Breakdown of Συχνά δανείζω βιβλία στη φίλη μου όταν αυτή δεν έχει χρήματα να αγοράσει καινούρια.
Questions & Answers about Συχνά δανείζω βιβλία στη φίλη μου όταν αυτή δεν έχει χρήματα να αγοράσει καινούρια.
Συχνά means often and is an adverb of frequency.
In Greek, adverbs like this are flexible in position. All of these are natural and mean the same:
- Συχνά δανείζω βιβλία στη φίλη μου…
- Δανείζω συχνά βιβλία στη φίλη μου…
- Δανείζω βιβλία συχνά στη φίλη μου…
Putting Συχνά at the very beginning gives it a bit more emphasis (like "I often lend books…"), but it doesn’t change the basic meaning.
- δανείζω = I lend (I give something to someone temporarily).
- δανείζομαι = I borrow (I take something from someone temporarily).
Typical patterns:
- δανείζω κάτι σε κάποιον = I lend something to someone
- Δανείζω βιβλία στη φίλη μου. = I lend books to my friend.
- δανείζομαι κάτι από κάποιον = I borrow something from someone
- Δανείζομαι βιβλία από τη φίλη μου. = I borrow books from my friend.
In English, lend and borrow are two different verbs; Greek also keeps this distinction very clearly with δανείζω vs δανείζομαι.
βιβλία without an article is like “books” in English in a general, non‑specific sense: some books, books in general.
- Δανείζω βιβλία στη φίλη μου.
= I lend books (in general) to my friend.
If you say:
- Δανείζω τα βιβλία στη φίλη μου.
this sounds more like “I lend the books to my friend”, i.e. some specific books already known from the context.
So:
- βιβλία = books in general / some books
- τα βιβλία = the books, specific ones
In your sentence, the more natural choice is the general, indefinite βιβλία.
Modern Greek no longer uses a separate dative case, so “to someone” is expressed with:
σε + accusative
Here you have:
- σε = to
- τη = the (feminine singular article, accusative)
- φίλη = friend (female)
- μου = my
σε + τη contracts to στη, so:
- σε τη φίλη μου → στη φίλη μου
literally: to the friend my = to my friend.
Two key points:
Greek normally keeps the definite article even with a possessive:
- η φίλη μου = my friend (literally the friend my)
- στη φίλη μου = to my friend
You cannot drop the article here:
- σε φίλη μου sounds incomplete/odd in this context.
The form before a feminine noun is historically στην (= σε + την).
In modern spelling and pronunciation, the final -ν on articles (την, στην) is often dropped before many consonants, including φ:
- στη φίλη is the normal spelling and pronunciation.
- στην φίλη is also possible but sounds more formal / spelling‑pronunciation‑style.
A simple rule of thumb:
- Before a vowel, we usually keep the ν:
- στην αδελφή μου (to my sister)
- Before most consonants, we often drop it in everyday writing and speech:
- στη φίλη μου, την πόρτα, στη δουλειά.
So στη φίλη μου is the standard everyday form.
- στη φίλη μου = to my friend (indirect object, with the preposition σε)
- η φίλη μου = my friend as a subject or just a noun phrase on its own
They’re not interchangeable in this sentence, because you need “to my friend” after the verb δανείζω (lend to someone), not just “my friend”.
As for the position of μου:
- In Greek, the unstressed possessive pronoun (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) normally comes after the noun:
- η φίλη μου = my friend
- το βιβλίο μου = my book
Putting μου before the noun (μου φίλη) is only used in very special, emphatic or poetic contexts, and not in a neutral sentence like this.
όταν means when / whenever.
In this sentence:
- όταν αυτή δεν έχει χρήματα…
suggests a repeated or typical situation: whenever she doesn’t have money…
Greek often uses the present tense after όταν even when English might use the present or future:
- Όταν δεν έχει χρήματα, της δανείζω βιβλία.
Literally: When she doesn’t have money, I lend her books.
Meaning: Whenever she doesn’t have money, I (usually) lend her books.
So here δεν έχει (present) is correct; it describes a general, habitual condition.
Yes, you can omit αυτή:
- …όταν δεν έχει χρήματα να αγοράσει καινούρια.
Greek is a pro‑drop language, so the subject pronoun is usually omitted when it’s clear from context or from the verb ending.
Including αυτή:
- adds emphasis or contrast:
like saying “when she doesn’t have money…” (as opposed to someone else), or - can help avoid ambiguity if there are multiple possible subjects.
In a neutral sentence with only one clear subject, you’d more often see the version without αυτή.
Both χρήματα and λεφτά mean money, and both are plural nouns in Greek.
- χρήμα (singular) = a sum of money / wealth (more formal, less common in the singular)
- χρήματα (plural) = money (neutral style)
- λεφτά (plural only) = money (more colloquial)
So:
- δεν έχει χρήματα = she doesn’t have money (neutral)
- δεν έχει λεφτά = she doesn’t have money (more informal / everyday)
Using χρήματα instead of λεφτά here just makes the sentence slightly more neutral/formal in tone. Grammatically, both would be fine.
Modern Greek doesn’t use an infinitive (to buy); instead, it uses να + subjunctive.
You need the particle να
After χρήματα in this structure (money to buy), Greek requires να:- χρήματα να αγοράσει = money to buy
You cannot just say χρήματα αγοράσει.
- χρήματα να αγοράσει = money to buy
Why the form αγοράσει (aorist subjunctive)?
- να αγοράσει (aorist subjunctive) usually refers to a single, whole action: to buy (once).
- να αγοράζει (present subjunctive) suggests a repeated / ongoing action: to be buying / to keep buying.
Here we mean money to buy new books (on that occasion), so the aorist subjunctive αγοράσει is the natural choice:
- δεν έχει χρήματα να αγοράσει καινούρια.
= she doesn’t have money to buy new ones.
The pattern έχω [χρήματα/χρόνο/δύναμη] να + subjunctive is very common:
- έχω χρήματα να αγοράσω κάτι = I have money to buy something
- δεν έχω χρόνο να διαβάσω = I don’t have time to study
You can also say:
- έχει χρήματα για να αγοράσει καινούρια.
για να + subjunctive explicitly marks purpose (in order to), while να + subjunctive after χρήματα / χρόνο is more like “money/time to do something” and is very natural.
In this particular sentence:
- να αγοράσει (without για) is perfectly standard and maybe slightly more concise;
- για να αγοράσει is also correct and just makes the purpose a bit more explicit.
The understood meaning is:
- …να αγοράσει καινούρια βιβλία. = …to buy new books.
In Greek (as in English), when the noun is obvious from context, it can be left out and the adjective stands for “new ones”:
- Θες το παλιό βιβλίο ή το καινούριο;
= Do you want the old book or the new one? - Δεν έχει χρήματα να αγοράσει καινούρια (βιβλία).
= She doesn’t have money to buy new (ones).
So βιβλία is simply omitted because it’s clear from the earlier βιβλία in the sentence.
Adjectives in Greek agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.
The implied noun here is βιβλία:
- βιβλίο (singular) = neuter
- βιβλία (plural) = neuter plural
The adjective καινούριος (“new”) has these relevant forms:
- Masculine: καινούριος (sg), καινούριοι (pl)
- Feminine: καινούρια (sg), καινούριες (pl)
- Neuter: καινούριο (sg), καινούρια (pl)
Since βιβλία is neuter plural, the correct adjective form is neuter plural:
- καινούρια βιβλία → καινούρια (when βιβλία is omitted)
That’s why it’s καινούρια and not καινούριες (which would be feminine plural).