Learn Hardcore Greek: Το καλοκαίρι το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι να κάνω διακοπές σε ένα ελληνικό νησί. - In the summer my big dream is to vacation on a Greek island.

Το καλοκαίρι το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι να κάνω διακοπές σε ένα ελληνικό νησί.

In the summer my big dream is to vacation on a Greek island.

Breakdown of Το καλοκαίρι το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι να κάνω διακοπές σε ένα ελληνικό νησί.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Greek grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Greek now

Questions & Answers about Το καλοκαίρι το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι να κάνω διακοπές σε ένα ελληνικό νησί.

Why do we say Το καλοκαίρι with the article το, and why is there no word for “in”?

In Greek, seasons and many time expressions often take the definite article, and the accusative case of time is used without a preposition.

Το καλοκαίρι literally = “the summer”, but here it functions as “(in) the summer / in summer”.
Greek can say:
- Το καλοκαίρι δουλεύω. = I work (in) summer.
- Τον χειμώνα κοιμάμαι νωρίς. = (In) winter I sleep early.

So:

The article το is natural with seasons.
The idea of “in / during” is expressed just by putting the time word (here το καλοκαίρι) in the accusative, with no preposition like σε.

Why are there two το in a row: Το καλοκαίρι το μεγάλο μου όνειρο…?

They belong to two different noun phrases:

Το καλοκαίρι = “(in) the summer” → time expression.
το μεγάλο μου όνειρο = “my big dream” → the subject of the sentence.

Each noun phrase needs its own article here, so you cannot drop one of them.
If you translated word‑for‑word:
Το καλοκαίρι / το μεγάλο μου όνειρο / είναι…
= “In the summer / my big dream / is…”

How does the word order in το μεγάλο μου όνειρο work? Why μου after the adjective and not before everything, like in English “my big dream”?

Typical order in Greek with an adjective and a possessive is:

[article] + [adjective] + [possessive] + [noun]
το μεγάλο μου όνειρο = my big dream

Key points:

The article (το) goes first.
The adjective (μεγάλο) comes before the noun.
The weak possessive pronoun (μου) goes after the adjective and before the noun (or directly after the noun in other patterns), never in front of the article.

These are wrong:

μου το μεγάλο όνειρο ✗
το μου μεγάλο όνειρο ✗

You could also say:

το μεγάλο όνειρό μου – also “my big dream”, a bit more focused on όνειρο (“dream”); here μου attaches to όνειρο, so you see the extra accent: όνειρό μου.

What exactly does μου mean here, and why not use εγώ?

μου here is the unstressed (weak) possessive pronoun meaning “my”.

It is the genitive form of the 1st‑person pronoun, used as a clitic:
- μου = my
- σου = your
- του / της = his / her
- μας = our
- σας = your (plural / formal)
- τους = their

εγώ means “I” (subject form) and cannot be used for possession in front of a noun like English my.

If you want to emphasize the possessor, you can use a stressed form plus δικός:

το δικό μου μεγάλο όνειρο = my big dream (specifically mine, in contrast to someone else’s).

Why is the verb phrase είναι να κάνω… and not just είναι κάνω…? What does να do here?

Modern Greek doesn’t use an infinitive like English “to do”. Instead, it uses να + verb (subjunctive form) to express things like “to do”, “to go”, etc., especially after verbs/expressions of desire, plan, or evaluation.

So:

είναι να κάνω… ≈ “is to do… / is for me to do…”

You must include να:

Το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι να κάνω… ✓
Το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι κάνω… ✗ (ungrammatical)

Other examples:

Θέλω να πάω. = I want to go.
Σκοπεύω να διαβάσω. = I intend to read.
Είναι δύσκολο να μιλάω ελληνικά. = It’s hard to speak Greek.

Why is κάνω διακοπές used to mean “go on holiday”? Can I say something else?

κάνω διακοπές literally = “I do holidays”, but as an expression it means:

“to be on holiday / to go on holiday / to take a vacation.”

It’s a very common collocation in Greek.

You can also say:

πάω διακοπές = I go on holiday (focus on the going).
έχω διακοπές = I have holidays / I’m off (e.g. school holidays).

