Η μαμά μου σκουπίζει το πάτωμα κάθε βράδυ.

My mom sweeps the floor every evening.

Breakdown of Η μαμά μου σκουπίζει το πάτωμα κάθε βράδυ.

• μου: my
• η μαμά: the mom
• κάθε βράδυ: every evening
• σκουπίζω: to sweep

Questions & Answers about Η μαμά μου σκουπίζει το πάτωμα κάθε βράδυ.

Why does the sentence start with Η μαμά and not Ο μαμά or Το μαμά?

In Greek, nouns have grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), and the definite article changes accordingly.

• η = the (feminine singular)
• ο = the (masculine singular)
• το = the (neuter singular)

The word μαμά (mom, mum) is grammatically feminine, so it always takes the feminine article: η μαμά.

So:

• η μαμά = the mom
• ο μπαμπάς = the dad
• το παιδί = the child

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Why is μου after μαμά (Η μαμά μου) instead of before it, like my mom in English?

Greek normally puts the possessive pronoun after the noun:

• η μαμά μου = my mom
• το βιβλίο σου = your book
• το σπίτι του = his house

Here, μου is an unstressed (clitic) pronoun meaning my. It always follows the noun it modifies and does not take its own article.

So the natural Greek order is:

• η μαμά μου (literally: the mom my)
  not μου η μαμά.

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Why is there no word for “she” in the sentence? In English we say She sweeps the floor every night.