Learn Hardcore Greek: Το βράδυ πλένομαι στο μπάνιο.

So το βράδυ literally means “the evening”, but idiomatically it corresponds to English “in the evening.” You normally must use the article here; saying just βράδυ πλένομαι sounds incomplete or poetic at best.

Why isn’t there a separate word for “myself”? In English we say “I wash myself,” but here it’s just πλένομαι.

Greek often uses the middle/passive voice instead of a separate reflexive pronoun.

The active form is πλένω – I wash (something/someone).
The middle/passive form is πλένομαι – I am being washed / I wash myself.

So the “myself” meaning is built into the verb ending -ομαι. You don’t say πλένω τον εαυτό μου for everyday actions; that’s grammatically correct but sounds very formal or overly explicit in this context.

Why is it πλένομαι and not πλένω here?

Because the sentence is about washing oneself, not washing something else.

Πλένω τα πιάτα. – I wash the dishes. (active)
Πλένω το αυτοκίνητο. – I wash the car. (active)
Πλένομαι το βράδυ. – I wash myself / I take a wash in the evening. (middle–reflexive)

So when the subject and the object are the same person, Greek tends to use the middle/passive form (πλένομαι) instead of saying πλένω εμένα or πλένω τον εαυτό μου.

Do I have to say the pronoun εγώ (“I”)? Why is it omitted?

You don’t have to say εγώ because the verb ending already shows the person:

πλένομαι clearly means “I wash myself” (1st person singular).

Greek is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (εγώ, εσύ, αυτός…) are usually omitted unless:

you want to emphasize contrast:
- Εγώ πλένομαι το βράδυ, εσύ πλένεσαι το πρωί.
you need to clarify who is doing the action in a more complex sentence.

So (Εγώ) το βράδυ πλένομαι στο μπάνιο – εγώ is optional.

What does στο mean exactly? How is it formed?

Στο is the combination of the preposition σε and the neuter article το:

σε + το = στο

σε roughly corresponds to “in / at / to” depending on context. With το μπάνιο (the bathroom), it means “in the bathroom”:

στο μπάνιο – in the bathroom
στο σπίτι – at home / in the house
στο σχολείο – at school

So πλένομαι στο μπάνιο = I wash (myself) in the bathroom.

Does μπάνιο mean “bathroom” or “bath”? I’ve seen both.

Μπάνιο can mean several related things, and context clarifies it:

Bathroom (the room):
- Είναι στο μπάνιο. – He/she is in the bathroom.
A bath / washing oneself:
- Κάνω μπάνιο. – I take a bath / I bathe.
By extension, a swim in informal speech:
- Πάμε για μπάνιο; – Shall we go for a swim?

In πλένομαι στο μπάνιο, it clearly means “in the bathroom (the room)”.

Is Το βράδυ πλένομαι στο μπάνιο about a habit (like “I usually do this”) or about right now?

Here, the present tense in Greek normally expresses:

habit / routine or
general truth.

So Το βράδυ πλένομαι στο μπάνιο is best understood as:

“In the evenings, I (usually) wash myself in the bathroom.”

To refer to what you are doing right now, you’d usually add extra context, e.g.:

Τώρα πλένομαι στο μπάνιο. – Right now I’m washing myself in the bathroom.

Is there a difference between το βράδυ and τη νύχτα?

Yes:

το βράδυ – evening, early part of the night (after sunset but before very late).
τη νύχτα – at night, often implying late at night / during the night hours.

So:

Το βράδυ πλένομαι στο μπάνιο. – I wash in the evening.
Τη νύχτα δουλεύω. – I work at night.

They can overlap, but βράδυ is earlier and a bit more “evening-like,” while νύχτα feels more “night-like.”

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Πλένομαι στο μπάνιο το βράδυ?

Yes, Greek allows fairly flexible word order. These are all possible:

Το βράδυ πλένομαι στο μπάνιο.
Πλένομαι το βράδυ στο μπάνιο.
Πλένομαι στο μπάνιο το βράδυ.

They all mean essentially the same thing. The default, more neutral order is usually:

[Time] [Verb] [Place] → Το βράδυ πλένομαι στο μπάνιο.

Changing the order may slightly shift the focus/emphasis, but in everyday speech they are all acceptable.

What’s the stress and pronunciation of each word in the sentence?

Το – unstressed, pronounced like English to (short “o”), /to/.
βράδυ – stress on the first syllable: ΒΡΑ‑δυ → /ˈvraði/.
πλένομαι – stress on the first syllable: ΠΛΕ‑νο‑μαι → /ˈplenome/.
στο – /sto/.
μπάνιο – stress on the first syllable: ΜΠΑ‑νιο → /ˈbaɲo/ (the νι
- ο gives a palatal sound, like “nyo”).

Whole sentence: Το ΒΡΑ‑δυ ΠΛΕ‑νο‑μαι στο ΜΠΑ‑νιο.

What’s the difference between πλένομαι and κάνω μπάνιο?

Both can describe washing yourself, but there are nuances:

πλένομαι – literally “I wash myself”
- Often implies a more basic wash (face, hands, quick wash, or shower).
κάνω μπάνιο – literally “I do/make a bath”
- Means “I take a bath / I bathe / I shower (depending on culture and context).”
- Sounds a bit more like a full bath/shower, not just washing your hands.

In many everyday contexts, they can overlap:

Κάθε βράδυ κάνω μπάνιο. – Every evening I take a bath/shower.
Κάθε βράδυ πλένομαι. – Every evening I wash myself.

Both are fine; κάνω μπάνιο is especially common in spoken Greek for “take a shower/bath.”

Why is it πλένομαι and not something like πλέωμαι? What’s going on with the spelling?

The verb’s dictionary (active) form is πλένω. In the present tense, the middle/passive endings are added directly:

πλέν-ομαι → πλένομαι (I wash myself)
πλέν-εσαι → πλένεσαι (you wash yourself)
πλέν-εται → πλένεται (he/she/it washes himself/herself)

So we don’t insert extra vowels like πλέωμαι; the standard pattern is -ομαι, -εσαι, -εται added to the stem πλέν-.

Could the sentence mean “In the evening I bathe in the bathtub,” specifically in a tub, not just in the bathroom?

The sentence as written:

Το βράδυ πλένομαι στο μπάνιο.

most naturally means:

“In the evening I wash (myself) in the bathroom.”

If you want to emphasize that you bathe in the bathtub, you’d normally say:

Το βράδυ κάνω μπάνιο. – In the evening I take a bath.
Το βράδυ κάνω μπάνιο στη μπανιέρα. – In the evening I bathe in the bathtub.

So πλένομαι στο μπάνιο focuses more on the place (bathroom) and the act of washing, and is not specifically about a bathtub.

Is μπάνιο masculine, feminine, or neuter? How do I know from this sentence?

Μπάνιο is neuter. You can see it because it takes the neuter article το:

το μπάνιο – the bathroom

In the sentence we see the combined form:

στο μπάνιο = σε + το μπάνιο (preposition + neuter article + noun)

So from στο (and knowing it is σε + το), you can deduce that μπάνιο is neuter.