Learn Hardcore Greek: Οι καλεσμένοι μας συχνά φέρνουν γλυκό και μένουν μαζί μας μέχρι αργά το βράδυ. - Our guests often bring dessert and stay with us until late at night.

Οι καλεσμένοι μας = our guests (literally: the guests our).
Οι μας καλεσμένοι sounds wrong in modern standard Greek (it might appear in poetry or archaic style, but not in normal speech).

So the normal pattern is:

το σπίτι μου = my house
ο φίλος σου = your friend
οι καλεσμένοι μας = our guests

What grammatical form is καλεσμένοι? Is it an adjective or a noun?

Καλεσμένοι is the masculine plural nominative form of the adjective καλεσμένος (invited), but here it functions as a noun: the invited ones → the guests.

Singular: ο καλεσμένος = the guest
Plural: οι καλεσμένοι = the guests

It agrees in gender and number with the article:

ο καλεσμένος (masculine singular)
οι καλεσμένοι (masculine plural)

Even if the group includes women, Greek typically uses the masculine plural for mixed groups.

Why is the adverb συχνά (often) placed after μας? Could it go somewhere else?

Συχνά is an adverb and Greek word order for adverbs is quite flexible. In this sentence:

Οι καλεσμένοι μας συχνά φέρνουν γλυκό…

you could also say:

Οι καλεσμένοι μας φέρνουν συχνά γλυκό…
Συχνά οι καλεσμένοι μας φέρνουν γλυκό…

All are correct. The meaning stays the same: often.
The chosen position (μας συχνά φέρνουν) is very natural and slightly emphasizes the frequency before talking about the action (φέρνουν).

What tense and person is φέρνουν and what is its basic meaning?

Φέρνουν is:

Present tense,
3rd person plural,
from the verb φέρνω = to bring.

So φέρνουν = they bring.

Basic forms (without full conjugation):

φέρνω = I bring
φέρνεις = you bring
φέρει = he/she/it brings
φέρνουμε = we bring
φέρνετε = you (pl./formal) bring
φέρνουν(ε) = they bring

In this sentence, φέρνουν describes a habitual action: something they often do.

Why is γλυκό in the singular and without an article? Does it mean “a sweet” or “dessert” in general?

Γλυκό here is neuter singular accusative, the direct object of φέρνουν.

γλυκό can mean:
- a sweet / a dessert (countable, one item),
- or dessert in a more general sense (uncountable: something sweet to eat after a meal).

There is no article (ένα γλυκό) because we’re speaking generally/indefinitely, something like:

φέρνουν γλυκό ≈ they bring dessert / they bring something sweet.

If you say:

φέρνουν ένα γλυκό = they bring one dessert / a dessert (more specific, one item).

Both are possible; here the speaker stays general.

Why is it μένουν and not μείνουν? What’s the difference?

Μένουν and μείνουν come from different aspects of the verb μένω (to stay).

μένουν = present tense, 3rd person plural
- describes something habitual, ongoing, or general:
  - μένουν μαζί μας = they stay with us (as a usual behavior)
μείνουν = subjunctive (aorist), 3rd person plural
- used after να, θα, or in certain subordinate clauses:
  - να μείνουν μαζί μας = for them to stay with us
  - θα μείνουν μαζί μας = they will stay with us

In this sentence, we’re describing what usually happens, so the present μένουν is the correct choice.

Is μαζί μας one unit, or is μαζί separate from μας? Why is the order like that?

Μαζί is an adverb meaning together, and μας is the unstressed pronoun us.

μαζί μας literally = together with us.

In modern Greek, when μαζί is followed by a pronoun, it normally comes before the pronoun:

μαζί μου = with me
μαζί σου = with you
μαζί του / της = with him / her
μαζί μας = with us
μαζί σας = with you (pl.)
μαζί τους = with them

You don’t say *μας μαζί in this meaning. So μαζί μας functions as with us / in our company.

What does μέχρι mean here, and why is το βράδυ in the accusative with an article?

Μέχρι is a preposition meaning until / up to.

