Η φίλη μου φοβάται όταν έχει καταιγίδα τη νύχτα.

My friend (female) is afraid when there is a storm at night.

Breakdown of Η φίλη μου φοβάται όταν έχει καταιγίδα τη νύχτα.

• έχω: to have
• η φίλη: the female friend
• μου: my
• όταν: when
• τη νύχτα: at night
• φοβάμαι: to be afraid
• η καταιγίδα: the storm

Questions & Answers about Η φίλη μου φοβάται όταν έχει καταιγίδα τη νύχτα.

What is the word‑for‑word meaning of Η φίλη μου φοβάται όταν έχει καταιγίδα τη νύχτα, and how does that differ from natural English?

Word‑for‑word:

• Η – the (feminine, singular, nominative)
• φίλη – (female) friend
• μου – my
• φοβάται – is afraid / fears (3rd person singular)
• όταν – when / whenever
• έχει – has / there is
• καταιγίδα – storm
• τη – the (feminine, singular, accusative)
• νύχτα – night

Very literal: “The friend my is‑afraid when it‑has storm the night.”

Natural English: “My (female) friend is afraid when there’s a storm at night.”

Why is it Η φίλη μου and not something like ο φίλος μου?

Greek nouns have grammatical gender, and φίλη is the feminine form for friend.

• ο φίλος = (male) friend
• η φίλη = (female) friend

Because we’re talking about a female friend, we use:

• Η φίλη μου = my (female) friend

To say my (male) friend, you’d say Ο φίλος μου.

Why does μου (my) come after φίλη instead of before, like in English?

In Greek, unstressed possessive pronouns normally follow the noun:

• η φίλη μου = my friend
• το βιβλίο σου = your book
• το σπίτι μας = our house

So μου is an enclitic (a short, unstressed word that “leans” on the previous word).

You can put a stressed possessive adjective before the noun, but that changes the form and emphasis:

• η δική μου φίλη = my friend (as opposed to someone else’s)

In this sentence we just need a neutral my, so it’s η φίλη μου.

What exactly does φοβάται mean, and what is its base form?

φοβάται is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• middle/passive voice

of the verb φοβάμαι = to be afraid, to fear.

Forms:

• (εγώ) φοβάμαι – I am afraid / I fear
• (εσύ) φοβάσαι – you are afraid
• (αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) φοβάται – he/she/it is afraid

So φοβάται here = “she is afraid” or “she gets scared” (in a general/habitual sense).

Why is φοβάται in the middle/passive voice and not active?

In Modern Greek, many feeling / state verbs are naturally in the middle/passive voice, even though in English they’re active:

• φοβάμαι – I am afraid / I fear
• χαίρομαι – I am glad / I enjoy
• θυμάμαι – I remember

You don’t usually use an active form like φοβώ in everyday speech for this meaning.

So η φίλη μου φοβάται is the normal, idiomatic way to say “my friend is afraid.”

Where is the word for she in the sentence? I only see Η φίλη μου φοβάται…

Greek often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows who the subject is.

• φοβάται can mean he is afraid, she is afraid, or it is afraid, depending on context.
• Here, η φίλη μου is the subject, so we know it means she (my friend).

You could technically say Αυτή φοβάται = She is afraid, but with a clear subject noun (η φίλη μου) it isn’t needed.

Does όταν here mean “when” or “whenever,” and why is the present tense used?

όταν can mean:

• when (for a specific time)
• whenever (for repeated/habitual situations)

With the present tense on both sides:

• Η φίλη μου φοβάται όταν έχει καταιγίδα…

it usually means a general, repeated situation:

• “My friend is (generally) afraid whenever there’s a storm at night.”

Greek often uses the present tense for habitual actions like this, just as English does.

How does έχει καταιγίδα work? Why use έχει and not something like είναι?

έχει καταιγίδα literally is “it has storm.”

In practice, this is a very common way in Greek to say “there is a storm” or “it is stormy.”

Examples:

• Έχει ήλιο. – It’s sunny. / There is sun.
• Έχει αέρα. – It’s windy. / There is wind.
• Έχει καταιγίδα. – There is a storm. / It’s stormy.

