Breakdown of Συζητάω με τη φίλη μου πριν πάρουμε την απόφασή μας.
Questions & Answers about Συζητάω με τη φίλη μου πριν πάρουμε την απόφασή μας.
Συζητάω means “I discuss / I talk (about something)”. In this sentence it’s “I talk with my friend” or “I discuss with my friend”.
There are two common present forms of this verb:
- συζητάω
- συζητώ
They mean the same thing in modern Greek. Συζητάω is a bit more colloquial; συζητώ sounds a bit more formal or “bookish”, but both are fully correct and very common.
Also, Greek only has one present tense here, so συζητάω can mean both:
- I talk / I discuss (regularly)
- I am talking / I am discussing (right now)
Context decides which English tense you choose in translation.
με means with.
So με τη φίλη μου = with my (female) friend.σε (which combines with the article to form στη(ν), στο(ν), etc.) usually means to, at, in, on.
So:
- Μιλάω με τη φίλη μου = I talk with my friend.
- Μιλάω στη φίλη μου = I talk to my friend.
In your sentence we want the idea “I discuss with my friend”, so με is the correct preposition.
The full feminine accusative article is την. In modern Greek, the final -ν is often dropped in writing and speech before many consonants.
A common rule: keep the final -ν only before:
- vowels
- and the consonants κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ
The word φίλη starts with φ, which is not on that list, so it’s very normal to write:
- τη φίλη instead of την φίλη
Both are understood; τη φίλη is the standard spelling in this context.
Yes.
- φίλη = female friend
- φίλος = male friend (or a friend of unspecified/masculine gender)
So:
- η φίλη μου = my (female) friend
- ο φίλος μου = my (male) friend
Greek marks gender on the noun, so you know the friend’s gender from φίλος / φίλη.
Μου here is the unstressed possessive pronoun meaning my.
Position
In Greek, these unstressed possessives (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) normally come after the noun:- η φίλη μου = my friend
- το σπίτι μας = our house
- η μητέρα του = his mother
Article + noun + possessive
Greek usually uses the definite article with these possessives:- η φίλη μου (literally: the friend my)
- την απόφασή μας (the decision our)
So τη φίλη μου is the object case (accusative) of η φίλη μου:
- η φίλη μου = my (female) friend (subject)
- Βλέπω τη φίλη μου. = I see my (female) friend.
You can also sometimes drop the article (e.g. φίλη μου! as a vocative: “my friend!”), but in normal sentences the pattern article + noun + possessive is the default.
Πριν here is a conjunction meaning before.
When πριν is followed by a verb, modern standard Greek normally uses the subjunctive without να:
- πριν πάρουμε = before we take/make
- πριν φύγουμε = before we leave
- πριν έρθει = before he/she comes
So:
- πριν πάρουμε
– πριν (before) + πάρουμε (subjunctive)
About the variants:
πριν να πάρουμε
- In some regions and informal speech you may hear πριν να + subjunctive, but in standard/“correct” written Greek πριν + subjunctive (without να) is preferred: πριν πάρουμε.
πριν παίρνουμε
- παίρνουμε is present indicative or present subjunctive (depending on context). After πριν, for a single, future/one-time event, Greek almost always prefers the aorist subjunctive: πριν πάρουμε.
- πριν παίρνουμε would sound either wrong or very unusual here.
So πριν πάρουμε is the normal, idiomatic choice.
The verb is παίρνω = I take.
Relevant forms (1st person plural):
- παίρνουμε = we take / we are taking (present)
- να πάρουμε = (that) we take (aorist subjunctive)
- πριν πάρουμε = before we take (aorist subjunctive without να)
Πάρουμε here is 1st person plural, aorist subjunctive.
Why aorist?
Greek uses the aorist subjunctive for a single, complete event in the future or in a sequence, which matches “before we make (our decision)” — one decision, completed at some point.
If you said πριν παίρνουμε, it would suggest something more habitual or ongoing, and in practice it sounds wrong in this sentence. The natural choice is πριν πάρουμε.
Greek still marks case, and articles change with case.
- η απόφαση = the decision (nominative, subject)
- την απόφαση = the decision (accusative, direct object)
In your sentence:
- Συζητάω με τη φίλη μου = I talk with my friend
- πριν πάρουμε την απόφασή μας = before we make our decision
Here, την απόφασή μας is the object of πάρουμε (what do we take/make? the decision), so it must be in the accusative: την απόφαση → την απόφασή μας.
If it were the subject, you would use η:
- Η απόφασή μας είναι δύσκολη.
Our decision is difficult.
The base word is:
- απόφαση (a‑PO‑fa‑si) – stress on the antepenultimate syllable.
When you add an enclitic (an unstressed little word attached to it), like μας (our), Greek applies a stress rule:
The whole group απόφαση + μας becomes one “word” for stress purposes (απόφασημας). Greek stress must fall on one of the last three syllables of this group.
Count syllables in απόφαση μας:
- α – πό – φα – ση – μας
(5 syllables)
If we kept the original stress on πό, it would now be the 4th from the end, which is not allowed. So the stress moves closer to the end:
- απόφασή μας
Now the stress is on –σή–, the penultimate syllable of the whole group (–ση–μας), which is legal.
So:
- alone: απόφαση
- with μας: απόφασή μας
You will see this accent shift with many proparoxytone nouns when they take an enclitic possessive:
- το πρόβλημα → το πρόβλημά μου
- η θάλασσα → η θάλασσά μας
Yes, Greek word order is quite flexible.
Your original sentence:
- Συζητάω με τη φίλη μου πριν πάρουμε την απόφασή μας.
You can also say:
- Πριν πάρουμε την απόφασή μας, συζητάω με τη φίλη μου.
Both mean the same thing:
I talk with my friend before we make our decision.
The difference is only in emphasis / rhythm:
- Starting with Πριν πάρουμε… puts more emphasis on the time condition (“before we make our decision…”).
- Starting with Συζητάω… emphasizes more the action of discussing.
Both are natural and correct.