Learn Hardcore Greek: Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα, επειδή στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση. - In the afternoon I am always in a hurry, because in the city there is a lot of traffic.

Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα, επειδή στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση.

In the afternoon I am always in a hurry, because in the city there is a lot of traffic.

Breakdown of Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα, επειδή στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση.

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Questions & Answers about Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα, επειδή στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση.

Why does the sentence start with Το απόγευμα? Is that like saying In the afternoon in English, and why is there no preposition?

Yes, Το απόγευμα literally means the afternoon, but in Greek this structure often corresponds to English In the afternoon.

Key points:

Το = the (neuter article, nominative/accusative singular)
απόγευμα = afternoon (neuter noun)

Greek often uses "the + time word" without a preposition to express when something happens:

Το πρωί διαβάζω.
In the morning I study.
Το βράδυ δουλεύω.
In the evening I work.

You could add a preposition (το απόγευμα, το βράδυ → το απόγευμα, το βράδυ), but normally you don’t: the bare Το + time word is idiomatic for habitual time. So Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα = In the afternoon I’m always in a hurry.

Why is the verb βιάζομαι and not something like βιάζω? What does the -ομαι ending mean?

Βιάζομαι is a reflexive / middle-voice form and it’s the one you use to say I’m in a hurry / I rush.

βιάζομαι (viazomai) = I’m in a hurry / I hurry / I rush (myself)
The ending -ομαι is typical for middle/passive voice in the present tense for 1st person singular.

There is an active form βιάζω, but it means I hurry someone else / I pressure someone:

Τον βιάζω να τελειώσει.
I’m pressuring him to finish.

So:

Βιάζομαι = I’m hurrying / I’m in a hurry.
Βιάζω κάποιον = I hurry / rush / pressure someone.

In the sentence Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα, we’re talking about the speaker being in a rush, so the reflexive/middle form βιάζομαι is the correct one.

Why is πάντα after the verb (βιάζομαι πάντα) and not before it? Could I say Πάντα βιάζομαι instead?

Both βιάζομαι πάντα and Πάντα βιάζομαι are correct.

Πάντα βιάζομαι.
Βιάζομαι πάντα.

In Greek, adverbs like πάντα (always), συχνά (often), ποτέ (never) can appear either:

before the verb, or
after the verb.

The difference is usually just a slight change in emphasis or rhythm, not in meaning. In natural speech and writing you’ll see both positions frequently.

In this particular sentence, the word order Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα flows nicely because:

Το απόγευμα (time frame) comes first,
then βιάζομαι (main action),
then πάντα (frequency).

But Το απόγευμα πάντα βιάζομαι would also be fine.

What’s the difference between επειδή and γιατί? Could I use γιατί instead of επειδή here?

Yes, you could say:

Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα, γιατί στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση.

Both επειδή and γιατί can mean because and introduce a reason.

General tendencies:

επειδή is often a bit more formal / neutral as "because".
γιατί can mean both why and because, and is very common in everyday speech.

In this sentence, επειδή is perfectly natural and maybe slightly more “bookish”, but absolutely normal in spoken Greek too. Γιατί would sound just as natural here in everyday conversation.

What exactly does στην mean in στην πόλη?

Στην is a contraction of:

σε (in, at, to) + την (the, feminine accusative singular)

So:

σε την πόλη → στην πόλη = in the city / in town

This contraction is very common:

σε + την → στην
σε + τη → στη
σε + τον → στον
σε + το → στο

So στην πόλη = in the city or in town in English.

Why does the sentence use έχει in στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση? Isn’t έχει just has? How does that mean there is?

In Greek, έχει (it has) is very commonly used as an impersonal verb to mean there is / there are, especially in spoken language.

So:

Στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση.
Literally: In the city it has a lot of traffic.
Natural English: There is a lot of traffic in the city.

This impersonal έχει is extremely common in everyday Greek:

Έχει κόσμο εδώ.
There are a lot of people here.
Έχει ήλιο σήμερα.
It’s sunny today / There is sun today.

A more “formal” alternative is υπάρχει (there exists):

Στην πόλη υπάρχει πολύ κίνηση.

This is correct but sounds a bit more formal or written. In normal speech, έχει is more frequent.

