Learn Hardcore Greek: Στο προφίλ της φίλης μου βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες από τις διακοπές της. - On my friend's profile I often see photos from her vacations.

It usually translates as “in/on/at the …” depending on context.
Here, with προφίλ, it’s most naturally understood as “on the profile” (i.e. on her social‑media profile).

Similar contractions:

σε + τον → στον (e.g. στον φίλο – to the friend, masc.)
σε + την → στην (e.g. στην πόλη – in the city)
σε + τους → στους
σε + τις → στις
σε + τα → στα

Why do we say το προφίλ της φίλης μου and not something like το φίλης μου προφίλ, like English “my friend’s profile”?

Greek doesn’t use the ’s structure.
Possession is usually expressed with:

[article] + [noun] + [possessor in the genitive]

So:

το προφίλ της φίλης μου
= literally “the profile of the friend my”
= “my friend’s profile”

Piece by piece:

το προφίλ – the profile
της φίλης – of the (female) friend
μου – my

Putting it all together: το προφίλ της φίλης μου.

You would not say το φίλης μου προφίλ; that word order is ungrammatical in Greek. The possessed noun (προφίλ) comes first, then the possessor phrase (της φίλης μου).

In της φίλης μου, aren’t της and μου both “my”? Why are there two words of possession?

They look like “two possessions”, but they do different jobs:

της here is not “her”; it is the definite article in the genitive feminine singular:
- nominative: η φίλη – the (female) friend
- genitive: της φίλης – of the (female) friend
μου is the possessive pronoun “my”.

So:

της φίλης = of the friend
της φίλης μου = of my friend

Literally: “of-the friend my”. Greek always keeps the article in this kind of possessive phrase; μου adds “my” on top of της, which just marks “the friend” in the genitive.

Why is it φίλης and not φίλη in της φίλης μου?

Because φίλης is the genitive case of φίλη.

The noun φίλη (female friend) declines like this:

nominative (subject): η φίλη – the friend
genitive (possession): της φίλης – of the friend
accusative (object): τη(ν) φίλη – the friend

In της φίλης μου, the word “friend” is not the subject; it’s the possessor (“of my friend”), so Greek uses the genitive: φίλης.

What is the grammatical subject and object of the sentence?

Sentence: Στο προφίλ της φίλης μου βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες από τις διακοπές της.

Subject (who is doing the action):
The subject is implied in the verb ending -ω in βλέπω → “I see”.
Greek often drops the pronoun εγώ (“I”) because the verb ending already tells you the person.
Verb: βλέπω – I see
Direct object (what I see): φωτογραφίες – photos

So structurally:

(εγώ) βλέπω φωτογραφίες
“(I) see photos”

Where can the adverb συχνά go? Is βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες the only correct order?

Συχνά (often) is quite flexible in position. All of these are natural:

Στο προφίλ της φίλης μου βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες από τις διακοπές της.
Στο προφίλ της φίλης μου συχνά βλέπω φωτογραφίες από τις διακοπές της.
Συχνά βλέπω φωτογραφίες από τις διακοπές της στο προφίλ της φίλης μου.

General rule: in neutral word order, συχνά usually comes close to the verb, commonly right after it:

βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες
συχνά βλέπω φωτογραφίες

Different positions can add slight emphasis (e.g. starting with Συχνά puts emphasis on the frequency), but they are all grammatically fine.

Why is there no article before φωτογραφίες? Why not τις φωτογραφίες?

Greek often drops the article with plural, indefinite nouns when you mean “some / any X” in a general way.

Compare:

βλέπω φωτογραφίες
= I see / look at photos (some photos, not specific ones)
βλέπω τις φωτογραφίες
= I see the photos (specific photos that we both know about)

In the sentence, the idea is “I often see photos (of hers)”, not “I often see the (particular) photos”, so no article is more natural: βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες.

What is the role of από in φωτογραφίες από τις διακοπές της? Could we use a different structure like just a genitive?

