Learn Hardcore Greek: Η φίλη μου λέει ότι είναι τυχερή που έχει γονείς που τη βοηθάνε. - My female friend says that she is lucky that she has parents who help her.

Putting the possessive before the noun (like η μου φίλη) is old-fashioned/poetic and not used in everyday modern Greek. Also, Η is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence; normally it is η.

How do I know that φίλη is feminine, and is that why Η is used?

Yes. Η is the feminine singular definite article (the), used with feminine nouns like η φίλη, η μητέρα, η πόλη.
The base noun φίλη (friend) is the feminine form; the masculine is φίλος with the article ο (so: ο φίλος, η φίλη).
The article always agrees with the gender (and number, case) of the noun.

Why is there no subject pronoun like αυτή for “she”? Why is it just λέει?

Greek usually drops subject pronouns (like I, you, he, she) because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.
The verb λέει is 3rd person singular (he/she/it says). From context, we know the subject is η φίλη μου, so there’s no need to add αυτή.
You could say Αυτή η φίλη μου λέει... for emphasis, but it isn’t required.

What’s the difference between λέει ότι and λέει πως or just λέει with a sentence after it?

Both ότι and πως can introduce a that-clause (reported speech):

Η φίλη μου λέει ότι είναι τυχερή...
Η φίλη μου λέει πως είναι τυχερή...

In everyday speech, ότι and πως here are basically interchangeable.
Sometimes in casual conversation, Greeks may even drop them if the meaning is clear, but λέει ότι/πως is the standard, clear form.
(Be careful not to confuse this ότι with ό,τι meaning whatever/anything that – different word.)

Why is it είναι τυχερή with -ή at the end? What would the other forms be?

Τυχερή is an adjective meaning lucky that agrees in gender and number with the subject.
The subject is η φίλη μου (feminine singular), so the adjective takes the feminine singular form τυχερή.

The basic forms are:

masculine: τυχερός
feminine: τυχερή
neuter: τυχερό

So you’d say ο φίλος μου είναι τυχερός, το παιδί είναι τυχερό, etc.

How does είναι τυχερή που έχει... mean “she is lucky to have…”? Why που and not an infinitive?

Modern Greek does not really use an infinitive the way English does (like to have, to do).
Instead, it typically uses small words like που, να, ότι to introduce a full clause with a normal, conjugated verb.

Here, που έχει γονείς literally means that she has parents:

είναι τυχερή που έχει γονείς ≈ she is lucky that she has parents → natural English: she is lucky to have parents.

So που here is a kind of conjunction meaning roughly that in this context.

There are two που in the sentence. Are they the same, and what do they each do?

Yes, it’s the same word που, but it plays two slightly different roles:

είναι τυχερή που έχει γονείς
Here που works like a subordinating conjunction: she is lucky *that she has parents*.
γονείς που τη βοηθάνε
Here που is a relative pronoun, similar to English who/that: parents *who help her*.

This double-use of που is extremely common in Greek and is a key feature of how complex sentences are built.

Why is there no article before γονείς? Why not οι γονείς?

Without an article, γονείς is more like (some) parents in a general, indefinite sense.
Saying είναι τυχερή που έχει γονείς emphasizes the fact that she has parents at all, as opposed to not having parents.

If you said:

είναι τυχερή που έχει τους γονείς της = she is lucky that she has her (own) parents
that sounds more specific: those particular parents, her parents.

So the sentence uses the bare plural γονείς to keep it indefinite and more general.

What exactly is τη in γονείς που τη βοηθάνε, and why is there no ν (as in την)?

Τη is the weak/clitic object pronoun for the feminine singular accusative: her.
The full form is την, but in front of a consonant that is not one of the “strong” ones (κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ,γκ, τσ, τζ), the final -ν is very often dropped in modern Greek spelling and speech.

So:

την → τη βοηθάνε is normal in everyday writing and speech.
You will often see both την βοηθάνε and τη βοηθάνε; dropping the ν is common and considered standard in modern usage.

Why does the pronoun τη come before βοηθάνε and not after, like βοηθάνε τη?

Weak object pronouns (με, σε, τον, τη, το, μας, σας, τους, τις) usually appear before the verb in normal statements and questions:

τη βοηθάνε = they help her
με βλέπεις = you see me

They can go after the verb only in some specific forms: with positive imperatives, some subjunctive/infinitive-like forms, or in combinations (e.g. βοήθησέ τη! = help her!).
In a neutral statement like this, τη must go before: γονείς που τη βοηθάνε.

Why is it βοηθάνε and not something like βοηθούν or βοηθάν?

All three forms are connected; Greek has some variation in 3rd person plural verb endings in everyday speech.

More “standard/formal”: βοηθούν (they help)
Very common spoken form: βοηθάνε
Also heard/seen: βοηθάν (a clipped version, mostly in speech or informal writing)

In everyday modern Greek, βοηθάνε is very common and completely correct; βοηθούν sounds a bit more formal or bookish. You’ll encounter both.

Could the sentence be rephrased as Η φίλη μου λέει πως είναι τυχερή που έχει γονείς που την βοηθούν? Is that still correct?

Yes, that rephrasing is fully correct and natural:

πως instead of ότι: completely fine.
την instead of τη: also correct; just keeps the ν, which is always allowed.
βοηθούν instead of βοηθάνε: slightly more formal, but perfectly good Greek.

So: Η φίλη μου λέει πως είναι τυχερή που έχει γονείς που την βοηθούν means the same thing, just with slightly more formal verb and slightly less colloquial style.

Is there any difference in meaning or emphasis if I say Οι γονείς της τη βοηθάνε instead of γονείς που τη βοηθάνε?

Yes, there’s a small shift:

γονείς που τη βοηθάνε = parents who help her; it just adds a characteristic to γονείς.
οι γονείς της τη βοηθάνε = her parents help her; here οι γονείς της is the clear subject of the verb.

The original phrase γονείς που τη βοηθάνε is part of a larger structure describing why she’s lucky; it stays more descriptive, while Οι γονείς της τη βοηθάνε is a straightforward independent sentence.