Learn Hardcore Greek: Τον Αύγουστο θέλω να κάνω διακοπές στην Ελλάδα. - In August I want to go on vacation in Greece.

In this sentence, Τον Αύγουστο is in the accusative case because it expresses time when something happens: “in August”. Greek often uses the accusative case alone to mean “in/on [time]”:

Τη Δευτέρα – on Monday
Το βράδυ – in the evening
Τον Ιούνιο – in June

So Τον Αύγουστο literally is “August (as a time period)”, understood as “in August”. Keeping the article τον is the normal, natural way to say this.

Why is it Τον Αύγουστο (accusative) and not Ο Αύγουστος (nominative)?

Ο Αύγουστος is the nominative form, used when August is the subject of the sentence, for example:

Ο Αύγουστος είναι ζεστός. – August is hot.

Here, August is not the subject; it is an adverbial phrase telling us when the action happens. Greek normally uses the accusative case for this “when?” meaning. So:

Τον Αύγουστο θέλω να κάνω διακοπές…
= [In] August I want to go on vacation…

So the case changes from nominative (ο Αύγουστος) to accusative (τον Αύγουστο) because of its function in the sentence (time, not subject).

Could I drop the article and just say Αύγουστο θέλω να κάνω διακοπές…?

You can sometimes drop the article, but it sounds marked or less natural in everyday speech. With months, speakers almost always keep the article:

Τον Αύγουστο πάμε διακοπές. (very natural)
Αύγουστο πάμε διακοπές. (possible, but sounds like a note on a schedule, a title, or very telegraphic speech)

So for normal spoken and written Greek, you should keep τον.

Why is διακοπές in the plural when English has “vacation” in the singular?

In Greek, οι διακοπές is almost always used in the plural to mean “vacation/holidays”:

Κάνω διακοπές. – I’m on vacation.
Πότε θα πάμε διακοπές; – When will we go on vacation?

The singular η διακοπή is a different word: it usually means “interruption, break, cut” (e.g. power cut, break in a process), not “vacation”.

So you should think of διακοπές as a word that is plural by default when it means holidays, even if English uses a singular form in that context.

Why do we say κάνω διακοπές? Is there a specific reason for using κάνω?

Greek often uses the verb κάνω (“do/make”) together with a noun to express an activity, similar to English “have a shower”, “do business”, “have a rest”:

κάνω μπάνιο – have a bath / take a shower
κάνω γυμναστική – do exercise
κάνω διακοπές – go on / be on vacation

Here, κάνω διακοπές means “to be on vacation / to spend time on holiday”, not literally “to make vacations”.

You can also say:

Πάω διακοπές. – I go on vacation.

Πάω διακοπές focuses more on the going, while κάνω διακοπές focuses on the period of being on holiday. In many contexts you can use either.

What is να κάνω after θέλω? Is it like an infinitive?

Greek doesn’t use an infinitive the way English does. Instead, after verbs like θέλω (“I want”), Greek uses να plus a verb in the subjunctive.

θέλω να κάνω ≈ “I want to do”
θέλω να φάω ≈ “I want to eat”
θέλω να πάω ≈ “I want to go”

So να κάνω is not called an infinitive; it’s a subjunctive form introduced by να. But functionally, you can often think of θέλω να + verb as corresponding to English “want to + verb”.

What tense and mood is θέλω να κάνω, and why does it refer to the future?

θέλω – present tense, indicative mood, 1st person singular: “I want”.
κάνω (after να) – present subjunctive, 1st person singular.

Together, θέλω να κάνω διακοπές means “I want to (at some point) go on vacation.” The want is in the present (that desire exists now), but it naturally refers to an action in the future.

Greek often expresses future plans this way, without using a future tense in the second verb:

Θέλω να πάω στην Ελλάδα. – I want to go to Greece.
Αύριο θέλω να ξεκουραστώ. – Tomorrow I want to rest.

So it’s present + subjunctive, but the meaning points to the future.

Why is it στην Ελλάδα and not σε Ελλάδα?

The preposition σε (“in, at, to”) almost always combines with the definite article when you talk about a specific place:

σε + την Ελλάδα → στην Ελλάδα – in/to Greece
σε + τον Καναδά → στον Καναδά – in/to Canada
σε + το σπίτι → στο σπίτι – at home / to the house

So σε Ελλάδα (without article) would usually sound wrong or at least incomplete, because you’re referring to the specific country.

That’s why the natural form is στην Ελλάδα.

Why do we have στην (with -ν) before Ελλάδα?

Στην comes from σε + την (preposition + feminine article). Modern Greek often drops the final -ν of την/στην before many consonants, but keeps it:

before vowels
and (more generally) where pronunciation would be awkward without it.

Ελλάδα starts with a vowel (Ε-), so you keep the -ν:

στην Ελλάδα (not στη Ελλάδα)

By contrast, with some consonants you’ll often see στη instead of στην:

στη Γαλλία – in France
στη Ρώμη – in Rome

So here στην Ελλάδα is the standard form because of the initial vowel in Ελλάδα.

Why is Ελλάδα feminine?

In Greek, many country names are grammatically feminine and use the feminine article η:

η Ελλάδα – Greece
η Γαλλία – France
η Ιταλία – Italy

Others can be masculine or neuter (e.g. ο Καναδάς, το Μεξικό). This is just a matter of lexical gender; you have to learn the gender with each country name.

So στην Ελλάδα literally is “in the [feminine] Greece,” following the normal agreement of preposition + article + feminine noun.

Can I change the word order? For example: Θέλω να κάνω διακοπές στην Ελλάδα τον Αύγουστο?

Yes. Greek word order is flexible, especially for elements like time and place.

All of these are correct:

Τον Αύγουστο θέλω να κάνω διακοπές στην Ελλάδα.
Θέλω τον Αύγουστο να κάνω διακοπές στην Ελλάδα.
Θέλω να κάνω διακοπές στην Ελλάδα τον Αύγουστο.

They all mean essentially the same. Putting Τον Αύγουστο at the beginning slightly emphasizes the time (“As for August, that’s when I want…”), while putting it at the end feels a bit more neutral or like new information being added last.

Are there other natural ways to say this in Greek?

Yes, very common alternatives include:

Τον Αύγουστο θέλω να πάω διακοπές στην Ελλάδα.
– focuses more on the going on vacation.
Τον Αύγουστο θέλω να είμαι διακοπές στην Ελλάδα.
– less idiomatic; you’d normally prefer να κάνω or να πάω.

The most natural everyday options are:

Τον Αύγουστο θέλω να κάνω διακοπές στην Ελλάδα.
Τον Αύγουστο θέλω να πάω διακοπές στην Ελλάδα.