Learn Hardcore Greek: Το λεμόνι κάνει τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη στο σπίτι μας. - Lemon makes the salad tastier in our home.

Το λεμόνι here means “lemon (in general) in our house”, not necessarily one specific lemon.
Τη σαλάτα similarly refers to “the salad (that we’re eating / we usually make)”, understood from context.

So while English prefers:

“Lemon makes salad tastier in our house,”

Greek naturally says:

Το λεμόνι κάνει τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη στο σπίτι μας.

Why is it τη σαλάτα and not την σαλάτα?

Both forms are actually possible in modern Greek, but in everyday writing and speech:

την often becomes τη before most consonants.
The -ν is usually kept only before:
- vowels (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω),
- and the consonants κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ.

Since σαλάτα starts with σ, the final -ν is commonly dropped:

τη σαλάτα (normal modern spelling)
την σαλάτα (more careful / older style, also correct)

So you’ll very often see τη σαλάτα in contemporary Greek.

What exactly does κάνει mean here? Is it “does” or “makes”?

The verb κάνει comes from κάνω, which literally means “to do / to make”.

In this structure:

κάνει τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη = “makes the salad more tasty”.

So:

It does not mean “does the salad.”
It means “causes the salad to become / be more tasty.”

You could think of it as:

κάνει [object] [adjective] = “makes [object] [adjective].”
Similar to English: “The lemon makes the salad tasty.”

Can I use είναι instead of κάνει, like Το λεμόνι είναι τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη?

No, that would be incorrect.

είναι (“is”) links a subject to a complement, but it doesn’t take an object the way “make” does.
You need a verb that can take:
- a direct object (τη σαλάτα), and
- an object complement (πιο νόστιμη).

That’s exactly what κάνω does here:

Το λεμόνι κάνει τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη.
The lemon makes the salad tastier.

You could rephrase with another verb like κάνει:

Το λεμόνι κάνει τη σαλάτα να είναι πιο νόστιμη.
(literally “makes the salad to be more tasty”)
but the original is shorter and more natural.

What is the structure [κάνει + object + adjective] in Greek grammar terms?

This is a causative structure:

Subject: Το λεμόνι
Verb: κάνει
Direct object: τη σαλάτα
Object complement (predicative adjective): πιο νόστιμη

So πιο νόστιμη is not just describing “lemon”; it’s describing the result state of τη σαλάτα caused by the lemon.

Pattern:

X κάνει Y [adjective] = X makes Y [adjective]
- Το λεμόνι κάνει τη σούπα ξινή.
  The lemon makes the soup sour.

What does πιο mean, and how does the comparative work in πιο νόστιμη?

πιο means “more” and is used to form the comparative degree of adjectives.

νόστιμη = tasty
πιο νόστιμη = more tasty / tastier

Key points:

πιο itself never changes form; it’s invariable.
The adjective (νόστιμη) still agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it describes:
- νόστιμη: feminine, singular, accusative (to match τη σαλάτα).

There is no από (“than”) here, because we’re just saying “more tasty” in general, not “more tasty than something else.”

Why is the adjective νόστιμη in that particular form?

The base adjective is:

νόστιμος (masc.)
νόστιμη (fem.)
νόστιμο (neut.)

Here it describes τη σαλάτα:

σαλάτα is feminine.
It’s the direct object, so it’s in the accusative singular.
Feminine nominative singular and accusative singular both happen to be νόστιμη.

So πιο νόστιμη matches τη σαλάτα in:

gender: feminine
number: singular
case: accusative

What exactly is στο σπίτι μας grammatically?

στο σπίτι μας breaks down as:

σε = in / at / to
το = the (neuter singular article)
σπίτι = house, home (neuter noun)
σε + το contracts to στο
μας = our (possessive pronoun)

So:

στο σπίτι μας = “in/at our house / at our home”.

Grammatically, it’s a prepositional phrase indicating place / context:

It tells us where or in whose household this habit is true.

Does στο σπίτι μας mean literally “in our house”, or more like “in our family / in our home (as a habit)”?

It can mean both, but in this sentence it’s best understood as “in our household / in our home (as a habit)”.

So:

Not just physically “inside the building,” but:
- “In our place / in our way of doing things / in our family…”

Natural English equivalents:

“In our house, lemon makes the salad tastier.”
“At our place, lemon makes the salad tastier.”
“In our home, we find that lemon makes the salad tastier.”

Why does the possessive μας come after σπίτι instead of before it, like in English “our house”?

In Greek, possessive pronouns usually follow the noun:

το σπίτι μας = our house
(not μας το σπίτι in standard usage)

Pattern:

το βιβλίο μου = my book
η μητέρα σου = your mother
το σπίτι μας = our house

So μας here is an enclitic possessive pronoun that always goes after the noun it modifies.

What cases are used for το λεμόνι, τη σαλάτα, and στο σπίτι μας?

Το λεμόνι: nominative neuter singular
- It’s the subject of the sentence.
τη σαλάτα: accusative feminine singular
- It’s the direct object of κάνει.
στο σπίτι μας: functions as “σε + accusative”
- το σπίτι is in the accusative after the preposition σε.
- σε + το → στο.

So the pattern is:

Subject (nominative): Το λεμόνι
Verb: κάνει
Object (accusative): τη σαλάτα
Prepositional phrase (σε + accusative): στο σπίτι μας

How flexible is the word order here? Can I move στο σπίτι μας or other parts around?

Greek word order is relatively flexible, and you can move phrases for emphasis or style. For example, all of these are possible:

Στο σπίτι μας, το λεμόνι κάνει τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη.
Το λεμόνι, στο σπίτι μας, κάνει τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη.
Το λεμόνι κάνει, στο σπίτι μας, τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη. (less natural, but still possible in speech with the right intonation)

The basic and most neutral order is the original:

Το λεμόνι κάνει τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη στο σπίτι μας.

As long as:

Το λεμόνι remains clearly the subject,
τη σαλάτα stays the direct object of κάνει, the sentence remains understandable.

Why is the present tense κάνει used? Does it mean “always/usually makes” or “is making right now”?

In Greek, the simple present often expresses:

general truths,
habits, or
regular tendencies,

not just actions happening right now.

So:

Το λεμόνι κάνει τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη στο σπίτι μας.
means roughly:
- “In our house, lemon (always/typically) makes salad tastier.”

If you wanted to stress a current, specific action, you might instead say:

Τώρα το λεμόνι κάνει τη σαλάτα πιο νόστιμη.
Right now the lemon is making the salad tastier.
But without τώρα, the sentence sounds like a general habit or preference.