Learn Hardcore Greek: Το διαμέρισμά μας δεν είναι τόσο μεγάλο όσο το σπίτι των γονιών μου. - Our apartment is not as big as my parents' house.

Το – the (neuter, singular, nominative)
διαμέρισμά – apartment (neuter, singular, nominative, with moved accent because of μας)
μας – our
δεν – not (negation)
είναι – is
τόσο – so / as (here: so big / as big)
μεγάλο – big (neuter, singular, nominative, agrees with διαμέρισμα)
όσο – as (in comparisons: as … as / so … as)
το – the (neuter, singular, nominative/accusative; here nominative as subject of comparison clause)
σπίτι – house (neuter, singular)
των – of the (genitive plural article)
γονιών – parents’ (genitive plural of γονείς = parents)
μου – my

Overall sense: Our apartment is not as big as my parents’ house.

Why is the possessive μας placed after διαμέρισμά and not before it?

In Greek, unstressed possessive pronouns like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους almost always come after the noun:

το διαμέρισμά μας – our apartment
το σπίτι μου – my house
η τσάντα σου – your bag

You do not say μας διαμέρισμα in standard modern Greek.

Having the article + noun + possessive is the normal pattern:

το + διαμέρισμα + μας
το + σπίτι + μου

Why does διαμέρισμα become διαμέρισμά with an accent on the last syllable?

The basic form is:

το διαμέρισμα – the apartment

When you add an enclitic like μας (our) after it, Greek spelling rules often move the accent one syllable to the right to keep the word clearly stressed:

το διαμέρισμα (no enclitic)
το διαμέρισμά μας (μας is enclitic → the accent shifts to the last syllable)

So:

Without enclitic: δια‑ΜΕ‑ρι‑σμα
With enclitic: δια‑με‑ΡΙ‑σμά μας

You will see the same pattern with many nouns and adjectives, e.g.:

το σπίτι → το σπιτάκι → το σπιτάκι μου → το σπιτάκι ΜΟΥ (here the stress stays because it’s already on the third syllable from the end)
ο φίλος → ο φίλος μου (no shift because the stress is already near the end)

The key idea: Enclitics can cause a secondary accent or shift to maintain clear stress, and spelling reflects that.

Why is the negation δεν placed before είναι and not after?

In Greek, the normal position of δεν is directly before the verb:

δεν είναι – is not
δεν έχω – I do not have
δεν πάμε – we are not going / we do not go

You would not say είναι δεν.

Also, δεν (not μην) is used with:

statements: Δεν είναι μεγάλο. – It is not big.
questions: Δεν είναι μεγάλο; – Isn’t it big?

Μην is used mainly:

before imperatives/subjunctive: Μην πας. – Don’t go.
after some particles like να: να μην πάω; – should I not go?

Here we have a simple statement, so δεν είναι is correct.

How does the τόσο … όσο … comparison work in this sentence?

Τόσο … όσο … is a common way in Greek to say as … as (or, in the negative, not as … as).

Structure here:

δεν είναι τόσο μεγάλο όσο …
literally: it is not so big as …
natural English: it is not as big as …

Examples:

Είναι τόσο ωραίο όσο το δικό σου.
It is as nice as yours.
Δεν είναι τόσο ακριβό όσο νομίζεις.
It is not as expensive as you think.

In positive sentences, τόσο … όσο … = as … as.
In negative sentences, it often translates more naturally as not as … as.

Can I drop τόσο and just say δεν είναι μεγάλο όσο το σπίτι των γονιών μου?

Spoken Greek sometimes drops τόσο in casual speech, and you might hear:

Δεν είναι (τόσο) μεγάλο όσο το σπίτι των γονιών μου.

However:

With τόσο the structure is clearer and more standard.
In writing and careful speech, it is better to keep τόσο:
Δεν είναι τόσο μεγάλο όσο …

So:

Grammatically: omitting τόσο can occur colloquially.
For learners: prefer the full pattern τόσο … όσο ….

Why is μεγάλο in the neuter form?

Adjectives in Greek agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe.

Here, μεγάλο describes το διαμέρισμά μας:

διαμέρισμα is neuter, singular, nominative.
Therefore the adjective must also be neuter, singular, nominative: μεγάλο.