Why is it πολύ κίνηση and not πολλή κίνηση? I thought πολλή is the feminine form.

Good observation. The difference is:

πολύ (without accent on the final -ι, adverb) = a lot, very
πολλή / πολύς / πολύ (with double λ and adjective endings) = much/many as an adjective.

In modern Greek, with uncountable nouns like κίνηση (traffic), people very often use πολύ as an adverb:

Έχει πολύ κίνηση.
There is a lot of traffic.

This is standard and very natural.

More technically:

πολλή κίνηση treats κίνηση as a feminine noun modified by an adjective (πολλή).
πολύ κίνηση uses πολύ as an adverb modifying the whole phrase with έχει.

In everyday speech, πολύ κίνηση is what you will hear most. Πολλή κίνηση is also grammatically accepted, but sounds a bit more careful / “correct” Greek. For conversation, πολύ κίνηση is perfect.

What does κίνηση mean exactly? Is it only traffic?

Κίνηση literally means movement. Depending on context, it can mean:

Traffic (cars, buses, etc. on the roads)
- Έχει πολλή/πολύ κίνηση στον δρόμο.
  There’s a lot of traffic on the road.
Movement in general
- Η κίνηση του σώματος.
  The movement of the body.
Business activity / customers
- Σήμερα δεν έχει κίνηση στο μαγαζί.
  There isn’t much business in the shop today.

In the sentence Στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση, in a city context, it clearly means traffic.
Grammatically, κίνηση is:

Feminine noun
Singular: η κίνηση
Plural: οι κινήσεις (then usually meaning movements, moves, not traffic).

Is the present tense βιάζομαι here talking about something habitual, like I’m always in a hurry in the afternoon?

Yes. The present tense in Greek, just like in English, often expresses habitual actions or general truths.

Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα…
In the afternoon I’m always in a hurry…

This means:

It’s something that happens regularly, not just once.

If you wanted to talk about the past, you’d use the past tense:

Το απόγευμα βιαζόμουν, επειδή…
In the afternoon I was in a hurry, because…

Or a single completed event:

Το απόγευμα βιάστηκα, επειδή…
This afternoon I was in a rush (once), because…

But in the given sentence, it’s clearly a general, repeated situation.

Why is there a comma before επειδή? Is that required in Greek?

In Greek, it’s very common (and usually preferred) to put a comma before conjunctions like:

επειδή (because),
γιατί (because),
όταν (when),
αν (if),

when they introduce a subordinate clause.

So:

Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα, επειδή στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση.

The comma helps show that:

First part: Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα (main clause)
Second part: επειδή στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση (reason clause)

In spoken Greek, you would naturally pause there, and the comma reflects this.

Could I say Απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα without Το? What’s the difference?

Normally, for this “time of day” meaning, you keep the article:

Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα. ✅ (natural)
Απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα. ❌ (sounds wrong / incomplete)

Greek generally uses the definite article with time expressions when speaking about regular, habitual times:

Το πρωί πίνω καφέ.
Το μεσημέρι τρώω.
Το βράδυ διαβάζω.

Dropping the article here makes it sound ungrammatical or very odd.

Can I say Κάθε απόγευμα βιάζομαι, επειδή… instead of Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα, επειδή…? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

Κάθε απόγευμα βιάζομαι, επειδή στην πόλη έχει πολύ κίνηση.
Every afternoon I’m in a hurry, because there’s a lot of traffic in the city.

Difference in nuance:

Το απόγευμα βιάζομαι πάντα = In the afternoon I’m always in a hurry
(general statement about afternoons as a time period)
Κάθε απόγευμα βιάζομαι = Every afternoon I’m in a hurry
(stresses that this happens every single afternoon, more explicitly habitual)

Both are correct; Κάθε απόγευμα is just a bit more explicit about every day.

Why is πόλη in this form? What case is it, and why?

Πόλη (city, town) here is in the accusative singular:

Nominative: η πόλη (the city – subject)
Accusative: την πόλη (the city – object, or after prepositions)

After the preposition σε (in, at, to), Greek uses the accusative case:

σε + την πόλη → στην πόλη

So στην πόλη is “in the city / in town”, with πόλη correctly in the accusative after the preposition σε.