Learn Hardcore Greek: Η συναδέλφισσά μου μένει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά. - My colleague female lives in a quiet neighborhood.

In Greek, when you use the weak possessive pronouns (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) before a noun, you almost always also use the definite article:

η μητέρα μου – my mother
το σπίτι μου – my house
ο φίλος μου – my (male) friend

So:

Η συναδέλφισσά μου μένει… = My colleague lives…

Leaving out the article (∗Συναδέλφισσά μου μένει…) is either wrong or sounds very marked/poetic. For a normal subject, you want the article there.

What does μου mean here, and why does it come after the noun instead of before it like “my”?

μου is the weak (clitic) form of the 1st person singular pronoun in the genitive: it means “my / of me”.

Key points:

It is unstressed and clings to the previous word (a clitic).
In this use, it always goes after the noun it belongs to:
- η φίλη μου – my (female) friend
- το αυτοκίνητό μου – my car
- η συναδέλφισσά μου – my (female) colleague

You cannot say ∗μου συναδέλφισσα for “my colleague” in normal modern Greek. The possessive must follow the noun.

Why does συναδέλφισσά have two accent marks? Is that correct?

Yes, it is correct, and it follows a specific accent rule.

The base word is:

η συναδέλφισσα – (female) colleague

This word is stressed on the antepenultimate syllable (-δέλ-). When a proparoxytone (antepenult‑stressed) word is followed by an enclitic like μου, Greek spelling adds a second accent on the last syllable of the main word:

η θάλασσα → η θάλασσά μου
ο άνθρωπος → ο άνθρωπός μου
η συναδέλφισσα → η συναδέλφισσά μου

So συναδέλφισσά is written with two accents because:

One marks the normal stress of the word (συναδέλφισσα), and
The extra one on the last syllable shows that an enclitic (μου) follows.

Learners don’t need to change their pronunciation dramatically here; just remember that proparoxytone + μου/σου/του… → you will usually see that extra accent on the last syllable.

What is the difference between συναδέλφισσα and συνάδελφος? Can I also say η συνάδελφός μου?

Both are used in modern Greek:

ο/η συνάδελφος
- Grammatically common gender noun (same form for both men and women).
- ο συνάδελφος – the male colleague
- η συνάδελφος – the female colleague
η συναδέλφισσα
- Explicitly feminine form.
- Makes it very clear that the colleague is female.

In everyday speech:

Many people simply say η συνάδελφός μου for “my (female) colleague”; this is absolutely normal.
η συναδέλφισσά μου also exists and is correct; depending on region/age it can sound slightly more marked or just perfectly ordinary.

So you can say:

Η συναδέλφισσά μου μένει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά.
Η συνάδελφός μου μένει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά.

Both mean essentially the same thing.

What does μένει mean, and what tense/person is it? Could I use ζει or κατοικεί instead?

μένει is:

the 3rd person singular, present indicative of μένω
basic meaning: “(he/she/it) stays / lives (somewhere)”

Conjugation of μένω (present):

εγώ μένω – I live / stay
εσύ μένεις – you live
αυτός/αυτή/αυτό μένει – he/she/it lives
εμείς μένουμε
εσείς μένετε
αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά μένουν(ε)

About synonyms:

μένω σε… – very common and neutral: live in / live at
κατοικώ σε… – a bit more formal, “reside in”
διαμένω σε… – quite formal/official (documents, announcements)
ζω – means “live” in the sense of be alive, but also often “live (somewhere)”:
- Ζει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά. = She lives in a quiet neighborhood.

In this sentence, μένει is the most typical everyday choice.

Why is it σε ήσυχη γειτονιά and not something like στην ήσυχη γειτονιά? Where did the article go?

σε is the preposition “in / at / to” and it combines with articles:

σε + την → στην
σε + τον → στον
σε + το → στο, etc.

You have three main options here:

σε ήσυχη γειτονιά – no article
- General statement: in a quiet neighborhood, not a specific one both speakers know.
σε μια ήσυχη γειτονιά – with the indefinite article μια
- Also “in a quiet neighborhood”, a bit more like “in one (particular) quiet neighborhood”.
στην ήσυχη γειτονιά – with the definite article
- “in the quiet neighborhood”, referring to a specific neighborhood already known from context.

