Learn Hardcore Greek: Προσπαθώ να χαμογελάω όταν είμαι κουρασμένος, γιατί θυμάμαι το όνειρό μου και την ελπίδα μου. - I try to smile when I am tired, because I remember my dream and my hope.

Modern Greek no longer uses an infinitive the way English does. Instead, it uses the particle να followed by a verb in the subjunctive to express ideas like "to do something", "in order to do something", etc.

προσπαθώ να χαμογελάω literally is I try that I smile → functionally I try to smile.
This να + verb structure replaces many uses of the English infinitive after verbs like προσπαθώ (I try), θέλω (I want), μπορώ (I can), πρέπει (I must), etc.

So, να χαμογελάω is just how Greek says to smile in this kind of sentence.

What is the difference between χαμογελάω and χαμογελάσω here? Could I say προσπαθώ να χαμογελάσω?

Yes, you can say προσπαθώ να χαμογελάσω, but there is a nuance:

χαμογελάω is imperfective: it presents the action as ongoing, repeated, or habitual.
- προσπαθώ να χαμογελάω = I try to keep smiling / I try to smile (in general).
χαμογελάσω is aorist (perfective): it presents the action as a single, complete event.
- προσπαθώ να χαμογελάσω = I try to (manage to) smile (once, at that moment).

In your sentence, the idea is a general habit (whenever I am tired, I try to smile), so να χαμογελάω (imperfective) fits better than να χαμογελάσω.

What about χαμογελώ vs χαμογελάω? Are they both correct?

Yes, both are correct present-tense forms of the same verb:

χαμογελάω – more common in everyday, colloquial speech.
χαμογελώ – slightly more formal/literary or just a shorter variant.

They mean the same thing: I smile / I am smiling.

In your sentence, you could also say:

Προσπαθώ να χαμογελώ όταν είμαι κουρασμένος…

There is no real meaning change; it is mostly a stylistic preference.

The English meaning is "I try to smile when I am tired". Why doesn’t Greek need a separate continuous tense like I am trying?

Greek does not have a separate present progressive form like English I am trying. The simple present in Greek covers both:

habitual / general: Προσπαθώ = I try (in general)
right-now / ongoing: Προσπαθώ = I am trying (right now)

Context decides which reading is more natural. Here, combined with όταν είμαι κουρασμένος, it clearly means a general habit: whenever I’m tired, I try to smile.

Why is it όταν είμαι κουρασμένος and not something like όταν κουράζομαι? Is there a difference?

Yes, there is a difference:

είμαι κουρασμένος = I am tired (result state, adjective)
κουράζομαι = I get tired / I become tired (process, verb)

So:

όταν είμαι κουρασμένος = when I am (already) tired
όταν κουράζομαι = when I get tired / whenever I get tired

Your sentence describes the situation in the state of being tired, so the adjective κουρασμένος with είμαι is the natural choice.

Why is it κουρασμένος (masculine)? How would it change for a female speaker?

Κουρασμένος agrees in gender and number with the subject (I):

masculine singular: (εγώ) είμαι κουρασμένος
feminine singular: (εγώ) είμαι κουρασμένη
neuter plural (for a group of children/things): είμαστε κουρασμένα
common plural (mixed/unknown gender): είμαστε κουρασμένοι

So if the speaker is female, the sentence becomes:

Προσπαθώ να χαμογελάω όταν είμαι κουρασμένη, γιατί…

Can I move όταν είμαι κουρασμένος somewhere else in the sentence, like in English (When I am tired, I try to smile)?

Yes. Greek word order is quite flexible. All of these are grammatical:

Όταν είμαι κουρασμένος, προσπαθώ να χαμογελάω, γιατί θυμάμαι…
Προσπαθώ, όταν είμαι κουρασμένος, να χαμογελάω, γιατί θυμάμαι…
Προσπαθώ να χαμογελάω όταν είμαι κουρασμένος, γιατί θυμάμαι… (your version)

The meaning remains essentially the same; moving όταν είμαι κουρασμένος may slightly change the rhythm or emphasis, but not the core meaning.

Why is γιατί used here, and not επειδή? Don’t they both mean because?

Both γιατί and επειδή can mean because, but there are tendencies:

γιατί:
- can mean why (question) or because (answer).
- is very common in spoken Greek both as "why" and "because".
επειδή:
- only means because.
- often sounds a bit more explicit / slightly more formal or explanatory.

In your sentence:

…γιατί θυμάμαι το όνειρό μου και την ελπίδα μου.
…επειδή θυμάμαι το όνειρό μου και την ελπίδα μου.

Both are correct. γιατί is just the more neutral, everyday choice.

Why do we say το όνειρό μου with an article το? In English it’s just my dream, no the.

In Greek, possessives (μου, σου, του, etc.) very often appear together with the definite article:

το βιβλίο μου = my book
η μητέρα σου = your mother
το όνειρό μου = my dream

Leaving out the article (όνειρό μου) is possible, but it is:

less standard, and
usually used only in very specific styles (poetry, special emphasis, fixed phrases).

So in normal Greek, το όνειρό μου with the article is the default, natural form.

Why is the accent written on όνειρό (το όνειρό μου) instead of staying on όνειρο?

The word by itself is:

το όνειρο (accent on the third syllable from the end – antepenult).

When you add the enclitic μου, Greek accent rules allow the accent to move one syllable to the right to keep the three-syllable limit from the end of the word group:

το όνειρο → το όνειρό μου

This is a regular pattern with many nouns + enclitics:

το σπίτι → το σπίτι μου (no movement, already close to the end)
το όνειρο → το όνειρό μου (accent shifts so it doesn’t go too far from the end)

So το όνειρό μου is the correct written form.

Why is it το όνειρό μου και την ελπίδα μου and not το όνειρο μου και το ελπίδα μου? Why το vs την?

The articles change according to the gender, number, and case of the noun:

όνειρο is neuter:
- nominative / accusative singular: το όνειρο
ελπίδα is feminine:
- accusative singular: την ελπίδα

In your sentence, both όνειρο and ελπίδα are direct objects of θυμάμαι, so they are in the accusative:

θυμάμαι το όνειρό μου → I remember my dream
(θυμάμαι) την ελπίδα μου → (I remember) my hope

That is why we get το for όνειρο but την for ελπίδα.

Do we have to repeat μου in το όνειρό μου και την ελπίδα μου, or could we just say το όνειρό μου και την ελπίδα?

You are not forced to repeat μου, but repeating it is very natural and often preferred:

το όνειρό μου και την ελπίδα μου – clearly both are mine, with a balanced, rhythmic structure.
το όνειρό μου και την ελπίδα – would usually still be understood as "my dream and (my) hope", but:
- stylistically feels a bit unbalanced, and
- could sound slightly less clear or complete.

If you want to be fully natural and unambiguous in everyday Greek, repeat the possessive: …το όνειρό μου και την ελπίδα μου.

What is the nuance of όνειρο and ελπίδα in this sentence? Are they just a “dream while sleeping” and “hope” in general?

Both words have literal and figurative uses, and here they lean towards the figurative:

όνειρο:
- literal: a dream you see while sleeping.
- figurative: a goal, vision, life dream, aspiration.
ελπίδα:
- hope in the emotional sense (feeling of hope).
- also the thing you hope for.

In this sentence, because the speaker talks about motivation (trying to smile when tired), το όνειρό μου and η ελπίδα μου naturally sound like my life dream / aspiration and my sense of hope / what I hope for, not just a random dream from last night. Context gives them that deeper, personal meaning.