Learn Hardcore Greek: Η μαμά μου έχει ακόμα όλες τις κάρτες που της στέλνουμε στο σπίτι. - My mom still has all the cards that we send her at home.

Η μαμά μου = my mom (literally the mom my)
μαμά μου without the article is possible but sounds more like a vocative (“Mom!”) or a very colloquial style in some contexts.

So in a normal sentence with “my mom” as the subject, Η μαμά μου is the standard, natural form.

Why is μου placed after μαμά and not before, like in English?

The weak (clitic) possessive pronouns in Greek (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) normally go after the noun they modify:

η μαμά μου = my mom
το σπίτι μας = our house
οι φίλοι σου = your friends

Putting it before (e.g. μου μαμά) is wrong in standard Greek. So the order is always article + noun + possessive clitic.

What exactly does έχει mean here? Is it just “has”?

Yes, έχει is the 3rd person singular of έχω = to have.

In this sentence έχει means both “has” and, by implication, “keeps/retains”:

Η μαμά μου έχει ακόμα όλες τις κάρτες…
= My mom still has all the cards… (i.e. she has kept them, she hasn’t thrown them away)

You could also say κρατάει ακόμα όλες τις κάρτες (= she still keeps all the cards), but έχει is more neutral and common.

What does ακόμα do here, and where can it go in the sentence?

ακόμα means still (or “yet” in some contexts).

In this sentence:

Η μαμά μου έχει ακόμα όλες τις κάρτες…
= My mom still has all the cards…

Other possible positions:

Η μαμά μου ακόμα έχει όλες τις κάρτες… (also correct; slightly more emphasis on still)
Ακόμα η μαμά μου έχει όλες τις κάρτες… (possible, but a bit marked / more emphatic or stylistic)

In everyday speech, the most neutral place is right before the object or right after the verb:
έχει ακόμα όλες τις κάρτες is very natural.

Note: ακόμα and ακόμη are interchangeable in modern Greek.

Why is it όλες τις κάρτες and not όλες οι κάρτες?

Because όλες τις κάρτες is the direct object of the verb έχει, so it must be in the accusative case.

Nominative (subject): όλες οι κάρτες = all the cards (as the subject)
Accusative (object): όλες τις κάρτες = all the cards (as the object)

Here the structure is:

όλες – adjective “all”, feminine plural accusative
τις – definite article, feminine plural accusative
κάρτες – noun “cards”, feminine plural accusative

All three agree in gender, number, and case.

What is the role of που in τις κάρτες που της στέλνουμε?

Here που is a relative pronoun, similar to English that/which in a relative clause.

τις κάρτες που της στέλνουμε
= the cards that we send her

Greek usually uses που for “that/which/who” in such clauses. It does not change form, and in this kind of statement you don’t need a comma before it.

What does της mean in που της στέλνουμε?

της here is an indirect object pronoun meaning to her.

Greek doesn’t have a living dative case. Instead, it uses the genitive form of the pronoun to express an indirect object:

της στέλνουμε = we send to her
του γράφω = I write to him
σας λέω = I tell you

So που της στέλνουμε literally is “which (cards) we-send-her” = “which we send to her”.

Why is της placed before στέλνουμε instead of after, like in English?

Greek weak object pronouns (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) typically appear before the verb in simple tenses:

της στέλνουμε = we send her / we send to her
του γράφω = I write to him
σε βλέπω = I see you

In compound tenses, they can appear before the auxiliary or attached to the infinitive/participle, but in the present tense they come right before the verb.

Putting it after (στέλνουμε της) is wrong in standard modern Greek.

Does στέλνουμε here mean a repeated action (“we keep sending”) or a single action (“we are sending now”)?

στέλνουμε is present tense, imperfective aspect, 1st person plural of στέλνω.

On its own, it can mean:

we send (generally / habitually)
we are sending (right now)

In this context, combined with ακόμα and “she still has all the cards we send her”, it naturally suggests a repeated or habitual action: “(all the cards that we (tend to / regularly) send her”.

What exactly does στο σπίτι mean here – “to the house” or “at home”?

στο σπίτι literally is σε + το σπίτι = “to/at the house”, but in practice it often corresponds to English at home or to her house/home, depending on the verb.

Here:

που της στέλνουμε στο σπίτι
= that we send her to (her) house / to her home

Because the context is about sending cards, the natural English is “we send to her house” or just “we send her at home”. In Greek, you don’t need to repeat της with σπίτι (e.g. στο σπίτι της) if it’s clear from context, but στο σπίτι της would also be correct and explicit: “to her house”.

Can any words be omitted in this sentence without changing the meaning much?

Yes, some small changes are possible:

Η μαμά μου έχει ακόμα όλες τις κάρτες που στέλνουμε στο σπίτι.
(dropping της) – still understandable, but you lose the explicit “to her”.
It becomes “all the cards that we send home”, not clearly “to her”.
Η μαμά μου έχει όλες τις κάρτες που της στέλνουμε στο σπίτι.
(dropping ακόμα) – now it just says “has all the cards” without the “still”.
Η μαμά μου έχει όλες τις κάρτες που της στέλνουμε.
(dropping στο σπίτι) – you no longer specify where you send them.

You cannot drop the article η or the object article τις here; that would sound ungrammatical or very odd.

Is μαμά informal? Would μητέρα change the tone?

Yes:

μαμά = mom / mum – informal, warm, everyday.
μητέρα = mother – more formal, distant, or respectful.

So:

Η μαμά μου έχει ακόμα όλες τις κάρτες… – neutral, affectionate tone.
Η μητέρα μου έχει ακόμα όλες τις κάρτες… – a bit more formal or serious.

Grammatically both are correct; it’s mainly a difference in register and emotional tone.