So in the given sentence, σε ήσυχη γειτονιά is a natural, non‑specific “in a quiet neighborhood”.

Why is ήσυχη in that form? How is it related to ήσυχος?

ήσυχη is the feminine singular form of the adjective ήσυχος = quiet.

Basic forms of the adjective:

Masculine: ήσυχος (π.χ. ήσυχος δρόμος – quiet street)
Feminine: ήσυχη (π.χ. ήσυχη γειτονιά – quiet neighborhood)
Neuter: ήσυχο (π.χ. ήσυχο μέρος – quiet place)

Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun in:

Gender
Number
Case

Here:

γειτονιά is feminine, singular, accusative.
So the adjective must also be feminine, singular, accusative → ήσυχη.

That’s why we say σε ήσυχη γειτονιά, not ∗σε ήσυχο γειτονιά.

Which case is γειτονιά in, and why? It looks the same as the nominative.

γειτονιά here is in the accusative case, because the preposition σε always takes the accusative.

η γειτονιά – nominative (subject form)
τη(ν) γειτονιά – accusative (object / after prepositions)

For many feminine nouns in ‑α, the nominative and accusative look identical in form; the difference is often visible only in the article or the adjective:

Nominative: η ήσυχη γειτονιά – the quiet neighborhood (as subject)
Accusative (after σε):
- σε ήσυχη γειτονιά – in a quiet neighborhood
- στην ήσυχη γειτονιά – in the quiet neighborhood

So morphologically it looks the same, but syntactically and by rule with σε, it’s accusative.

What is the difference between γειτονιά and γειτονία?

Both are related but not identical:

γειτονιά
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Means “neighborhood”: the area where people live, the local streets, the familiar environment.
γειτονία
- More formal / less frequent in casual speech.
- Refers more to “neighbourliness, neighbourhood relations” or the state/condition of being neighbors, and also appears in some compound terms (e.g. Ευρωπαϊκή Γειτονία in certain official uses).

In the context “She lives in a quiet neighborhood,” γειτονιά is the normal, idiomatic choice.

Could I change the word order, for example: Μένει η συναδέλφισσά μου σε ήσυχη γειτονιά?

Yes. Greek has relatively flexible word order. All of the following are grammatically possible:

Η συναδέλφισσά μου μένει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά.
Η συναδέλφισσά μου σε ήσυχη γειτονιά μένει.
Μένει η συναδέλφισσά μου σε ήσυχη γειτονιά.

Differences are mostly about emphasis and information structure, not basic meaning:

Starting with the subject (Η συναδέλφισσά μου…) is the most neutral for an English speaker’s ear (S–V–O style).
Starting with Μένει… can put a bit more focus on the fact of her living somewhere, or continue from previous context.

The original order is perfectly natural and a good default to imitate.

Can I leave out μου and just say Η συναδέλφισσα μένει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά?

You can, but the meaning changes:

Η συναδέλφισσά μου μένει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά.
- my female colleague lives in a quiet neighborhood.
Η συναδέλφισσα μένει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά.
- the female colleague lives in a quiet neighborhood.
- This refers to some colleague already known from context, but not specifically “my”.

So if you want to say “my colleague,” you need both:

the article: η
and the possessive: μου

How do you pronounce Η συναδέλφισσά μου μένει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά?

Approximate pronunciation with Latin letters:

Η συναδέλφισσά μου μένει σε ήσυχη γειτονιά
→ ee sina‑THEL‑fis‑SA mu ME‑ni se EE‑si‑chi yi‑to‑NYA

Some notes:

Η → /i/ like “ee” in “see”.
συνα‑ → “sina‑”.
δέλ → “thel” (soft “th” as in “this”).
φι → “fi”.
σσ → still a single /s/ sound, just spelling.
ήσυχη → “EE‑si‑chi”; χ is a hard kh sound (like Spanish “j” in “Jose”).
γει‑ in γειτονιά is pronounced like English “yi‑” (Greek γ before ε/ι/αι often sounds like “y”).
Stress (main emphasis) is on ‑δέλ‑, μέν‑, ή‑, and ‑νιά.