It is followed by the accusative case, so:

μέχρι αργά το βράδυ
- το βράδυ = definite article το
  - βράδυ (evening/night), accusative singular.

Using the article το is very common with time expressions referring to parts of the day:

το πρωί = in the morning
το μεσημέρι = at noon
το απόγευμα = in the afternoon
το βράδυ = in the evening

So μέχρι αργά το βράδυ = until late in the evening (literally: until late the evening).

Could you say μέχρι αργά το βράδυ in another way, like with ως or μέχρι αργά το βράδυ without το?

Some natural alternatives:

ως αργά το βράδυ – using ως instead of μέχρι; same meaning: until late in the evening.
μέχρι αργά το βράδυ – the original, completely standard.

Dropping the article (μέχρι αργά βράδυ) is not standard; you normally keep το in this fixed time expression.

So:

μέχρι αργά το βράδυ
ως αργά το βράδυ

are both good, natural Greek.

Why does the sentence use και (and) instead of splitting it into two sentences? Does Greek coordinate verbs like this often?

Yes. Greek very commonly coordinates two verbs with και, sharing the same subject:

Οι καλεσμένοι μας συχνά φέρνουν γλυκό και μένουν μαζί μας μέχρι αργά το βράδυ.

Subject for both verbs: Οι καλεσμένοι μας
Verbs: φέρνουν and μένουν

This is just like English:

Our guests often bring dessert and stay with us until late in the evening.

Both actions are linked as part of the same typical situation, so και is natural. Two separate sentences would be possible, but less smooth:

Οι καλεσμένοι μας συχνά φέρνουν γλυκό. Μένουν μαζί μας μέχρι αργά το βράδυ.

Why is there no subject pronoun like αυτοί? How do we know who is doing the action?

Greek is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (εγώ, εσύ, αυτός…) are often omitted when the subject is already clear from:

The noun phrase (here: Οι καλεσμένοι μας), and
The verb ending (plural: φέρνουν, μένουν).

So the subject is clear:

Οι καλεσμένοι μας = our guests (they)
φέρνουν = they bring
μένουν = they stay

Saying Αυτοί οι καλεσμένοι μας συχνά φέρνουν… would sound over-emphatic, like Those guests of ours…, not neutral.

What is the stress pattern of the words in this sentence?

Stress (accent) in Greek is important. Here is the sentence with stressed syllables in bold:

Οι καλεσΜΕνοι μας συΧΝΑ φΕρνουν γλυΚΟ και ΜΕνουν μαΖΙ μας ΜΕχρι αρΓΑ το ΒΡΑδυ.

More clearly, word by word (stressed syllable in caps):

Οι καλεΣΜΈνοι μας συΧΝΆ ΦΈρνουν γλυΚΌ και ΜΈνουν μαΖΊ μας ΜΈχρι αρΓΆ το ΒΡΆδυ.

Each content word has exactly one stressed syllable. The small unstressed words (οι, μας, και, το) normally do not carry their own stress unless emphasized.

Is αργά an adjective or an adverb here? What is its base form?

Αργά here is an adverb meaning late.

It comes from the adjective αργός (slow, late:

Adjective: αργός (masc.), αργή (fem.), αργό (neut.)
Adverb: αργά = slowly / late

In this sentence, μέχρι αργά το βράδυ is understood as until late in the evening, so αργά is clearly adverbial, modifying the time expression.

Can the adverb συχνά also refer to both actions (φέρνουν and μένουν), or only to φέρνουν?

In normal reading, συχνά is understood to modify the whole combined habit:

They often (a) bring dessert and (b) stay with us until late.

So the frequency applies to the whole situation:

συχνά [φέρνουν γλυκό και μένουν μαζί μας μέχρι αργά το βράδυ]

If you wanted to emphasize that they often bring dessert but not necessarily often stay late, you would need to rephrase, e.g.:

Οι καλεσμένοι μας φέρνουν συχνά γλυκό, αλλά δεν μένουν πάντα μέχρι αργά το βράδυ.
- Our guests often bring dessert, but they don’t always stay until late in the evening.