Η οικογένειά μου μένει σε άλλη πόλη.

my

Breakdown of Η οικογένειά μου μένει σε άλλη πόλη.

• μένω: to live
• σε: in
• η πόλη: the city

Questions & Answers about Η οικογένειά μου μένει σε άλλη πόλη.

Why are there two accent marks in Η οικογένειά μου? (on γέ and on ά)

Because of the little word μου, which is an enclitic (an unstressed pronoun that “leans on” the word before it).

• The basic word is η οικογένεια (family), stressed on γέ: οικογένεια.
• When you add an enclitic like μου (my), and the main word is stressed on the antepenultimate syllable (third from the end), Greek spelling rules add a second written accent on the last syllable:
  η οικογένειά μου.

This second accent mark is mostly a spelling rule. In normal speech you will mainly hear the stress on γέ; μου stays very weak.

If you want to emphasize the “my”, you would stress μου itself:

• η οικογένεια μού (my family, as opposed to someone else’s)
  In that case μου gets the accent mark, and there is no extra accent on ά.

Why is the article η used before οικογένειά, and not ο or το?