Συνήθως δέχομαι όλες τις προσκλήσεις της, γιατί περνάμε καλά μαζί.

I usually accept all her invitations, because we have a good time together.

Breakdown of Συνήθως δέχομαι όλες τις προσκλήσεις της, γιατί περνάμε καλά μαζί.

• μαζί: together
• γιατί: because
• συνήθως: usually
• της: her
• περνάω καλά: to have a good time
• όλος: all
• η πρόσκληση: the invitation
• δέχομαι: to accept

Questions & Answers about Συνήθως δέχομαι όλες τις προσκλήσεις της, γιατί περνάμε καλά μαζί.

Why is there no subject pronoun like εγώ in Συνήθως δέχομαι όλες τις προσκλήσεις της…?

In Greek the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• δέχομαι is 1st person singular (I), present tense.
• So the sentence naturally means “(I) usually accept…” even without εγώ.

You add εγώ only for emphasis or contrast, for example:

• Εγώ συνήθως δέχομαι όλες τις προσκλήσεις της, αλλά ο αδελφός μου όχι.
  – I usually accept all her invitations, but my brother doesn’t.

Without such emphasis, Greek normally drops the subject pronoun.

What kind of verb is δέχομαι, and why does it end in -ομαι instead of -ω?

δέχομαι is in the middle/passive voice (sometimes called “deponent” in older grammar terms).

• Active verbs typically end in -ω in the 1st person singular (e.g. παίρνω, κάνω, γράφω).
• Middle/passive verbs in the present typically end in -ομαι in the 1st person singular (e.g. έρχομαι, θυμάμαι, δέχομαι).

In modern Greek, many verbs are simply always used in the middle/passive form even when the meaning is active in English.

• δέχομαι = I accept (even though grammatically it’s middle/passive).

There is an active form δέχω, but it is archaic/rare in everyday modern speech. For normal use, you just learn δέχομαι as the standard verb “to accept.”

What is the role of συνήθως, and is its position at the beginning of the sentence fixed?

συνήθως is an adverb meaning “usually”, describing how often the action happens.

Its position is flexible. All of these are correct, with small differences in rhythm/emphasis:

• Συνήθως δέχομαι όλες τις προσκλήσεις της…
• Δέχομαι συνήθως όλες τις προσκλήσεις της…
• Δέχομαι όλες τις προσκλήσεις της συνήθως… (sounds a bit more colloquial or afterthought‑like)

Placing συνήθως at the beginning is very natural and neutral, similar to English “Usually, I accept…”.

Why do we say όλες τις προσκλήσεις and not just προσκλήσεις or τις προσκλήσεις?

Greek usually requires the definite article and also shows agreement between adjective, article, and noun:

• όλες – feminine, accusative, plural (from όλος, “all”)
• τις – feminine, accusative, plural definite article
• προσκλήσεις – feminine, accusative, plural (from η πρόσκληση)

All three words agree in gender (feminine), number (plural), and case (accusative).

Meanings:

• προσκλήσεις – just “invitations” (very bare, almost like listing a word)
• τις προσκλήσεις – “the invitations”
• όλες τις προσκλήσεις – “all the invitations”

In natural Greek, when you use quantifiers like όλες, you basically always keep the article as well: όλες τις προσκλήσεις, όλα τα βιβλία, όλοι οι φίλοι μου, etc.

What exactly is της doing in όλες τις προσκλήσεις της? Why is it in that position and case?

Here της is a clitic possessive pronoun, meaning “her”.

• Form: της is genitive singular (her/of her).
• Function: it shows that the invitations belong to her.
• Position: in όλες τις προσκλήσεις της, it comes after the noun phrase.

You can place it either before or after the noun phrase:

• Όλες τις προσκλήσεις της δέχομαι.
• Δέχομαι όλες της τις προσκλήσεις.

Both mean roughly the same (“I accept all her invitations”).
Putting της before the noun (όλες της τις προσκλήσεις) often slightly emphasizes the possessor (“all her invitations,” maybe in contrast with someone else’s).

