative, so it doesn’t fit here because it’s not the subject.
No, not with the meaning “I get angry with myself.”
- θυμώνω με τον εαυτό μου = I get angry with myself
- θυμώνω τον εαυτό μου would sound like “I make myself angry,” and even that is not idiomatic in Greek.
For “be angry with X,” Greek normally uses:
- θυμώνω με + accusative
- θυμώνω με σένα = I’m angry with you
- θυμώνω με τον φίλο μου = I’m angry with my friend
- θυμώνω με τον εαυτό μου = I’m angry with myself
They’re close, but not identical:
- θυμώνω = I get angry / I become angry / I am angry (as an ongoing or repeated reaction)
- είμαι θυμωμένος / θυμωμένη = I am angry (describes a state)
In this sentence:
- Μερικές φορές θυμώνω με τον εαυτό μου
implies a repeated reaction: “Sometimes I (end up) getting angry with myself.”
If you said:
- Μερικές φορές είμαι θυμωμένος με τον εαυτό μου,
it would focus more on being in an angry state at those times, not so much the process of getting angry.
Both are grammatically correct; the original sentence sounds more natural for a typical, recurring reaction.
«όταν» means “when” in the sense of:
- whenever / every time that (for repeated or general situations)
- or when (for a single event), depending on the verb form.
With the present tense, it expresses a general, repeated action:
- όταν ξεχνάω τη δουλειά μου = when(ever) I forget my work / whenever I forget my work
So the whole sentence describes a habitual pattern:
- Μερικές φορές θυμώνω … όταν ξεχνάω …
= Sometimes I get angry with myself when I forget my work.
If you used a different tense like όταν ξέχασα (when I forgot), you’d be talking about a specific past incident instead.
They are two forms of the same verb, ξεχνώ / ξεχνάω = to forget.
- ξεχνάω is slightly more informal and very common in everyday speech.
- ξεχνώ sounds a bit more formal or neutral, and is also standard.
You can say either:
- όταν ξεχνάω τη δουλειά μου
- όταν ξεχνώ τη δουλειά μου
Both are correct and mean exactly the same thing.
«δουλειά» is a feminine noun that broadly means “work”.
Common meanings:
Job / employment
- Έχω πολλή δουλειά = I have a lot of work (to do)
- Ψάχνω για δουλειά = I’m looking for a job
Work/task/assignment
- Τελείωσα τη δουλειά μου = I finished my work / my task
In some contexts it can also mean “homework”, especially for students, but more often people say «ασκήσεις», «μαθήματα», or specifically «εργασία» for assignments.
In this sentence, «τη δουλειά μου» can be understood as “my work” or “my job duties”, depending on context.
Spelling rule in modern Greek (monotonic system):
- The feminine article την is usually written as «τη» before a word starting with a consonant (except certain ones like κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ and some clusters).
- It is written as «την» before a word starting with a vowel or those specific consonants.
«δουλειά» starts with δ, so the standard spelling is:
- τη δουλειά μου
You will sometimes see «την δουλειά μου» in informal writing, but «τη δουλειά μου» is the standard modern form.
Yes, grammatically you can say «όταν ξεχνάω τη δουλειά», but the meaning changes slightly.
- τη δουλειά μου = my work / my job
- τη δουλειά (without μου) = the work (more general, not clearly “mine”)
Native speakers often include μου here, because the idea is “I forget my work / what I personally have to do.” Without μου, it sounds less personal and more like “the work (in general)”.
So for the usual meaning “Sometimes I get angry with myself when I forget my work,” τη δουλειά μου is the natural choice.