Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι.

I like this green table very much.

Breakdown of Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι.

• αυτός: this
• μου: me
• το τραπέζι: the table
• αρέσω: to like
• πράσινος: green
• πολύ: very much

Questions & Answers about Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι.

Why do we say Μου αρέσει and not something that literally means “I like”, like Εγώ αρέσω?

In Greek, αρέσω works “backwards” compared to English.

• Μου αρέσει literally means “it is pleasing to me”, not “I like”.
• The thing you like is the subject of the verb.
• The person who likes it (you) is expressed with a pronoun in the genitive case (μου, σου, του…).

So:

• Μου αρέσει αυτό το τραπέζι.
  = This table is pleasing to me. → I like this table.

Εγώ αρέσω would literally be “I am pleasing” (to others), not “I like (something)”, so it’s used in different contexts (e.g. “Do people find me attractive / likeable?”).

What exactly does μου mean here, and why this form and not εγώ or με?

Μου is the genitive form of the first‑person singular pronoun and here it has a meaning like “to me” / “for me”.

• εγώ = I (subject form / nominative)
• με = me (object form / accusative, e.g. “He sees me” = Με βλέπει)
• μου = to me / of me (genitive, used with verbs like αρέσω, also for possession: “my”)

With αρέσω, Greek always uses the genitive:

• Μου αρέσει = It pleases me
• Σου αρέσει = It pleases you
• Του/Της αρέσει = It pleases him/her

So μου is required by the verb αρέσει; it isn’t optional, and you can’t replace it with εγώ or με in this structure.

Why is it αρέσει (3rd person singular)? What happens if I like more than one thing?

The verb αρέσει agrees with the thing (or things) that are liked, not with the person who likes them.

In your sentence:

• αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι (this green table) is singular, so:
  • Μου αρέσει αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι.
    I like this green table.

If you like plural things, the verb becomes plural:

• Μου αρέσουν αυτά τα πράσινα τραπέζια.
  = These green tables are pleasing to me. → I like these green tables.

So the pattern is:

• Μου αρέσει + singular subject
• Μου αρέσουν + plural subject

Why do we need both αυτό and το before πράσινο τραπέζι? Could we drop το?

In Greek, when you use a demonstrative like αυτό (this), you almost always keep the definite article as well.

Structure:

• αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι
  literally: this the green table

This is the normal way to say “this green table”.
The version αυτό πράσινο τραπέζι (without το) is ungrammatical in standard Modern Greek.

So the pattern is:

• αυτό το τραπέζι – this table
• εκείνη η καρέκλα – that chair
• αυτά τα βιβλία – these books

Demonstrative (αυτό/εκείνο/...) + article (το/η/ο/...) + adjective + noun.

Why does the adjective πράσινο come before τραπέζι? Can it also come after the noun?

The usual “neutral” order in Greek is:

• article + adjective + noun
  → το πράσινο τραπέζι (the green table)

With a demonstrative it becomes:

• αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι (this green table)

You can put the adjective after the noun, but then you normally repeat the article, and it often has a slightly more “contrasting” or “emphatic” feel:

• το πράσινο τραπέζι = the green table (just describing it)
• το τραπέζι το πράσινο = the table, the green one (as opposed to some other table)

With your sentence:

• Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι. (neutral)
• Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το τραπέζι το πράσινο. (more like: I like this table, the green one.)

Why are αυτό, το, πράσινο, and τραπέζι all in a similar form? What’s going on with gender and agreement?

Τραπέζι (table) is a neuter noun in Greek.
Adjectives, articles, and demonstratives agree with the noun in:

• gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
• number (singular / plural)
• case (nominative / accusative / genitive, etc.)

Here:

• τραπέζι – neuter, singular, nominative
• αυτό – neuter, singular, nominative (this)
• το – neuter, singular, nominative (the)
• πράσινο – neuter, singular, nominative (green)

So they all match the noun τραπέζι.

If we changed the noun’s gender, everything would change:

• η καρέκλα (chair), feminine:

  • Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτή η πράσινη καρέκλα.
    (this green chair)

• ο καναπές (sofa), masculine:

  • Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτός ο πράσινος καναπές.
    (this green sofa)

What exactly does πολύ do here, and can I move it to another place in the sentence?

In Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι, πολύ is an adverb modifying the verb αρέσει. It means “very much / a lot”:

• Μου αρέσει πολύ = I like it a lot.

Typical and fully natural positions:

• Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι.
• Μου αρέσει αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι πολύ. (slightly more emphasis on “a lot”)

If you put πολύ before πράσινο, it will modify the adjective instead:

• αυτό το πολύ πράσινο τραπέζι
  = this very green table (very intense green color)

So:

• πολύ near αρέσει → I like it a lot.
• πολύ near πράσινο → It’s very green.

Is this word order fixed, or can I move things around while keeping the same meaning?

Greek word order is relatively flexible compared to English. Your sentence is:

• Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι.
  (neutral, very common)

Other acceptable orders (with slightly different emphasis):

• Αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι μου αρέσει πολύ.
  → Emphasis on this green table (as opposed to some other table).

• Πολύ μου αρέσει αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι.
  → Emphasis on how much you like it.

All these are grammatical and mean essentially “I really like this green table”.
What you generally cannot do is separate clitics wrongly, e.g. ✗ Αρέσει μου πολύ... sounds unnatural; the clitic μου wants to be before the verb: Μου αρέσει.

How would I say “I don’t really like this green table (very much)” in Greek?

You negate αρέσει with δεν (or δε before consonants in speech).

Common options:

• Δεν μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι.
  = I don’t like this green table very much.
  (literally: it doesn’t please me a lot)

If you want to be stronger (“I don’t like it at all”):

• Δεν μου αρέσει καθόλου αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι.
  = I don’t like this green table at all.

Position of δεν:

• Δεν μου αρέσει... is the normal pattern (negation before the clitic + verb).

How would I turn this into a question: “Do you like this green table a lot?”

You mainly change the pronoun and use a question mark (in Greek it looks like a semicolon: ;).

• Σου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι;
  = Do you like this green table a lot?

Here:

• σου = to you (2nd person genitive)
• αρέσει still agrees with αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι (singular)

Other possible variations with different emphasis:

• Αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι σου αρέσει πολύ;
• Πολύ σου αρέσει αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι; (more surprised/emphatic tone)

How do I pronounce Μου αρέσει πολύ αυτό το πράσινο τραπέζι?

Approximate pronunciation with stressed syllables in bold (caps) and English-like sounds:

• Μου – moo
• αρέσει – a-RE-see
• πολύ – po-LEE
• αυτό – af-TO
• το – to (like “top” without the p)
• πράσινο – PRA-see-no
• τραπέζι – tra-PE-zee

All together (with main stress marks):

• Μου αΡΕσει ποΛΥ αυΤΟ το ΠΡΑσινο τραΠΕζι
  [mu aˈresi poˈli afˈto to ˈprasino traˈpezi]

Greek has one main stress per word, shown in writing with the accent (ά, έ, ή, ί, ό, ύ, ώ) on the stressed vowel.