Note that της can also be a definite article (“the”), but here the context and position make it clear it’s a pronoun (her).

Why do we use γιατί here, and could we use επειδή instead?

In this sentence γιατί means “because”, introducing the reason.

• …γιατί περνάμε καλά μαζί. – “…because we have a good time together.”

In spoken modern Greek, γιατί is used very often for both “why” (as a question) and “because” (as a conjunction).

You could also say:

• …επειδή περνάμε καλά μαζί.

This is also correct. επειδή is a bit more clearly causal and sometimes sounds slightly more formal or explicit as “because,” while γιατί is the everyday default. In many contexts they are interchangeable.

What does the expression περνάμε καλά literally mean, and how is it used?

Literally, περνάμε καλά means “we pass well” or “we spend (time) well”, but idiomatically it means “we have a good time / we enjoy ourselves.”

• περνάω / περνώ – “to pass, to spend (time)”
• καλά – “well” (adverb)

So:

• περνάμε καλά μαζί ≈ “we have a good time together.”

You can change καλά to other adverbs/adverbial expressions:

• περνάμε τέλεια – we have an amazing time
• περνάω χάλια – I’m having a terrible time

This περνάω + adverb structure is very common for describing how a period of time is experienced.

Is the word order …γιατί περνάμε καλά μαζί fixed, or can μαζί move?

The word order is flexible, and μαζί (“together”) can move around:

All of these are acceptable:

• …γιατί περνάμε καλά μαζί. (very natural)
• …γιατί μαζί περνάμε καλά. (emphasis on “together”)
• …γιατί περνάμε μαζί καλά. (possible, but less common rhythm)

Greek word order is fairly free, and changes often add subtle shifts in emphasis rather than changing the basic meaning. Here, putting μαζί earlier can stress the idea of “togetherness” a bit more.

Why is the present tense used (δέχομαι, περνάμε) when we’re talking about a habitual action?

In Greek, the simple present is the normal way to express:

• habits and routines
• general truths
• repeated actions

So:

• Συνήθως δέχομαι όλες τις προσκλήσεις της… – “I usually accept all her invitations…”
• …γιατί περνάμε καλά μαζί. – “…because we have a good time together.”

You don’t need any special construction like “used to” here; the adverb συνήθως plus the present tense clearly shows it’s a habitual situation.

Other tenses would change the meaning:

• Δεχόμουν όλες τις προσκλήσεις της – I used to accept all her invitations (in the past).
• Θα δεχτώ όλες τις προσκλήσεις της – I will accept all her invitations (future, one or more times).

How do όλες, τις, and προσκλήσεις show case, gender, and number, and how can I recognize similar patterns?

They all match in feminine / accusative / plural:

• όλες – feminine, accusative, plural (from όλος)
• τις – feminine, accusative, plural definite article
• προσκλήσεις – feminine, accusative, plural (from η πρόσκληση)

A common pattern you’ll see with feminine nouns ending in -ση in the singular:

• Singular: η πρόσκληση (nom.), την πρόσκληση (acc.)
• Plural: οι προσκλήσεις (nom.), τις προσκλήσεις (acc.)

So when you see -σεις at the end (like προσκλήσεις, απαντήσεις, συζητήσεις), that’s often feminine plural, and the article/adjective around it will match with forms like οι / τις, όλες, κάποιες, etc.

Could the word order be Συνήθως όλες τις προσκλήσεις της δέχομαι? Does that sound natural?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, and it is something you might hear in speech:

• Συνήθως όλες τις προσκλήσεις της δέχομαι, γιατί…

This order puts a little more emphasis on όλες τις προσκλήσεις της (“all her invitations”) by moving that phrase closer to the beginning and leaving the verb at the end of the clause.

So you have several natural options, each with small differences in emphasis:

• Συνήθως δέχομαι όλες τις προσκλήσεις της… (neutral, very common)
• Συνήθως όλες τις προσκλήσεις της δέχομαι… (slight emphasis on “all her invitations”)

All are acceptable; Greek lets you move parts around more freely than English, as long as agreement and clitics stay in reasonable positions.