Σήμερα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.

Today I take a small step for my dream.

Breakdown of Σήμερα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.

• σήμερα: today
• μου: my
• ένα: one
• για: for
• μικρός: small
• το όνειρο: the dream
• κάνω βήμα: to take a step

Questions & Answers about Σήμερα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.

What does κάνω mean here? I thought it means “do” or “make”, but the English is “take a small step”.

In Greek, κάνω literally means “I do / I make”, but it is used in many fixed expressions where English uses different verbs.

Here κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα is literally “I make a small step”, but idiomatically corresponds to English “I take a small step”.

Other very common patterns with κάνω:

• κάνω ένα λάθος – I make a mistake
• κάνω μπάνιο – I take a bath / I have a bath
• κάνω βόλτα – I go for a walk
• κάνω δουλειά – I do work / I get work done

So the sentence is completely natural Greek: κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα is the usual way to say “take a small step”.

Why is the verb in the present tense (κάνω) instead of a future form like θα κάνω?

Κάνω is the present tense (non‑past, imperfective aspect).

Greek uses the present tense in a few ways that overlap with English:

1. Actual present action, with a time adverb:

   • Σήμερα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα…
     → “Today I’m taking/making a small step…”

2. Near future with a time expression (especially for planned actions):

   • Αύριο γράφω το τεστ.
     → “I’m taking the test tomorrow.”

If you said:

• Σήμερα θα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.
  that’s more explicitly future: “Today I will take / I’m going to take a small step…”, often sounding like a decision or plan.

With just κάνω, plus Σήμερα, it feels like either:

• something you are doing today (including right now), or
• a very immediate, confirmed plan (“this is happening today”).

Both are natural; the nuance is light, and both versions are correct and common.

Is the word order fixed? Can I say Κάνω σήμερα ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου instead?

Greek word order is relatively flexible. All these are grammatically correct:

• Σήμερα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.
• Κάνω σήμερα ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.
• Ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου κάνω σήμερα.

Differences:

• Putting Σήμερα at the beginning (Σήμερα κάνω…) is the most neutral and common way to start such a sentence.
• Moving σήμερα after the verb (Κάνω σήμερα…) is also fine; it may feel slightly more like you’re commenting on what you happen to be doing today.
• Fronting Ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου (… κάνω σήμερα) gives that phrase extra emphasis: “A small step for my dream is what I’m taking today.”

What you cannot change:

• You can’t separate articles from their nouns, or adjectives from the nouns they modify. So:
  • ✅ ένα μικρό βήμα
  • ❌ μικρό ένα βήμα (wrong)

Why do we use για in για το όνειρό μου? Could we say προς το όνειρό μου or στο όνειρό μου?

Για with the accusative is very common to express:

• purpose / goal / benefit
• something like English “for” / “towards (in a figurative sense)”.

Here για το όνειρό μου means “for my dream / towards my dream” in the sense of working towards a goal.

Comparisons:

• για το όνειρό μου
  → natural, idiomatic: “for my dream, towards my dream (as a goal)”.

• προς το όνειρό μου
  → literally “towards my dream”; this sounds more physical/directional and is much less common in this abstract, motivational sense. It’s not wrong, but it’s not the usual phrasing here.

• στο όνειρό μου
  → “to my dream / in my dream”.
  This usually suggests location (“in my dream”) or a very direct movement “to the dream”, so it doesn’t match the intended idea of “working towards a goal”.

So για το όνειρό μου is the natural choice for “for / towards my dream” in this kind of motivational sentence.

Why is there an accent on the last syllable in όνειρό (το όνειρό μου) instead of just όνειρο?

The basic word is:

• το όνειρο – “the dream”
  (stress normally on the first syllable: ό‑νει‑ρο)

When you add a monosyllabic enclitic like μου (“my”), there is a special accent rule in Greek:

• If the noun is stressed on the antepenultimate syllable (third from the end), it gets an extra written accent on the last syllable when followed by an enclitic.

So:

• το όνειρο → το όνειρό μου

You will often see it written with two accents on the noun: one on the original stressed syllable and one on the last syllable:

• το όνειró μου (accent on ό‑ and ‑ρό; in typed text it’s often shown just as το όνειρό μου, but the rule is: the original stress stays, and the last syllable gets an additional accent because of μου).

Key idea for you as a learner:

• The word is still όνειρο with stress on the first syllable, but with μου it is written το όνειρό μου because of this enclitic accent rule.

What exactly does μου do here, and where does it normally go?

Μου is the unstressed possessive pronoun “my”.

