Breakdown of Το μεγάλο όνειρό μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.
Questions & Answers about Το μεγάλο όνειρό μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.
In Greek every noun has a fixed grammatical gender that doesn’t change.
- όνειρο (dream) is neuter, so it always takes:
- the neuter article: το όνειρο (the dream)
- the neuter form of the adjective: μεγάλο όνειρο (big dream)
So the correct combination is:
- Το μεγάλο όνειρό μου = My big dream
The feminine forms η / μεγάλη would be used with a feminine noun (e.g. η μεγάλη πόλη “the big city”), so Η μεγάλη όνειρό μου is ungrammatical. The possessive μου doesn’t change form; it’s the same for all genders and numbers.
This is a stress rule in Modern Greek.
- On its own, the word is το όνειρο (stress on the third-from-last syllable – ό-νει-ρο).
- When you add a short enclitic like μου (my), the noun and the clitic form one “phonological word”: όνειρομου (4 syllables: ό-νει-ρο-μου).
Greek has a “three‑syllable rule”: the stress must fall on one of the last three syllables of the whole phonological word.
If we kept the stress on ό in ό-νει-ρο-μου, it would be four syllables from the end, which is not allowed. So the stress moves forward, here to the last syllable of the noun:
- το όνειρό μου
Other similar examples:
- το άλογο → το άλογό μου (my horse)
- το πρόβλημα → το πρόβλημά μου (my problem)
So the accent shift is automatic when a word like όνειρο (stressed on the third-from-last) is followed by an enclitic such as μου.
Both are correct and common; the difference is mainly in nuance and rhythm.
Το μεγάλο όνειρό μου
- Possessive μου comes after the noun.
- Very neutral and natural in everyday speech.
- Slightly more focus on the dream itself.
Το μεγάλο μου όνειρο
- μου comes between the article and the noun.
- This position can slightly emphasise the possessor (my big dream, as opposed to someone else’s).
- Often sounds a bit more “careful” or “literary”, but still completely normal in speech.
In most everyday contexts, they are interchangeable and both will be understood exactly as My big dream.
Modern Greek has no infinitive in normal use. Instead, it uses να + a finite verb (subjunctive) where English often uses to + infinitive.
- English: My big dream is *to speak Greek well…*
- Greek: Το μεγάλο όνειρό μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά…
So:
- να μιλάω literally means “that I speak”, but in this structure it functions like to speak.
- You’ll see να in many places where English uses to + verb or that + clause:
- Θέλω να μιλάω ελληνικά. = I want to speak Greek.
- Ελπίζω να μιλάω καλά. = I hope (that) I speak well.
So να μιλάω is the normal Modern Greek way to express “to speak (as a wish/aim)”.
Yes, both are correct forms of the same verb μιλάω / μιλώ (to speak).
- Many verbs ending in ‑άω have two parallel present forms:
- μιλάω
- μιλώ
In usage:
- μιλάω is very common and sounds more colloquial / everyday.
- μιλώ often sounds a bit more formal or written, but is also used in speech.
In your sentence you could say:
- να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά (very natural)
- να μιλώ καλά ελληνικά (also correct, a little more formal/bookish for some speakers)
Meaning-wise, here they are the same.
This is about aspect (ongoing vs. single / complete action).
να μιλάω – imperfective aspect
- Suggests an ongoing, repeated, or general ability / habit.
- να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά = to be able to speak Greek well (in general, as a skill).
να μιλήσω – perfective aspect
- Refers to a single, complete act of speaking, often “to say something once”.
- Θέλω να μιλήσω ελληνικά. ≈ I want to say something in Greek / I want to speak (once) in Greek.
In your sentence, the speaker is talking about a lasting ability in the future, not one single act, so Greek naturally uses the imperfective:
- Το μεγάλο όνειρό μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.
= My big dream is to (be able to) speak Greek well in the future.
Using να μιλήσω here would sound like “My big dream is to say something in Greek once in the future”, which is not what we mean.
In this sentence καλά is an adverb, meaning well.
- μιλάω καλά = I speak well.
Historically, καλά is the neuter plural of the adjective καλός, but in Modern Greek it is also used as an invariable adverb:
- καλά = well (adverb)
- καλός / καλή / καλό = good (adjective, agrees with a noun)
So:
- μιλάω καλά ελληνικά = I speak Greek well.
- καλό ελληνικό βιβλίο = a good Greek book (here καλό is an adjective agreeing with βιβλίο, not an adverb).
Using καλό or καλός after μιλάω would be ungrammatical in this context, because the verb needs an adverb (“how?”), not an adjective.
In Greek, the neuter plural of many nationality adjectives is used to mean the language:
- τα ελληνικά = Greek (language)
- τα αγγλικά = English
- τα ισπανικά = Spanish
With verbs like μιλάω (speak), you can omit the article:
- μιλάω ελληνικά = I speak Greek.
So in your sentence:
- να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά = to speak Greek well.
As for capitalization:
- Names of languages (ελληνικά, αγγλικά, γαλλικά, …) are not capitalized in Greek, unless they are at the beginning of a sentence.
- Nationalities like Έλληνας (a Greek person), Άγγλος (an Englishman) are capitalized because they are proper nouns.
So ελληνικά is lower-case here because it’s “Greek (as a language)”, not a proper name.
Word order in Greek is more flexible than in English, but not all orders sound equally natural.
Most neutral and natural here is:
- να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά (verb – adverb – object)
Other possibilities:
να μιλάω ελληνικά καλά
- Grammatically possible, but sounds less natural.
- Might put a bit more emphasis on καλά (well): “…Greek, and to speak it well”.
να μιλάω καλά τα ελληνικά
- Also possible; sounds more emphatic, like “to speak the Greek language well (as opposed to badly or to some other language).”
In everyday speech, να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά is the default. Greek tends to place short adverbs like καλά right after the verb, especially in this kind of sentence.
στο is a contraction of the preposition σε (in/at) + the neuter article το (the):
- σε + το = στο
So:
- στο μέλλον = in the future
- literally: “in the future”.
We use σε + article with time expressions to mean “in / at” a time period:
- στο μέλλον = in the future
- στο παρελθόν = in the past
- στο τέλος = in the end
Just το μέλλον on its own means “the future” as a noun phrase, but to express when (adverbial time) you normally say στο μέλλον.
Yes, you can say:
- Το μεγάλο όνειρό μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά μια μέρα.
= My big dream is to speak Greek well one day.
Differences in nuance:
- στο μέλλον = in the future (general, open-ended time)
- μια μέρα = one day / someday (more personal, a bit more emotional or hopeful)
Grammatically both are fine; it’s just a stylistic choice. στο μέλλον sounds slightly more neutral and abstract, μια μέρα feels more like “someday in my life”.