Breakdown of Η φίλη μου είναι έξυπνη και μαθαίνει γρήγορα γλώσσες.
Questions & Answers about Η φίλη μου είναι έξυπνη και μαθαίνει γρήγορα γλώσσες.
In Greek, the definite article (ο, η, το) is used much more often than in English, including with possessives.
- Η φίλη μου literally means “the friend of mine”, but it is the normal, neutral way to say “my friend”.
- Saying just Φίλη μου is possible, but it sounds more emotional or poetic, like “my friend!” (as in addressing someone), or it needs a specific context.
So for simple statements like “My friend is smart…”, you almost always use the article: Η φίλη μου …
Because φίλη is grammatically feminine.
- ο φίλος = (male) friend
- η φίλη = (female) friend
The definite article must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun:
- ο φίλος (masc., singular, nominative)
- η φίλη (fem., singular, nominative)
In this sentence the subject is a female friend, so you must say Η φίλη μου.
The unstressed possessive pronouns (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) normally come after the noun they belong to:
- η φίλη μου = my friend
- το βιβλίο σου = your book
Putting μου before the noun (μου φίλη, η μου φίλη) is not normal modern Greek. It would sound wrong in everyday speech.
If you want to emphasize my, you don’t move μου; instead you use a different structure:
- η δική μου φίλη = my friend (as opposed to someone else’s)
- η φίλη μου, η Μαρία = my friend, Maria
Functionally it works like “my”, but grammatically it is different:
- μου is an unstressed personal pronoun in the genitive case, meaning literally “of me”.
- So η φίλη μου is literally “the friend of me”.
Important points:
- It always follows the noun (in this unstressed form): η φίλη μου, το σπίτι μου.
- It doesn’t change form for gender or number of the noun:
- ο φίλος μου (my male friend)
- η φίλη μου (my female friend)
- οι φίλοι μου (my friends)
There is also a stressed form δικός μου / δική μου / δικό μου, used for emphasis (e.g. η δική μου φίλη).
Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.
The basic forms of this adjective are:
- έξυπνος = smart (masculine)
- έξυπνη = smart (feminine)
- έξυπνο = smart (neuter)
Since the subject is η φίλη (feminine, singular, nominative), the adjective must also be feminine, singular, nominative:
- Η φίλη μου είναι έξυπνη.
You would say:
- Ο φίλος μου είναι έξυπνος. (My male friend is smart.)
- Το παιδί μου είναι έξυπνο. (My child is smart.)
Yes, that is correct and natural:
- Η έξυπνη φίλη μου μαθαίνει γρήγορα γλώσσες.
= My smart friend learns languages quickly.
Here:
- έξυπνη is an attributive adjective, directly before the noun φίλη.
- The order [article] + [adjective] + [noun] + [possessive] is very typical:
- η έξυπνη φίλη μου
- ο καλός φίλος μου
- το καινούριο σπίτι σου
Your original sentence (Η φίλη μου είναι έξυπνη …) just puts the adjective in the predicate instead: “My friend is smart …”
Yes. και means “and”, and here it links two predicates about the same subject:
- Η φίλη μου είναι έξυπνη
- (Η φίλη μου) μαθαίνει γρήγορα γλώσσες
So the structure is:
- Η φίλη μου
- είναι έξυπνη
- και μαθαίνει γρήγορα γλώσσες.
You could think of it as:
- “My friend is smart and (she) learns languages quickly.”
In modern Greek, the present tense often covers both the simple present and the present continuous of English.
- μαθαίνει can mean:
- “she learns” (general habit or ability)
- “she is learning” (right now or currently)
The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence:
- Η φίλη μου είναι έξυπνη και μαθαίνει γρήγορα γλώσσες.
it’s most naturally understood as a general ability:
- “My friend is smart and learns languages quickly.”
Because here it functions as an adverb (“quickly”), not as an adjective (“fast / quick”).
In Greek, many adverbs of manner are formed from adjectives by using a neuter plural ending -α:
- γρήγορος, γρήγορη, γρήγορο (adj.) = quick, fast
- γρήγορα (adv.) = quickly, fast
So:
- Μαθαίνει γρήγορα. = She learns quickly.
- Το αυτοκίνητο είναι γρήγορο. = The car is fast.
- Το αυτοκίνητο τρέχει γρήγορα. = The car runs fast.
Using γρήγορη here (μαθαίνει γρήγορη) would be ungrammatical, because there is no feminine noun for it to modify; you need the adverb form γρήγορα to modify the verb μαθαίνει.
Yes, you can. Both are grammatically correct:
- μαθαίνει γρήγορα γλώσσες
- μαθαίνει γλώσσες γρήγορα
The difference is subtle and mostly about rhythm or slight emphasis:
- The original (μαθαίνει γρήγορα γλώσσες) can feel a bit more like “she quickly learns languages”.
- The variant (μαθαίνει γλώσσες γρήγορα) can feel slightly more like “she learns languages quickly”.
In everyday speech, both are fine and mean the same thing. Greek word order is more flexible than English, as long as it stays clear what modifies what.
Because here γλώσσες means “languages in general”, not a specific set of languages.
In Greek:
With general, indefinite plural nouns (things in general), you often omit the article:
- Μαθαίνει γλώσσες. = She learns languages (as a general ability).
- Τρώω φρούτα. = I eat fruit.
You would use the definite article (τις γλώσσες) when referring to specific languages that are already known from the context:
- Μαθαίνει τις γλώσσες της Ανατολικής Ευρώπης.
= She is learning the languages of Eastern Europe.
- Μαθαίνει τις γλώσσες της Ανατολικής Ευρώπης.
So in your sentence, no article is the natural choice.
Adding τις makes γλώσσες definite and specific.
μαθαίνει γρήγορα γλώσσες
= She learns languages quickly (in general; she has a talent for languages).μαθαίνει γρήγορα τις γλώσσες
= She learns the languages quickly — implying:- some specific languages already mentioned (e.g. French and German), or
- a specific group known in the context (e.g. “the languages required for her job”).
So the version without the article talks about a general ability, and the version with τις points to particular languages.