• το όνειρο – the dream
• το όνειρό μου – my dream

Features of μου:

1. It is enclitic: it follows the noun (or phrase) it belongs to:

   • ✅ το όνειρό μου – my dream
   • ❌ μου όνειρο – incorrect order

2. It is unstressed in speech; it “leans” on the preceding word:

   • [τό όνειρό] μου (μου itself is weakly pronounced).

3. For emphasis you’d use the stressed form δικό μου (“belonging to me”):

   • το δικό μου όνειρο – my dream (as opposed to someone else’s)
   • το όνειρό μου, όχι το δικό σου – my dream, not yours

So in the sentence, μου simply marks possession: “my dream”.

Why do we say ένα μικρό βήμα? What is the role of ένα, and can we leave it out?

Ένα is the indefinite article “a / one”.

• ένα βήμα – a step / one step
• το βήμα – the step

In ένα μικρό βήμα:

• ένα – “a”
• μικρό – “small”
• βήμα – “step”

Can you leave out ένα?

• Σήμερα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα…
  → Normal: “Today I take a small step…”

• Σήμερα κάνω μικρό βήμα…
  → Grammatically possible, but in this kind of motivational statement it sounds a bit bare or stylised, almost like “I do small‑step work today” rather than a single “a small step”. Native speakers would strongly prefer ένα μικρό βήμα here.

So for the natural “a small step” meaning, keep ένα.

Why is μικρό in that form? How does it agree with βήμα?

In Greek, adjectives agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

The noun βήμα (“step”) is:

• neuter, singular, accusative here:
  • (κάνω) ένα μικρό βήμα – I take a small step

The adjective μικρός (“small”) has these nominative singular forms:

• masculine: μικρός
• feminine: μικρή
• neuter: μικρό

For neuter singular, nominative and accusative are the same: μικρό.
Since βήμα is neuter singular accusative, the adjective must also be neuter singular accusative:

• ✅ ένα μικρό βήμα
• ❌ ένα μικρός βήμα (wrong gender)
• ❌ ένα μικρή βήμα (wrong gender)

So μικρό is the required neuter form to match βήμα.

What genders are βήμα and όνειρο, and how can I tell?

Both words are neuter:

• το βήμα – the step
• το όνειρο – the dream

How you can tell:

1. Article:

   • το is the neuter singular definite article.
   • So το βήμα, το όνειρο are neuter.

2. Typical endings:

   • Many neuter nouns end in ‑μα or ‑ο:
     • βήμα
     • πρόβλημα, μάθημα, σώμα
     • παιδί, σπίτι, βουνό, όνειρο, etc.

3. You mostly have to learn gender with each noun. Endings help, but there are exceptions, so always memorise:

   • article + noun:
     • το όνειρο – (neuter)
     • το βήμα – (neuter)

Why are βήμα and όνειρο in this form? What case are they?

They are in the accusative singular.

1. Object of the verb:

   • κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα
     Here βήμα is the direct object of κάνω, so it takes the accusative.

2. Object of the preposition:

   • για το όνειρό μου
     The preposition για is followed by the accusative, so όνειρο is also in the accusative:
     • το όνειρο → για το όνειρο

For neuter nouns, nominative and accusative singular look the same, so the form doesn’t change:

• το βήμα (nom.) → βλέπω το βήμα (acc.)
• το όνειρο (nom.) → για το όνειρο (acc.)

How would I say the same idea in the past or future?

Using the same structure, you just change the verb:

• Present (now / today):
  Σήμερα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.
  – Today I (am) take/ing a small step towards my dream.

• Past (earlier today / another day):
  Σήμερα έκανα ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.
  – Today I took a small step towards my dream.
  Χθες έκανα ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.
  – Yesterday I took a small step towards my dream.

• Future:
  Αύριο θα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.
  – Tomorrow I will take / I’m going to take a small step towards my dream.
  Σήμερα θα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.
  – Today I’m going to take a small step towards my dream. (a plan/intention)

The rest of the sentence (ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου) stays the same; you just adjust the verb tense and time adverb.

Is this sentence natural and common in Greek, or does it sound translated from English?

The sentence:

• Σήμερα κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα για το όνειρό μου.

is natural, idiomatic Greek and could easily appear in a native motivational context (a post, a diary, a self‑encouraging statement).

Reasons it sounds natural:

• κάνω ένα μικρό βήμα is a standard collocation.
• για το όνειρό μου is the usual way to say “for my dream / towards my dream” (as a personal goal).
• The structure Σήμερα + κάνω… is very normal to highlight what you’re doing today.

So it does not feel like a literal, awkward translation; it reads as something a native speaker might genuinely say or write.