Learn Hardcore Greek: Την Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή στο σπίτι και κάνουμε μικρό πάρτι. - On Sunday we have a celebration at home and we are having a small party.

In Greek, when you talk about when something happens (time expressions like “on Sunday”, “on Monday morning”, etc.), you usually put the word in the accusative case with the definite article.

Η Κυριακή = nominative (the subject form) → “the Sunday”
Την Κυριακή = accusative (object/time form) → “(on) Sunday”

Greek doesn’t need a preposition like “on”; the accusative with the article την already does that job.

So:

Την Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή. = “On Sunday we have a celebration.”
Τη Δευτέρα δουλεύω. = “On Monday I work.”

You’ll very often see days of the week used like this with την/τον in the accusative to mean “on [day]”.

Could I leave out the article and just say Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή?

Yes, you can hear that in speech, but the most standard, neutral form is with the article:

Την Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή. (most natural/neutral)
Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή. (more elliptical, a bit more spoken style)

As a learner, it’s safer to keep the article: Την Κυριακή.

Why is there no word for “a” in έχουμε γιορτή? Shouldn’t it be έχουμε μια γιορτή?

Both are possible, but they aren’t quite the same:

Έχουμε γιορτή.
Έχουμε μια γιορτή.

In Greek, it’s very common to omit the indefinite article (ένας / μία / ένα) when you talk about an event or activity in a general way.

Έχουμε γιορτή here is understood as:

“We’re having a celebration / It’s a celebration for us.”

If you say Έχουμε μια γιορτή, it slightly emphasizes “one celebration” or “a certain celebration”, and can sound a bit more specific or “counted”. In everyday speech, for this type of sentence, Greeks usually drop μια and just say έχουμε γιορτή.

What exactly is the difference between γιορτή and πάρτι?

They overlap, but they’re not identical:

γιορτή
- General word for a celebration / feast / festivity.
- Can be:
  - a name day, birthday, anniversary
  - a public or religious holiday (e.g. η γιορτή του Αγίου Γεωργίου)
- More “Greek” and traditional-sounding, and broader in meaning.
πάρτι
- A party, usually more informal/modern and social.
- Often used for:
  - a birthday party (πάρτι γενεθλίων)
  - a house party
  - a small get-together with music/drinks

In this sentence, you could paraphrase the idea as:

“On Sunday we have a celebration at home and we’re having a small party (for it).”

The γιορτή is the occasion; the πάρτι is how they celebrate.

Why is it έχουμε γιορτή (“we have a celebration”) instead of something like είναι γιορτή (“it is a celebration”)?

Both structures exist, but they mean different things:

Έχουμε γιορτή στο σπίτι.
- Literally: “We have a celebration at home.”
- Focuses on us having/hosting the event.
- Often used for:
  - family celebrations
  - personal events (birthdays, name days, etc.)
Είναι γιορτή σήμερα.
- Literally: “It is a feast/holiday today.”
- More general, about the day itself being a holiday (public or religious).

So in the sentence:

Την Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή στο σπίτι…
we’re talking about our celebration that will take place at our house, not just that Sunday is generally a holiday.

What does στο σπίτι literally mean, and why not σε το σπίτι?

Στο is a contraction of σε + το:

σε = in / at / to
το = the (neuter singular)

So:

σε + το σπίτι → στο σπίτι = “at the house / at home”

Greek very often contracts σε + article:

σε + τον → στον (e.g. στον φίλο μου = to my friend)
σε + την → στη(ν) (e.g. στη δουλειά = at work)
σε + το → στο (e.g. στο σπίτι = at home)

Also note:

στο σπίτι = “at (the) home” (more specific, like your house).
Sometimes you’ll also hear just σπίτι without article: Είμαι σπίτι. = “I’m at home.”
That’s a fixed, very common expression.

Why is it κάνουμε μικρό πάρτι and not κάνουμε ένα μικρό πάρτι?

Grammatically, both are correct:

κάνουμε μικρό πάρτι
κάνουμε ένα μικρό πάρτι

In Greek, when you talk about activities like:

κάνω πάρτι (have a party)
κάνω διάλειμμα (take a break)
κάνω λάθος (make a mistake)

the indefinite article (ένα) is often dropped, especially in casual speech. Including ένα is a bit more explicit and can sometimes sound a touch more “counting/particular”:

κάνουμε μικρό πάρτι = “we’re having a small party” (natural, neutral)
κάνουμε ένα μικρό πάρτι = “we’re having a small party” (a bit more specific/emphatic)

In everyday conversation, κάνουμε μικρό πάρτι sounds perfectly normal and natural.

Why is the adjective μικρό in the neuter form here?

Because πάρτι in Greek is treated as neuter and it is indeclinable (its form doesn’t change).

μικρός (masc.), μικρή (fem.), μικρό (neuter)

Since πάρτι is considered neuter singular, the adjective must agree:

μικρό πάρτι (neuter)
You would not say μικρή πάρτι or μικρός πάρτι.

Other examples with neuter nouns:

μικρό σπίτι (small house)
ωραίο βιβλίο (nice book)

Can I change the word order? For example, is Έχουμε γιορτή στο σπίτι την Κυριακή also correct?

Yes, Greek word order is quite flexible. All of these are grammatical; the difference is in emphasis and style:

Την Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή στο σπίτι…
(Neutral; starts by setting the time: “On Sunday…”)
Έχουμε γιορτή στο σπίτι την Κυριακή…
(Starts with “We have a celebration at home”; time comes later.)
Στο σπίτι την Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή…
(Focuses first on “At home on Sunday…”)

For you as a learner, the original version:

Την Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή στο σπίτι και κάνουμε μικρό πάρτι. is very natural and a good model to imitate.

Why are έχουμε and κάνουμε in the present tense if the event is in the future?

Greek often uses the present tense to talk about planned or scheduled future events, especially when a time expression like Την Κυριακή makes the time clear.

So:

Την Κυριακή έχουμε γιορτή…
= “On Sunday we have a celebration…” (future plan)

You could also say:

Την Κυριακή θα έχουμε γιορτή στο σπίτι και θα κάνουμε μικρό πάρτι.

Using θα έχουμε / θα κάνουμε emphasizes the future a bit more explicitly, similar to “we will have / we will have a small party”. But in everyday speech, the simple present with a future time expression is very common and natural.

What does the stress mark (´) on words like Κυριακή and γιορτή indicate, and how do I pronounce them?

The stress mark (´) in Greek shows which syllable is stressed.

Κυριακή → Ky-ria-KI
Stress on the last syllable: -κή
γιορτή → yior-TI
Stress on the last syllable: -τή
έχουμε → E-hou-me
Stress on the first syllable: έ-
κάνουμε → KA-nou-me
Stress on the first syllable: κά-
μικρό → mi-KRO
Stress on -κρό

Correct stress is very important in Greek; changing the stressed syllable can make a word sound wrong or even change its meaning, so always pay attention to where the accent is placed.