Όταν κάνει κρύο, μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ.

When it is cold, I stay at home in the evening.

Breakdown of Όταν κάνει κρύο, μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ.

• το σπίτι: the home
• το βράδυ: in the evening
• σε: at
• μένω: to stay
• όταν: when
• κάνει κρύο: to be cold

Questions & Answers about Όταν κάνει κρύο, μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ.

Why do we say κάνει κρύο instead of something like είναι κρύο, since in English we say “it is cold”?

In Greek, weather expressions often use the verb κάνω (literally “to do/make”) or έχω (“to have”) rather than είμαι (“to be”).

• κάνει κρύο = “it’s cold” (literally: “it makes cold”)
• κάνει ζέστη = “it’s hot”
• κάνει ήλιο = “it’s sunny”

Using είναι κρύο on its own (with no noun like καιρός = “weather”) is not natural in Greek. You could say:

• Ο καιρός είναι κρύος. = “The weather is cold.”

But for the impersonal English “it’s cold (outside)”, Greek normally uses κάνει κρύο (or also έχει κρύο in many dialects).

What tense are κάνει and μένω, and why are they both in the present tense here?

Both κάνει and μένω are in the present tense, active voice, indicative mood.

• κάνει = “it is (it gets/it is generally) cold”
• μένω = “I stay”

In Greek, as in English, the present tense is often used for general truths and habits.
So Όταν κάνει κρύο, μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ means:

• “Whenever it is cold, I (usually) stay at home in the evening.”

It does not necessarily mean “right now”; it describes a repeated or typical behavior.

Why is there no word for “I” in μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ? Where is the subject?

The subject “I” is built into the verb ending in Greek.

• μένω = “I stay”
• μένεις = “you (sing.) stay”
• μένει = “he/she/it stays”

Because the ending -ω already tells us the subject is I, the pronoun εγώ (“I”) is usually omitted unless you want to emphasize it:

• Εγώ μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ. = I stay at home in the evening (emphasizing “I”, as opposed to someone else).

What exactly does όταν mean? Is it like when, if, or both?

Όταν usually means “when/whenever” and introduces a time clause.

In this sentence:

• Όταν κάνει κρύο = “When it’s cold / Whenever it’s cold”

It can cover meanings that in English might be “when” or “whenever”.
If you want a more “if”-like, conditional feel, Greek often uses αν:

• Αν κάνει κρύο, μένω στο σπίτι. = “If it’s cold, I stay at home.”

Here, όταν focuses on time / situations that occur, while αν highlights condition / possibility. In everyday speech, there can be overlap, but they are not completely interchangeable.

Why is there a comma after Όταν κάνει κρύο?

Greek punctuation here works much like English:

• The clause Όταν κάνει κρύο (“When it’s cold”) is a dependent (subordinate) clause.
• When it comes before the main clause, it is normally separated by a comma.

So:

• Όταν κάνει κρύο, μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ.

If you reverse the order, the comma is usually omitted:

• Μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ όταν κάνει κρύο.

What is στο in μένω στο σπίτι? Why not just σε το σπίτι?

στο is a contraction of:

• σε (“in/at/to”) + το (neuter singular definite article “the”)

So:

• σε + το = στο

Because σπίτι is neuter singular (το σπίτι), you must use στο:

• στο σπίτι = “at home / in the house”

You don’t say στον σπίτι because στον = σε + τον (“to the” masculine singular), and σπίτι is not masculine.

What gender is σπίτι, and how does that affect the articles?

Σπίτι is neuter.

• Singular: το σπίτι = “the house / the home”
• Plural: τα σπίτια = “the houses”

That is why you see:

• στο σπίτι (σε + το) and not στον σπίτι or στην σπίτι.

All the forms of the article and preposition agreement follow its neuter gender.

Can I say μένω σπίτι without στο and το? What is the difference from μένω στο σπίτι?

Yes, you can say:

• Μένω σπίτι.

This is very common and means something like “I stay (at) home”, with “home” understood as a general place.

Roughly:

• μένω σπίτι → more general, “I stay home” (no emphasis on a specific house)
• μένω στο σπίτι → “I stay at the house / at home”, a bit more definite/specific, though in practice both are often understood the same in everyday speech.

Both are correct and natural. Μένω σπίτι is slightly more informal/colloquial sounding.

Why do we use μένω (“I stay”) and not είμαι (“I am”) for “I stay at home”?

There is a meaning difference:

• μένω = “I stay / remain / live (reside)”
• είμαι = “I am” (state of being / location)

In this sentence you want to express the action of staying / remaining at home, not just the fact that you are located there:

• Μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ.
  “I stay at home in the evening” (I don’t go out.)

If you said:

• Είμαι στο σπίτι το βράδυ.
  “I am at home in the evening.”

this describes where you are, but not so much the idea that you choose to stay in rather than go out.

Why do we say το βράδυ instead of just βράδυ?

Time expressions in Greek often use the neuter singular article το:

• το βράδυ = “in the evening / at night”
• το πρωί = “in the morning”
• το μεσημέρι = “at noon / midday”

So:

• Μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ.
  literally: “I stay at home the evening.”

In meaning, το βράδυ works like English “in the evening” and can describe a habitual time (“in the evenings, generally”) or a specific one, depending on context. Without further context, it usually sounds habitual here.

Can το βράδυ be placed elsewhere in the sentence? Does the meaning change?

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

• Όταν κάνει κρύο, μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ.
• Όταν κάνει κρύο το βράδυ, μένω στο σπίτι.
• Το βράδυ, όταν κάνει κρύο, μένω στο σπίτι.
• Μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ, όταν κάνει κρύο.

The core meaning remains the same: when it’s cold, you stay at home in the evening.
What changes slightly is the emphasis:

• Starting with Το βράδυ, … puts more emphasis on the time (“In the evening, when it’s cold, I stay home”).
• Putting το βράδυ right after κάνει κρύο (e.g. Όταν κάνει κρύο το βράδυ, …) can make “in the evening” feel more strongly attached to when it’s cold.

But in normal conversation, all of these would be easily understood the same way.

How do you pronounce Όταν κάνει κρύο, μένω στο σπίτι το βράδυ?

A rough phonetic guide (in simple Latin letters) is:

• Όταν → OH-tan
• κάνει → KAH-nee
• κρύο → KREE-o
• μένω → MEH-no
• στο → sto
• σπίτι → SPEE-tee
• το → to
• βράδυ → VRA-thee (with th as in “this”)

Stressed syllables: Ό–ταν, κά–νει, κρύ–ο, μέ–νω, σπί–τι, βρά–δυ.
Each Greek word has one main stress marked with the accent (΄) in writing.

Could we also say έχει κρύο instead of κάνει κρύο?

Yes, in everyday Greek you will often hear:

• Έχει κρύο. = “It’s cold.” (literally: “it has cold”)

Both:

• Κάνει κρύο.
• Έχει κρύο.

are common and natural, and in many contexts they are interchangeable.
Κάνει κρύο is very standard; έχει κρύο is also very widespread in spoken Greek. You would not use είναι κρύο on its own for the weather.