Η συνάδελφός μου είναι νευρική όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο.

My colleague (female) is nervous when the bus is late.

Breakdown of Η συνάδελφός μου είναι νευρική όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο.

• είμαι: to be
• μου: my
• το λεωφορείο: the bus
• όταν: when
• αργώ: to be late
• η συνάδελφος: the female colleague
• νευρικός: nervous

Questions & Answers about Η συνάδελφός μου είναι νευρική όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο.

Why is it Η συνάδελφός μου and not Η συνάδελφος μου without an accent on the last syllable?

The basic word is συνάδελφος (colleague), with the stress on the third syllable from the end (συ–νά–δελ–φος).

When a word with stress on the third‑from‑last syllable is followed by an unstressed little word like μου (my), Greek adds a second accent on the last syllable:

• συνάδελφος → συνάδελφός μου

This is because μου is an enclitic pronoun: it “leans” on the previous word and can affect its accent. So the double accent συνάδελφός μου is completely normal and actually required by Greek accent rules.

Why is μου placed after συνάδελφός instead of before the noun, like η μου συνάδελφος?

In Greek, when you use a possessive pronoun like my/your/his/her, it usually goes after the noun:

• η φίλη μου = my (female) friend
• ο αδελφός σου = your brother
• το βιβλίο του = his book
• η συνάδελφός μου = my colleague

So the pattern is:

article + noun (+ adjective) + possessive pronoun

Using η μου συνάδελφος is ungrammatical in modern Greek (it sounds old-fashioned / archaic at best).

How do we know that συνάδελφος here means a female colleague?

The noun συνάδελφος itself can be either masculine or feminine; its form doesn’t change:

• ο συνάδελφος = the (male) colleague
• η συνάδελφος = the (female) colleague

In the sentence, we know it’s a woman because:

1. The article is feminine: Η (nominative feminine singular).
2. The adjective is feminine: νευρική (feminine form of νευρικός).

So Η συνάδελφός μου clearly refers to a female colleague.

Why is the first word Η (capital letter) and what does it mean?

Η is just the capitalized form of the feminine article η because it is at the beginning of the sentence.

• η = the (feminine, singular, nominative)
• Η συνάδελφός μου = My colleague (female)

So Η means the, but since it’s the first word, it’s written with a capital H.

Why is the adjective νευρική and not νευρικός?

Greek adjectives must agree with the noun in:

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

The basic forms of this adjective are:

• νευρικός – masculine
• νευρική – feminine
• νευρικό – neuter

Because συνάδελφος here is feminine singular nominative (Η συνάδελφος), the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative:

• Η συνάδελφός μου είναι νευρική.

Using νευρικός would be correct only if the colleague were grammatically masculine:

• Ο συνάδελφός μου είναι νευρικός. = My (male) colleague is nervous.

Why is the structure είναι νευρική and not something like “becomes nervous”?

Greek often uses the simple present of είμαι (to be) plus an adjective for both:

• a general characteristic:
  • Η συνάδελφός μου είναι νευρική.
    → My colleague is (a) nervous (type of) person.
• or a repeated reaction:
  • …όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο.
    → when the bus is late.

So είναι νευρική όταν… naturally covers the English meaning “she gets nervous when…” in a general, habitual sense. If we wanted to emphasize the process of becoming, we might say:

• αγχώνεται όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο = she gets stressed / she becomes anxious when the bus is late.

Why is it όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο and not όταν το λεωφορείο αργεί?

Both word orders are grammatically correct:

• όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο
• όταν το λεωφορείο αργεί

Greek word order is relatively flexible. The default, neutral order is often Subject–Verb–Object, but:

• Putting the verb first (αργεί το λεωφορείο) is also very natural.
• In short clauses like this, both versions sound fine, with only slight differences in emphasis.

In everyday speech, όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο is very common and sounds natural.

What is the subject of the verb αργεί in this sentence?

The subject of αργεί is το λεωφορείο.

Even though αργεί comes before το λεωφορείο, the subject is still το λεωφορείο, because:

• αργεί is 3rd person singular (he/she/it is late).
• το λεωφορείο is a singular neuter noun.

So:

• αργεί = it is late
• το λεωφορείο = the bus

Together: όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο = when the bus is late.

What exactly does αργεί mean, and what verb is it from?

αργεί is the 3rd person singular of the verb αργώ.

• αργώ = to be late, to be delayed
• αργώ (I am late)
• αργείς (you are late)
• αργεί (he / she / it is late)

So in the sentence:

• αργεί = is late (or “runs late”, “is delayed”)
• όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο = when the bus is late

Why do we use όταν here and not αν?

Both όταν and αν can introduce clauses that feel like “when / if” in English, but they’re not the same:

• όταν = when / whenever (time)
  
  • Used for time-related clauses, especially for repeated or habitual actions.
• αν = if (condition)
  
  • Used for conditions, possibilities, hypotheses.

In this sentence:

• Η συνάδελφός μου είναι νευρική όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο.
  → We’re talking about what regularly happens every time the bus is late.
  → So it’s a temporal “when”, which is όταν.

Using αν here would sound more like talking about a condition (“if the bus happens to be late”), not about the usual, repeated situation.

Why do both verbs είναι and αργεί appear in the simple present tense?

Greek simple present (ενεστώτας) is used for:

1. General truths / states
   
   • είναι νευρική = she is nervous (as a general tendency / habit)
2. Regular, repeated actions
   
   • όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο = whenever the bus is late

English often uses simple present or “gets” + adjective for this kind of habitual meaning:

• She gets nervous when the bus is late.

Greek doesn’t need an extra “gets” verb here; the combination:

• είναι (present) + όταν + present
  naturally expresses a repeated, habitual situation.

Why do we say το λεωφορείο and not just λεωφορείο without an article?

In Greek, the definite article (ο, η, το) is used more often than in English. We normally use the article when talking about something:

• specific,
• known from context,
• or in a general, typical situation (like “the bus” you usually take).

So:

• το λεωφορείο = the bus (the specific or usual bus we have in mind)

Leaving out the article (just λεωφορείο) is possible, but it changes the feel; it often sounds more like “(a) bus” in a very general or indefinite way, and in this sentence it would sound unnatural. The normal, idiomatic form is το λεωφορείο.

How is λεωφορείο pronounced and where is the stress?

λεωφορείο is pronounced roughly as:

• le‑o‑fo‑REE‑o

Syllables: λε‑ω‑φο‑ρεί‑ο
The stress is on ρεί: λεωφορείο.

So:

• λεω = “le‑o” (two vowel sounds)
• φο = “fo”
• ρείο = “REE‑o”

Together: le‑o‑fo‑REE‑o.

The written accent (´) is placed on εί (the stressed syllable): λεωφορείο.

What is the overall structure of the sentence in grammatical terms?

We can break it down like this:

• Η συνάδελφός μου – subject (feminine, singular, nominative)
  
  • Η = the (feminine article)
  • συνάδελφός = colleague (noun, feminine here)
  • μου = my (enclitic possessive pronoun)
• είναι νευρική – main verb + predicate adjective
  
  • είναι = is (3rd person singular of είμαι)
  • νευρική = nervous (adjective, feminine singular, agreeing with συνάδελφος)
• όταν αργεί το λεωφορείο – adverbial time clause
  
  • όταν = when / whenever
  • αργεί = is late (3rd person singular of αργώ)
  • το λεωφορείο = the bus (neuter, singular, nominative; subject of αργεί)

So the full structure is:

[Subject] [is + adjective] [when + subordinate clause].