So here όταν έχει καταιγίδα = “when there’s a storm.”
Using είναι (is) would not be idiomatic in this weather expression.

Why is there no article before καταιγίδα? Why not την καταιγίδα?

We say έχει καταιγίδα without an article because:

• We’re talking generally about “a storm / stormy weather,”
• Not about one specific, already known storm.

In many weather expressions, Greek uses a bare noun:

• Έχει βροχή. – It’s raining / there is rain.
• Έχει ομίχλη. – It’s foggy / there is fog.
• Έχει καταιγίδα. – There is a storm.

If you said έχει την καταιγίδα, it would sound like “it has the storm,” referring to some specific storm already identified in context, which is unusual in a generic sentence like this.

Why do we say τη νύχτα with the definite article, when English just says “at night”?

Greek uses the definite article in many time expressions where English doesn’t:

• το πρωί – in the morning
• το βράδυ – in the evening / at night
• τη Δευτέρα – on Monday
• τη νύχτα – at night

So τη νύχτα literally is “the night”, but in context it functions like English “at night”.

English drops the in these fixed expressions; Greek normally keeps it.

Is τη νύχτα the object of the verb, or something else?

In έχει καταιγίδα τη νύχτα:

• καταιγίδα is the object of έχει (it has storm).
• τη νύχτα acts as an adverbial time expression: it tells you when.

So grammatically, τη νύχτα is in the accusative but functions like “at night”, not as a direct object.

Can I change the word order to Η φίλη μου φοβάται τη νύχτα όταν έχει καταιγίδα? Does the meaning change?

Yes, that word order is possible:

• Η φίλη μου φοβάται τη νύχτα όταν έχει καταιγίδα.

The basic meaning stays the same: she is afraid when there is a storm at night.

Slight nuance:

• Original: φοβάται όταν έχει καταιγίδα τη νύχτα
  → focus a bit more on the situation with storms at night.
• Reordered: φοβάται τη νύχτα όταν έχει καταιγίδα
  → can slightly highlight the night as the time she is afraid, but only when it’s stormy.

In everyday speech, both will usually be understood the same way.

Could we also say φοβάται τις καταιγίδες τη νύχτα or φοβάται την καταιγίδα τη νύχτα? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the nuance changes:

1. Η φίλη μου φοβάται όταν έχει καταιγίδα τη νύχτα.
   – She is afraid when there is a storm at night (focus on the situation).

2. Η φίλη μου φοβάται τις καταιγίδες τη νύχτα.
   – She is afraid of storms at night (storms are the direct object of φοβάται; a more direct “she fears storms at night”).

3. Η φίλη μου φοβάται την καταιγίδα τη νύχτα.
   – She is afraid of the storm at night, implying some particular storm already known in context.

The original sentence talks about a general condition, not about specific, identified storms.

How would the sentence change if I were talking about more than one (female) friend?

You need plural forms for the article, noun, and verb:

• Οι φίλες μου φοβούνται όταν έχει καταιγίδα τη νύχτα.

Changes:

• Η φίλη → Οι φίλες (the friend → the friends)
• Verb: φοβάται (she is afraid) → φοβούνται (they are afraid)
• μου stays the same (my friend / my friends).

How is the sentence pronounced, and where are the main stresses?

Stressed syllables are in capitals in the rough phonetic guide:

• Η φίλη μου φοβάται όταν έχει καταιγίδα τη νύχτα.

Approximate pronunciation:

• Η – /i/
• φίλη – FEE‑li
• μου – mu
• φοβάται – fo‑VA‑te
• όταν – O‑tan
• έχει – E‑chi (chi like German ch in Bach)
• καταιγίδα – ka‑te‑YI‑ða (ð like th in this)
• τη – ti
• νύχτα – NIH‑hta (the χ again like German ch in Bach)

Main word stresses:

• φίλη, φοβάται, όταν, έχει, καταιγίδα, νύχτα each have one stressed syllable marked by the written accent (΄) in Greek.