In this sentence, να κάνω διακοπές is perfectly natural and idiomatic.

Why is διακοπές in the plural, and why is there no article (not τις διακοπές)?

Plural form
For “holiday(s)” / “vacation”, Greek normally uses only the plural:

οι διακοπές = the holiday(s) / vacation.
Singular η διακοπή exists, but it means “interruption / cut‑off”, not vacation.

So you say:

Πάω διακοπές. = I’m going on holiday.
Πότε έχετε διακοπές; = When do you have holidays?

No article here
In να κάνω διακοπές, the holidays are spoken of in general, so the article can be omitted:

κάνω διακοπές = I go on holiday (general).

With an article, you refer to specific holidays:

κάνω τις διακοπές μου στην Κρήτη. = I spend my holidays in Crete.
Here τις
- μου makes it specific and personal.

Why is ελληνικό in that form, and how does it agree with νησί?

Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun in:

Gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
Number (singular / plural)
Case (nominative / accusative / etc.)

The adjective ελληνικός, ‑ή, ‑ό (Greek) has:

Masculine: ελληνικός
Feminine: ελληνική
Neuter: ελληνικό

The noun νησί (“island”) is neuter singular, and here it is in the accusative (because of σε). The neuter nominative and accusative forms are the same:

ένα ελληνικό νησί = one Greek island (neuter, singular, accusative)

So ελληνικό must also be neuter singular accusative to match νησί.

What cases are the nouns in, and what roles do they play in the sentence?

Breakdown:

Το καλοκαίρι – accusative of time, used adverbially
- Function: time expression → “(in) summer / in the summer”.
το μεγάλο μου όνειρο – nominative
- Function: subject of the verb είναι.
διακοπές – accusative plural
- Function: direct object of κάνω (“I do holidays” → I go on holiday).
σε ένα ελληνικό νησί – accusative (all words)
- σε always takes the accusative.
- Function: prepositional phrase of place / destination → “to a Greek island”.

So the core structure is:

[Subject]: το μεγάλο μου όνειρο
[Verb]: είναι
[Complement clause]: να κάνω διακοπές σε ένα ελληνικό νησί
with Το καλοκαίρι as a time expression at the beginning.

Can we change the word order, for example Το μεγάλο μου όνειρο το καλοκαίρι είναι… or move το καλοκαίρι to the end?

Greek allows quite flexible word order, especially for emphasis and focus. Some natural alternatives:

Το καλοκαίρι το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι να κάνω διακοπές σε ένα ελληνικό νησί.
– Neutral, slightly topicalizing “in the summer”.
Το μεγάλο μου όνειρο το καλοκαίρι είναι να κάνω διακοπές σε ένα ελληνικό νησί.
– Emphasis on “my big dream in summer” (as opposed to at other times).
Το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι να κάνω διακοπές σε ένα ελληνικό νησί το καλοκαίρι.
– Time expression at the end; close to English “My big dream is to go on holiday to a Greek island in the summer.”

All are grammatically correct. The basic rule is just that the subject (το μεγάλο μου όνειρο) and verb (είναι) must stay in a logical relationship; time and place phrases can move around.

Do we need a comma after Το καλοκαίρι?

Not strictly. With a short time expression like Το καλοκαίρι at the start, most often there is no comma:

Το καλοκαίρι το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι… (very natural)

You may add a comma if you want a slight pause or stronger emphasis:

Το καλοκαίρι, το μεγάλο μου όνειρο είναι…

Both are acceptable in modern usage; the version without the comma is more common in simple sentences like this.

Can σε ένα ελληνικό νησί become σ’ ένα ελληνικό νησί? Is that the same thing?

Yes, in fast speech and often in writing, σε before a vowel is commonly shortened:

σε ένα ελληνικό νησί → σ’ ένα ελληνικό νησί

You write it with an apostrophe: σ’ ένα, not σένα.

Be careful:

σ’ ένα = contracted σε ένα → “to / on / at one (a) …”
σένα (one word, no apostrophe) = emphatic “you” (εσένα) in the accusative.

So in this sentence, both:

σε ένα ελληνικό νησί
σ’ ένα ελληνικό νησί

are correct and mean the same thing: “on / to a Greek island.”