Learn Hardcore Greek: Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω βόλτα στο πάρκο με τη φίλη μου. - This afternoon I am taking a walk in the park with my friend.

In Greek, the present tense is often used for near future, planned actions, especially when there is a clear time expression like σήμερα το απόγευμα.

Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω βόλτα…
= I’m taking a walk this afternoon. (a fixed plan)

Using θα is also correct:

Σήμερα το απόγευμα θα κάνω βόλτα…
This sounds a bit more like a neutral future statement, without the slightly “scheduled / arranged” feel that the simple present can give.

Both are grammatically correct; the original sentence simply uses the very common “present for near future” pattern.

What does the expression κάνω βόλτα literally mean, and is there a single verb for “to stroll / go for a walk”?

Literally, κάνω βόλτα is:

κάνω = I do / I make
βόλτα = walk, stroll, outing

So κάνω βόλτα = “I do a walk / stroll”, i.e. “I go for a walk / I’m taking a walk”.

You’ll often see:

κάνω βόλτα – I go for a walk / I take a stroll
πάω βόλτα – I go for a walk (focus on going somewhere for a walk)

There is also the verb περπατάω = to walk, but that focuses more on the physical act of walking, not so much the pleasant outing idea.
So for “I’m going for a walk (for pleasure)”, κάνω βόλτα or πάω βόλτα is more natural.

Why is there no article before βόλτα? Could I say κάνω μια βόλτα?

Both are possible:

κάνω βόλτα
κάνω μια βόλτα

They are very close in meaning. Μια (“a”) can make it sound a bit more like “a (single) walk / a little walk”, but in practice the difference is small, and people often just say κάνω βόλτα as a set expression.

This is similar to English variation between:

“I’m going for a walk”
“I’m going walking”

Greek often omits the article in fixed expressions with κάνω + noun.

What exactly is στο in στο πάρκο?

Στο is a contraction of two words:

σε = in / at / to
το = the (neuter, singular, accusative)

So:

σε + το πάρκο → στο πάρκο = in the park / to the park / at the park

You always use σε + definite article like this:

σε + το → στο
σε + τα → στα
σε + την → στη(ν)
σε + τις → στις
σε + τον → στον

How do I know it’s στο πάρκο and not something like στην πάρκο? What gender is πάρκο?

Πάρκο is a neuter noun in Greek.

Nominative singular: το πάρκο
Accusative singular: το πάρκο

After σε, you use the accusative with the definite article, so:

σε + το πάρκο → στο πάρκο

You cannot say στην πάρκο, because στην is the form for feminine nouns (e.g. στην πλατεία = in the square). Πάρκο is neuter, so it always takes το in the singular.

Why is it Σήμερα το απόγευμα (literally “Today the afternoon”) instead of something like αυτό το απόγευμα (“this afternoon”)?

Greek very commonly uses the pattern:

Σήμερα το πρωί – this morning
Σήμερα το μεσημέρι – this noon / lunchtime
Σήμερα το απόγευμα – this afternoon
Σήμερα το βράδυ – this evening / tonight

Literally it’s “Today the morning / noon / afternoon / evening”, but in natural English we say “this morning / this afternoon”, etc.

You can say αυτό το απόγευμα, but:

σήμερα το απόγευμα sounds like “today, in the afternoon” (more common, very natural, very specific to today).
αυτό το απόγευμα is more like “this afternoon” as a time you’ve just referred to or are pointing out.

So the original choice is the most idiomatic for a simple “this afternoon” today.

What is the difference between φίλη and φίλος? Does η φίλη μου always mean “my girlfriend”?

φίλος = (male) friend
φίλη = (female) friend

So:

ο φίλος μου = my (male) friend
η φίλη μου = my (female) friend

η φίλη μου can mean “my girlfriend”, but it doesn’t have to. It can also mean simply “my female friend”; context decides.

More clearly romantic versions would be:

η κοπέλα μου – my girlfriend (literally “my girl”)
ο φίλος μου / η φίλη μου can be either platonic or romantic, depending on context and intonation.

Why is it written με τη φίλη μου and not με την φίλη μου? When do we keep or drop the final -ν of the article?

The feminine article has two forms:

την (with ν)
τη (without ν)

Modern spelling usually drops the final -ν unless the next word starts with certain sounds or letters.

You normally keep the -ν when the next word starts with:

a vowel (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω)
or the consonants: κ, π, τ, μπ, ντ, γκ, ξ, ψ, τσ, τζ

In τη φίλη, the next word starts with φ, which is not in that list, so we usually drop the -ν:

με τη φίλη μου (standard modern spelling)

You would still hear some speakers say/pronounce την φίλη in fast speech, but in writing τη φίλη is the norm.

Why is μου placed after η φίλη instead of before, like “my friend” in English?

In Greek, the common way to express possession is with a clitic pronoun after the noun:

η φίλη μου = my friend (literally “the friend my”)
το σπίτι σου = your house
τα βιβλία μας = our books

You can say η δική μου φίλη (literally “the own my friend”) for emphasis, something like “my friend (as opposed to someone else’s)”, but the normal, neutral way to say “my friend” is:

η φίλη μου

What is the difference between με τη φίλη μου and μαζί με τη φίλη μου?

Both mean “with my (female) friend”, but there is a small nuance:

με τη φίλη μου – with my friend (neutral “with”)
μαζί με τη φίλη μου – together with my friend (slightly emphasizes being together)

In the sentence:

… κάνω βόλτα στο πάρκο με τη φίλη μου.

you could also say:

… κάνω βόλτα στο πάρκο μαζί με τη φίλη μου.

Both are correct; με alone is usually enough, and μαζί με just adds a bit of emphasis on being together.

Can I change the word order, for example: Κάνω βόλτα στο πάρκο σήμερα το απόγευμα με τη φίλη μου?

Yes. Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially for things like time and place phrases. All of these are possible and natural, with small differences in emphasis:

Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω βόλτα στο πάρκο με τη φίλη μου.
(Neutral; starts with “this afternoon” as the frame.)
Κάνω βόλτα στο πάρκο σήμερα το απόγευμα με τη φίλη μου.
(Starts from the activity, then adds when.)
Σήμερα το απόγευμα, με τη φίλη μου, κάνω βόλτα στο πάρκο.
(Extra emphasis on “this afternoon, with my friend”.)

As long as the subject, verb, objects, and prepositional phrases are clear, Greek allows quite a lot of reordering for stylistic or emphasis reasons.

Which words are the subject and objects in this sentence? Which case are they in?

Sentence: Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω βόλτα στο πάρκο με τη φίλη μου.

κάνω – verb (“I do / I make / I take”)
(εγώ) – subject “I”, understood from the verb ending, not written
βόλτα – direct object of κάνω (accusative)
στο πάρκο – prepositional phrase (σε + το
- noun in accusative)
με τη φίλη μου – prepositional phrase (με
- noun in accusative + possessive clitic)

So the pattern is basically:

[Time] + [Verb] + [Direct object] + [Place] + [With whom]
[Σήμερα το απόγευμα] + [κάνω] + [βόλτα] + [στο πάρκο] + [με τη φίλη μου]