Here από means “from”, expressing the source/origin of the photos:

φωτογραφίες από τις διακοπές της
= photos from her holidays

You could theoretically also say:

φωτογραφίες των διακοπών της
= photos of her holidays

This sounds a bit more formal or slightly more abstract (photos of that period, of that trip).
Από τις διακοπές της feels more like “these photos were taken during / come from that holiday” – it’s the most natural everyday phrasing for this context.

So:

από
- accusative → origin/source (“from her holidays”)
plain genitive (των διακοπών της) → closer to “of her holidays”

In από τις διακοπές της, what is the difference between τις and της? They look almost the same.

Yes, they look similar but they are different words and different functions:

τις (with ι) is the definite article, feminine accusative plural:
- οι διακοπές – the holidays (subject)
- τις διακοπές – the holidays (object)
της (with η) is the possessive pronoun “her” (genitive singular).

So:

τις διακοπές = the holidays
τις διακοπές της = her holidays (literally “the holidays of-her”)

In the full phrase:

από – from
τις διακοπές – the holidays
της – her

→ “from her holidays”.

Is the της at the end (…τις διακοπές της) necessarily referring to “my friend”, or could it be someone else?

Grammatically, της at the end just means “her”. It does not have to refer to the same female person as της φίλης μου.

So, depending on context, the sentence could mean:

Same person:
- On my friend’s profile I often see photos from her holidays (i.e. my friend’s own holidays).
Different person:
- On my friend’s profile I often see photos from her holidays (some other woman’s holidays).

In real usage, people will assume it refers to the most obvious female person already mentioned (here, probably the friend), unless the context makes a different referent clear.

Could we move Στο προφίλ της φίλης μου to the end, like Βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες από τις διακοπές της στο προφίλ της φίλης μου?

Yes, that is completely grammatical and natural:

Βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες από τις διακοπές της στο προφίλ της φίλης μου.

Greek word order is relatively flexible. Putting Στο προφίλ της φίλης μου at the beginning is just one way to set the “scene” first. Moving it to the end slightly shifts the focus to what you see (the photos) before specifying where you see them.

Both orders are correct and common.

Does βλέπω here mean “I see” or “I look at / I watch”? How is it usually used?

Βλέπω can cover several English verbs, depending on context:

To see (perception, not intentional):
- Βλέπω ένα πουλί έξω. – I see a bird outside.
To look at / watch (more intentional, especially with objects like TV, movies, photos):
- Βλέπω τηλεόραση. – I watch TV.
- Βλέπω φωτογραφίες. – I look at photos.

In βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες στο προφίλ της φίλης μου, the meaning is closer to “I look at / I see (i.e. I come across) photos”. English has to choose between “see” and “look at”, but Greek βλέπω comfortably covers both possibilities here.

Why is the present tense βλέπω used for something habitual (“I often see”)? Is there a special habitual tense in Greek?

No, Greek does not have a separate habitual tense. The present tense is used both for:

Actions happening right now
Habitual / repeated actions

The habitual meaning is usually made clear by adverbs of frequency (like συχνά, often) or by context.

So:

Βλέπω φωτογραφίες.
→ I’m looking at photos / I (generally) look at photos.
Βλέπω συχνά φωτογραφίες.
→ I often look at / often see photos.

There is no separate “I used to see” form for a general habit in the present; simple present + adverb does the job.

How is the sentence stressed and pronounced? Where are the accent marks important?

Accent marks in Greek show where the stress falls. In this sentence:

Στο – sto (no written accent, one syllable)
προφίλ – profíl (stress on φίλ)
της – tis
φίλης – fí‑lis (stress on φί)
μου – mu
βλέπω – vlé‑po (stress on βλέ)
συχνά – si‑chná (stress on νά)
φωτογραφίες – fo‑to‑gra‑fí‑es (stress on φί)
από – a‑pó (stress on πό)
τις – tis
διακοπές – di‑a‑ko‑pés (stress on πές)
της – tis

The written accents must always be on one of the last three syllables of a word longer than one syllable. Misplacing the accent can make a word sound wrong or even be misunderstood.