Compare:

το μεγάλο διαμέρισμα – the big apartment (neuter)
η μεγάλη πόλη – the big city (feminine)
ο μεγάλος κήπος – the big garden (masculine)

Why is σπίτι also neuter, and does that affect anything in this sentence?

Το σπίτι (house) is also a neuter noun. In this sentence:

το σπίτι is part of the comparison όσο το σπίτι των γονιών μου,
but the adjective μεγάλο is grammatically linked to το διαμέρισμά μας, not to το σπίτι.

So, although σπίτι is also neuter, what matters for the form μεγάλο is that its head noun (διαμέρισμα) is neuter singular nominative.

If you rephrased:

Το σπίτι των γονιών μου είναι μεγάλο.
Here, μεγάλο now agrees with το σπίτι — still neuter singular nominative — so it looks the same form, but now it is describing σπίτι instead of διαμέρισμα.

What is the difference between γονείς and γονιών?

They are different forms of the same noun:

γονείς – parents (nominative plural)
Example: Οι γονείς μου μένουν εδώ. – My parents live here.
γονιών – of (the) parents (genitive plural)
Example: το σπίτι των γονιών μου – my parents’ house (literally: the house of the parents my)

In our sentence, we need the genitive because we are expressing possession (the house of my parents), so we use γονιών, not γονείς.

Could we say των γονέων μου instead of των γονιών μου? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can:

το σπίτι των γονιών μου
το σπίτι των γονέων μου

Both mean my parents’ house.

Difference:

γονιών – everyday, colloquial modern form.
γονέων – more formal / written / older style.

In normal spoken Greek, των γονιών μου is more natural.
In formal writing, you might also see των γονέων μου.

Why is it των γονιών μου and not οι γονείς μου?

We are not just talking about my parents; we are specifying whose house it is. For possession, Greek commonly uses a genitive phrase:

το σπίτι των γονιών μου – the house of my parents

Structure:

το σπίτι – the house
των – of the (genitive plural article)
γονιών – parents (genitive plural)
μου – my

If you said το σπίτι οι γονείς μου, that would be incorrect grammar.
You must show possession with the genitive form: των γονιών μου.

Why is it των γονιών μου (my parents) but διαμέρισμά μας (our apartment)? Would των γονιών μας also be possible?

Both are possible; they simply mean different things:

το διαμέρισμά μας … το σπίτι των γονιών μου
→ our apartment … my parents’ house.
This implies that we share the apartment (e.g. a couple, roommates), but the parents in question are my parents.
το διαμέρισμά μας … το σπίτι των γονιών μας
→ our apartment … our parents’ house.
This implies that the speakers share the same parents (e.g. siblings).

So μου vs μας here is just about whose parents are being referred to; the grammar is the same.

Is the word order fixed, or could I say the sentence in a different way?

The basic neutral word order is:

Το διαμέρισμά μας – topic / subject
δεν είναι – verb with negation
τόσο μεγάλο – predicate adjective
όσο το σπίτι των γονιών μου – comparison phrase

Greek word order is fairly flexible, but changes can affect emphasis and naturalness. For example:

Το διαμέρισμά μας δεν είναι τόσο μεγάλο όσο το σπίτι των γονιών μου. – neutral.
Δεν είναι τόσο μεγάλο το διαμέρισμά μας όσο το σπίτι των γονιών μου. – puts slight emphasis on the verb phrase first.
Τόσο μεγάλο δεν είναι το διαμέρισμά μας όσο το σπίτι των γονιών μου. – more marked emphasis; less neutral, more stylistic.

For everyday use, the original order is the most natural for learners.

Is there another common way to express the same idea in Greek?

Yes. Instead of using τόσο … όσο …, you can use a comparative adjective + από:

Το διαμέρισμά μας είναι μικρότερο από το σπίτι των γονιών μου.
Literally: Our apartment is smaller than my parents’ house.

Here:

μικρότερο – smaller (comparative of μικρό = small)
από – than / from in comparisons

Both are very natural:

Το διαμέρισμά μας δεν είναι τόσο μεγάλο όσο το σπίτι των γονιών μου.
Our apartment is not as big as my parents’ house.
Το διαμέρισμά μας είναι μικρότερο από το σπίτι των γονιών μου.
Our apartment is smaller than my parents’ house.

The nuance is similar; the second one uses an explicit comparative form.