Αφού μίλησα με τη μαμά μου, ένιωσα καλύτερα, παρόλο που το πρόβλημα δεν είχε φύγει.

After I talked with my mom, I felt better, even though the problem had not gone away.

Breakdown of Αφού μίλησα με τη μαμά μου, ένιωσα καλύτερα, παρόλο που το πρόβλημα δεν είχε φύγει.

• έχω: to have
• δεν: not
• μου: my
• με: with

Questions & Answers about Αφού μίλησα με τη μαμά μου, ένιωσα καλύτερα, παρόλο που το πρόβλημα δεν είχε φύγει.

What exactly does Αφού mean in this sentence, and how is it different from μετά or όταν?

In this sentence, Αφού μίλησα με τη μαμά μου means “After I talked to my mom”.

Αφού is tricky because it can mean:

1. After (something happened) – temporal use

   • Αφού έφαγα, κοιμήθηκα. = After I ate, I slept.

2. Since / because – causal use

   • Αφού είσαι κουρασμένος, πήγαινε για ύπνο. = Since you’re tired, go to sleep.

Here, it is clearly temporal: one action (talking) happened first, and then another (feeling better) followed.

Comparisons:

• μετά usually appears as an adverb and needs που or a noun to introduce a clause:
  
  • Μετά που μίλησα με τη μαμά μου, ένιωσα καλύτερα.
• όταν means when and is more neutral about order; αφού emphasizes that the first event is completed before the second.

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Why is the verb μίλησα used (aorist) and not μιλούσα?

Μίλησα is the aorist (simple past) of μιλάω and presents the action as a completed whole: I talked (once / in one event).

If you said μιλούσα (imperfect), it would focus on the ongoing nature of the action: . In this context: