Breakdown of Η αδερφή μου είναι πιο ψηλή από εμένα, αλλά ο αδερφός μου είναι ο πιο κοντός στην οικογένεια.
Questions & Answers about Η αδερφή μου είναι πιο ψηλή από εμένα, αλλά ο αδερφός μου είναι ο πιο κοντός στην οικογένεια.
In Greek, the possessive pronoun (my, your, his, etc.) normally comes after the noun and behaves like a little unstressed word (an enclitic).
- η αδερφή μου = literally "the sister my"
- ο αδερφός μου = "the brother my"
This is the standard pattern:
- το βιβλίο μου – my book
- η μητέρα σου – your mother
- ο φίλος του – his friend
You generally do not say ✗ η μου αδερφή in modern Greek. The possessive goes after the noun (and usually after the article, if there is one).
In Greek, nouns almost always take a definite article when you’re talking about specific people or things, especially family members.
- η αδερφή μου – my sister (the specific one I have)
- ο αδερφός μου – my brother
You can sometimes drop the article in certain styles (poetry, headlines, or very informal speech), but in normal everyday standard Greek, you should include it:
- Prefer: η αδερφή μου, ο αδερφός μου
- Avoid (in normal speech): αδερφή μου, αδερφός μου
They are essentially the same words with slightly different spellings:
- αδερφή / αδελφή = sister
- αδερφός / αδελφός = brother
αδερφή and αδερφός are the everyday, colloquial spellings and pronunciations.
αδελφή and αδελφός are a bit more formal / conservative, closer to older written Greek. You’ll see them often in formal writing, in the Bible, in older literature, etc.
As a learner aiming at natural modern speech, it’s perfectly fine (and common) to use:
- αδερφή, αδερφός
Modern Greek has two common ways to form the comparative of adjectives:
Analytic form with πιο:
- πιο ψηλή – more tall = taller
- πιο κοντός – more short = shorter
Synthetic form with a suffix:
- ψηλότερη – taller (feminine)
- κοντότερος – shorter (masculine)
Both are correct and used. In everyday speech, the πιο + adjective form is extremely common and often preferred because it’s simpler and works for all adjectives:
- είναι πιο ψηλή από εμένα
- είναι ψηλότερη από εμένα
Same meaning here: "she is taller than me".
After the preposition από ("from", and here "than"), Greek uses the object form (accusative) of the pronoun, not the subject form.
Pronoun forms for "I/me":
- εγώ – I (subject)
- εμένα (or μένα) – me (stressed object form)
- με – me (unstressed clitic form)
After από, you need the stressed object form:
- από εμένα or από μένα – than me
So:
- ✔ πιο ψηλή από εμένα / από μένα
- ✗ πιο ψηλή από εγώ – ungrammatical
εμένα and μένα are just two versions of the same stressed pronoun, "me":
- από εμένα – than me
- από μένα – than me
The shorter μένα is more colloquial. Both are correct and very common.
There’s a third form, με, but that is the unstressed clitic (used directly with the verb):
- με βλέπει – he/she sees me
After από, you use the stressed form (εμένα/μένα), not με.
Yes, από originally means "from", but in modern Greek it also functions as the standard word for "than" in comparisons:
- πιο ψηλή από εμένα – taller than me
- πιο μεγάλος από τον Γιάννη – older/bigger than John
So the pattern is:
- πιο + adjective + από + noun/pronoun
There is another word, παρά, which can also mean "than" in some contexts, but από is the default and most common choice in everyday speech for comparisons like this.
The adjective must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun it describes.
η αδερφή is feminine singular, nominative →
ψηλή (feminine singular nominative)
→ πιο ψηλήο αδερφός is masculine singular, nominative →
κοντός (masculine singular nominative)
→ ο πιο κοντός
Basic patterns:
- Masculine: -ός → ο κοντός, ο ψηλός
- Feminine: -ή / -ά → η κοντή, η ψηλή
- Neuter: -ό → το κοντό, το ψηλό
So you say:
- η αδερφή μου είναι πιο ψηλή
- ο αδερφός μου είναι πιο κοντός
Because in the first part we have a comparison, and in the second we have a superlative.
είναι πιο ψηλή από εμένα
- "is taller than me"
- This is just a comparative (comparing two people). No article is needed before πιο.
είναι ο πιο κοντός στην οικογένεια
- "is the shortest in the family"
- Here we talk about the one who is the most X in a group. That’s a superlative.
- Superlatives in Greek are formed with definite article + πιο + adjective:
- ο πιο κοντός – the shortest (masc.)
- η πιο ψηλή – the tallest (fem.)
- το πιο μεγάλο – the biggest (neut.)
So you would say, for example:
- η Μαρία είναι η πιο ψηλή στην οικογένεια – Maria is the tallest in the family.
στην is a combination of the preposition σε + the article την:
- σε + την = στην
σε is a very flexible preposition that usually means "in", "at", or "to", and it always takes the accusative case.
So:
- στην οικογένεια = in the family
(literally: in-the family-ACC)
The case (accusative) is determined by the preposition σε, not by the meaning "in". So even though the English translation uses "in", Greek still uses σε + accusative.
Yes, you can say:
- ο αδερφός μου είναι ο πιο κοντός στην οικογένειά μου
This makes it explicitly "in my family".
In the original sentence, στην οικογένεια ("in the family") is a bit more general, but since we already said η αδερφή μου and ο αδερφός μου, it is naturally understood as our/my family from context. Both versions are acceptable; adding μου just makes it explicit.
Both αλλά and όμως can express contrast, but they behave a bit differently.
αλλά = "but" (conjunction, usually at the start of the second clause)
- ... από εμένα, αλλά ο αδερφός μου ...
όμως = "however / but" (adverb; flexible position)
- ... από εμένα, όμως ο αδερφός μου ...
- ... από εμένα. Ο αδερφός μου όμως είναι ...
In this sentence, αλλά is the most straightforward, neutral way to join the two clauses. You could use όμως, but the tone would shift slightly toward "however / on the other hand" rather than just a plain "but".