Breakdown of Η φίλη μου λέει ότι η ανακύκλωση είναι τόσο σημαντική όσο η καλή διατροφή.
Questions & Answers about Η φίλη μου λέει ότι η ανακύκλωση είναι τόσο σημαντική όσο η καλή διατροφή.
In Greek, you normally use the definite article with people you’re talking about in a specific, known way.
- Η φίλη μου = the friend of mine → my friend
Literally: the friend my (feminine).
Two key points:
Article use
- Greek often uses the article with nouns where English doesn’t:
- Η μαμά μου = my mum
- Ο αδελφός μου = my brother
- So η is just the feminine singular definite article, matching φίλη.
- Greek often uses the article with nouns where English doesn’t:
Position of possessive
- Greek possessive pronouns like μου, σου, του etc. come after the noun:
- το βιβλίο μου = my book
- η δουλειά σου = your job
- Saying η μου φίλη is normally wrong in modern standard Greek (you might see it only in poetry or very old style).
- Greek possessive pronouns like μου, σου, του etc. come after the noun:
So Η φίλη μου is the normal, natural way to say my (female) friend.
Φίλος and φίλη both mean friend, but:
- φίλος = male friend (masculine)
- φίλη = female friend (feminine)
Since the sentence is talking about a female friend, it uses the feminine form φίλη. The article also changes accordingly:
- ο φίλος μου = my (male) friend
- η φίλη μου = my (female) friend
Greek nouns often have distinct masculine and feminine forms, especially for people’s roles (friend, teacher, doctor, etc.).
Yes, here ότι works like the English conjunction that introducing a subordinate clause.
- Η φίλη μου λέει ότι …
= My friend says that …
Important points:
- ότι here is only a conjunction (joining clauses), not a pronoun.
- It introduces the content of what is said/thought:
- νομίζω ότι… = I think that…
- ξέρω ότι… = I know that…
- ελπίζω ότι… = I hope that…
Spoken Greek also often uses πως in the same way:
- Η φίλη μου λέει πως η ανακύκλωση είναι τόσο σημαντική όσο η καλή διατροφή.
In this meaning, ότι and πως are interchangeable in most everyday contexts.
Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, especially with abstract or general concepts.
- η ανακύκλωση literally is the recycling, but in context it usually just means recycling in general.
Similar patterns:
- Η μουσική είναι σημαντική.
Literally: The music is important. → Music is important. - Η εκπαίδευση είναι ακριβή.
The education is expensive. → Education is expensive.
So here:
- η ανακύκλωση είναι τόσο σημαντική…
≈ recycling is as important…
English drops the article, Greek keeps it to mark the noun clearly and to agree with adjectives.
Greek adjectives must agree with the noun in:
- Gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
- Number (singular / plural)
- Case (nominative, accusative, etc.)
Here:
- η ανακύκλωση is feminine, singular, nominative.
- So the adjective must also be feminine, singular, nominative:
- σημαντικός → masculine
- σημαντική → feminine
- σημαντικό → neuter
Because ανακύκλωση is feminine:
- η ανακύκλωση είναι σημαντική.
More examples:
- ο σκύλος είναι σημαντικός για μένα. (masculine)
- η δουλειά είναι σημαντική. (feminine)
- το μάθημα είναι σημαντικό. (neuter)
The structure τόσο … όσο … means as … as … in comparisons of equality.
- είναι τόσο σημαντική όσο η καλή διατροφή
= it is as important as good nutrition
Breakdown:
- τόσο = so / as (here: as before the adjective)
- όσο = as (before the thing you compare to)
Some parallels:
- είναι τόσο ψηλός όσο ο πατέρας του.
= He is as tall as his father. - είναι τόσο ακριβό όσο το άλλο.
= It is as expensive as the other one.
In everyday speech, people often drop τόσο but keep όσο:
- Η ανακύκλωση είναι (τόσο) σημαντική όσο η καλή διατροφή.
Still understood as as important as.
Both relate to degree, but they’re used differently:
- πολύ = very / much / a lot (absolute degree)
- Είναι πολύ σημαντική. = It is very important.
- τόσο = so / that …, and in τόσο … όσο … = as … as … (relative or emphatic degree)
- Είναι τόσο σημαντική. = It is so important.
- Είναι τόσο σημαντική όσο… = It is as important as…
Some contrasts:
- Είναι πολύ καλή ιδέα. = It’s a very good idea.
- Είναι τόσο καλή ιδέα που… = It’s such a good / so good an idea that…
In this sentence, τόσο is used specifically for the comparative structure τόσο σημαντική όσο ….
With abstract nouns used in a specific, “conceptual” sense, Greek strongly prefers the definite article.
Here, η καλή διατροφή means:
- good nutrition as a general, well‑defined concept
- think: proper nutrition, a healthy diet as an idea
Examples:
- Η καλή διατροφή είναι σημαντική.
Good nutrition is important. - Η υγεία είναι πολύτιμη.
Health is precious.
Without the article (καλή διατροφή) it can sound more like:
- some good nutrition, good nutrition in a looser, less “defined” sense
So:
- … τόσο σημαντική όσο η καλή διατροφή
= as important as (the concept of) good nutrition.
Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially with the verb είναι (to be). The given order is the most neutral and natural, but some variations are possible for emphasis:
Neutral:
- Η ανακύκλωση είναι τόσο σημαντική όσο η καλή διατροφή.
You can shift elements for focus:
- Τόσο σημαντική είναι η ανακύκλωση όσο η καλή διατροφή.
(Putting τόσο σημαντική first adds emphasis to how important it is.) - Η ανακύκλωση είναι, όσο η καλή διατροφή, τόσο σημαντική.
(Sounds more literary/unusual.)
However, you normally keep:
- τόσο right before the adjective (σημαντική),
- όσο right before the element it compares to (η καλή διατροφή).
If you split τόσο and σημαντική or move όσο far away, it becomes unnatural or confusing.
In Η φίλη μου λέει…, μου is:
- a weak (clitic) possessive pronoun
- grammatically attached to φίλη (the noun), not to the verb.
So:
- Η φίλη μου = my friend (subject)
- λέει = says (verb)
It’s like saying the friend of mine. Μου agrees with the person who owns the friend (1st person singular = my).
If you wanted to me (indirect object of the verb), you’d put μου near the verb:
- Η φίλη μου μου λέει ότι…
= My friend tells me that…
(First μου = my, second μου = to me.)
So position and function matter:
- η φίλη μου → my friend
- μου λέει → (she) tells me
Stress marks show which syllable is stressed.
ανακύκλωση
- Syllables: a‑na‑ký‑klo‑si
- Written: ανακύκλωση
- Stress: on κύ (the κύ syllable)
- Pronunciation (roughly): a-na-KEE-klo-see
διατροφή
- Syllables: dja‑tro‑fí
- Written: διατροφή
- Stress: on φή
- Pronunciation (roughly): dya-tro-FEE
In Greek, every word of more than one syllable has exactly one stress, and that stress is always marked with the accent (´) in standard spelling.
Yes, the difference is in tense/aspect, similar to English:
- λέει = says / is saying (present)
- Η φίλη μου λέει ότι…
→ My friend says (generally / right now) that…
- Η φίλη μου λέει ότι…
- είπε = said (aorist, single, completed action in the past)
- Η φίλη μου είπε ότι…
→ My friend said that…
- Η φίλη μου είπε ότι…
In your sentence, λέει can suggest:
- something she regularly says, or
- what she’s currently telling you, depending on context.
The rest of the sentence stays the same grammatically; only the time reference changes.