Κάθε σκουπίδι πάει στον κάδο.

Every piece of trash goes into the bin.

Breakdown of Κάθε σκουπίδι πάει στον κάδο.

• πάω: to go
• κάθε: every
• ο κάδος: the bin
• σε: into
• το σκουπίδι: the trash

Questions & Answers about Κάθε σκουπίδι πάει στον κάδο.

Why is σκουπίδι singular after κάθε? In English we say every piece of trash or all the trash.

In Greek, κάθε (every/each) is almost always followed by a singular noun:

• κάθε σκουπίδι = every (single) piece of trash
• κάθε παιδί = every child
• κάθε μέρα = every day

So even though the idea is about many pieces of trash, Greek grammar requires the singular after κάθε, just like English uses singular after every (every child, not every children).

What exactly does σκουπίδι mean here? Is it countable like “a trash” or “a piece of trash”?

Σκουπίδι is a countable noun: ένα σκουπίδι = one piece of trash / one bit of rubbish.

• το σκουπίδι – the piece of trash
• τα σκουπίδια – the trash / the rubbish (often used as a mass noun: the trash in general)

In this sentence, κάθε σκουπίδι literally means each individual item of trash, even if in English you might just say All trash goes in the bin.

Why is there no article (the, a) before σκουπίδι? Why not κάθε το σκουπίδι or κάθε ένα σκουπίδι?

With κάθε you normally do not use an article:

• κάθε σκουπίδι ✅
• κάθε το σκουπίδι ❌
• κάθε ένα σκουπίδι ❌ (sounds wrong in standard Greek)

Κάθε + noun (singular) by itself already means every / each, so no article is needed:

• κάθε άνθρωπος – every person
• κάθε αυτοκίνητο – every car

What tense and person is πάει, and what verb does it come from?

Πάει here is:

• present tense
• 3rd person singular
• of the verb πάω (to go).

So πάει = he/she/it goes.
In this sentence:

• κάθε σκουπίδι = it (subject)
• πάει = goes

So: Κάθε σκουπίδι πάει… → Every piece of trash goes…

Why πάει and not πηγαίνει? Are they different?

Both are correct; the difference is style/feeling:

• πάει – more colloquial, very common in everyday speech
• πηγαίνει – a bit more formal or “full” form

In this sentence you could say:

• Κάθε σκουπίδι πάει στον κάδο. (more natural in casual speech)
• Κάθε σκουπίδι πηγαίνει στον κάδο. (slightly more neutral/formal)

Meaning is the same: Every piece of trash goes in the bin.

What does στον mean? Is it one word or two words joined together?

Στον is a contraction of:

• σε (in/to/at) + τον (the, masculine accusative singular)

So:

• σε + τον κάδο → στον κάδο

Similar contractions:

• σε + το σπίτι → στο σπίτι (to the house)
• σε + την πόλη → στην πόλη (in the city)

So στον κάδο literally = into the bin / in the bin.

Why is it κάδο and not κάδος? What case is that?

The basic (dictionary) form is:

• ο κάδος – the bin (nominative singular, subject form)

Greek changes the ending depending on the case. Here we have:

• στον κάδο = σε + τον κάδο (accusative singular)

We use the accusative after the preposition σε. So:

• Ο κάδος είναι άδειος. – The bin is empty. (subject → nominative)
• Ρίξε το σκουπίδι στον κάδο. – Throw the trash in the bin. (object of σε → accusative κάδο)

What gender is κάδος, and how do its basic forms look?

Κάδος is a masculine noun. Common singular forms:

• ο κάδος – the bin (nominative, subject)
• τον κάδο – the bin (accusative, after verbs and most prepositions)
• του κάδου – of the bin (genitive)
• κάδο – vocative (used when addressing it; rarely used for “bin” in real life)

In this sentence we use τον κάδο (accusative) inside the contraction στον κάδο.

Is κάθε σκουπίδι the subject of the sentence? Even though it’s not at the very beginning in English?

Yes. Κάθε σκουπίδι is the subject:

• Κάθε σκουπίδι (who/what?) → πάει (does what?) → στον κάδο (where?).

So:

• Subject: κάθε σκουπίδι
• Verb: πάει
• Prepositional phrase: στον κάδο

Greek word order is fairly flexible, but in this sentence it’s in the straightforward Subject–Verb–Object/Complement pattern.

Could I say the same sentence with a different word order, like Στον κάδο πάει κάθε σκουπίδι? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, that’s possible:

• Στον κάδο πάει κάθε σκουπίδι.

Grammatically it’s correct and means essentially the same. The nuance:

• Κάθε σκουπίδι πάει στον κάδο. – neutral, simple statement.
• Στον κάδο πάει κάθε σκουπίδι. – puts a bit more emphasis on “in the bin” (as opposed to anywhere else). It can sound a bit more emphatic: It’s in the bin that every piece of trash goes.

What is the difference between κάθε σκουπίδι πάει στον κάδο and something like Όλα τα σκουπίδια πάνε στον κάδο?

Both can describe the same situation, but the focus is slightly different:

• Κάθε σκουπίδι πάει στον κάδο.
  Emphasizes each individual item: Every single piece of trash goes in the bin.

• Όλα τα σκουπίδια πάνε στον κάδο.
  Uses plural: All the trash goes in the bin.

Grammatically:

• κάθε + singular noun
• όλα τα + plural noun (σκουπίδια)

How do you pronounce Κάθε σκουπίδι πάει στον κάδο and where is the stress in each word?

Stress is marked by the accent in Greek. Each word has one stressed syllable:

• Κάθε → ΚΑ-the (stress on Κά-)
• σκουπίδι → σκου-ΠΙ-δι (stress on -πί-)
• πάει → ΠΑ-ee (one syllable in fast speech, stress on πά-)
• στον → pronounced like “ston” (no written accent; unstressed)
• κάδο → ΚΑ-tho (stress on κά-)

So you hear: ΚΑ-the σκου-ΠΙ-δι ΠΑ-ee ston ΚΑ-tho.