Breakdown of Το Σάββατο θα πάμε σε μια μικρή ταβέρνα δίπλα στη θάλασσα.
Questions & Answers about Το Σάββατο θα πάμε σε μια μικρή ταβέρνα δίπλα στη θάλασσα.
Greek normally uses the definite article with days of the week when you mean “on [that day]”.
- Το Σάββατο literally is “the Saturday”, but in English we translate it as “on Saturday”.
- This is a very common structure:
- Τη Δευτέρα – on Monday
- Την Κυριακή – on Sunday
- Το Σάββατο – on Saturday
Grammatically, Σάββατο is a neuter noun, so it takes το.
The expression is in the accusative of time: Το Σάββατο = “(on) Saturday”.
Usually, Το Σάββατο in a sentence like this means “this coming Saturday” (the next one in time).
For habits or things that happen every Saturday, Greek more often uses:
- Τα Σάββατα πηγαίνουμε σε μια ταβέρνα. – On Saturdays we go to a taverna.
- Κάθε Σάββατο πηγαίνουμε… – Every Saturday we go…
So:
- Το Σάββατο θα πάμε… → normally “This Saturday we will go…”
- Τα Σάββατα πηγαίνουμε… → “On Saturdays (in general), we go…”
Θα is the basic future marker in Modern Greek.
- πάμε by itself = we go / we are going (present), or in some contexts “let’s go”.
- θα πάμε = we will go (a single, future action).
- πηγαίνουμε = we go / we are going (present, more clearly continuous or habitual).
In this sentence, we are talking about one planned future outing, so Greek uses:
- Θα πάμε = “we will go” / “we’re going to go” (future).
Modern Greek forms the future mainly with:
θα + a present conjugated form of the verb
For the verb “to go”, Greek actually uses two related stems:
- πηγαίνω – imperfective (focus on ongoing / repeated action)
- πάω / πάμε – perfective (focus on a single, whole action)
So:
- Θα πάμε → future, perfective: “We will go (once / as a whole event).”
- Θα πηγαίνουμε → future, imperfective: “We will be going / we will go (regularly).”
In your sentence, θα πάμε is perfective: one specific visit to the taverna.
You need σε because πάω (to go) normally takes the preposition σε to show destination:
- πάω σε ένα σπίτι – I go to a house
- πάμε σε μια ταβέρνα – we go to a taverna
Without σε, Θα πάμε μια μικρή ταβέρνα is ungrammatical; it sounds like you’re missing the preposition that means “to”.
So:
- Θα πάμε σε μια μικρή ταβέρνα = We will go to a small taverna.
Two things change here: indefinite vs definite, and whether there is an article to contract with.
σε μια ταβέρνα
- σε
- μια (indefinite article)
- Means “to a taverna” (non‑specific).
- σε
στη(ν) ταβέρνα
- Comes from σε + την ταβέρνα → στην ταβέρνα (or στη ταβέρνα)
- Means “to the taverna” (a specific one both speakers know about).
Because μια is the indefinite article (“a”), there is no contraction; only σε + definite article (σε τον, σε την, σε το) contracts to στον, στην/στη, στο.
Adjectives in Greek agree with the noun in gender, number, and case:
- ταβέρνα is feminine, singular, accusative
- The matching form of μικρός (“small”) is μικρή (feminine, singular, nominative/accusative)
So:
- μια μικρή ταβέρνα = μια (fem. sg.) + μικρή (fem. sg.) + ταβέρνα (fem. sg.)
Position:
- The most neutral place for the adjective is before the noun:
- μια μικρή ταβέρνα – a small taverna
- You can also say μια ταβέρνα μικρή, but this usually adds a bit of emphasis on “small” (e.g. contrasting with a big one).
In practice, μια and μία are the same word in speech.
- μια is the usual, everyday spelling for the indefinite article “a”:
- μια ταβέρνα – a taverna
- μία (with an accent) is more clearly the numeral “one (feminine)”, or can be used for emphasis:
- μία ταβέρνα, όχι δύο – one taverna, not two.
Many modern texts just write μια for both uses, unless they really need to highlight the meaning “one” as a number.
δίπλα means “next to / right by / beside”.
It usually appears as δίπλα σε + noun:
- δίπλα σε ένα σπίτι – next to a house
- δίπλα στη θάλασσα – next to the sea
In your sentence:
- δίπλα – next to
- σε τη θάλασσα contracts to στη θάλασσα
- So δίπλα στη θάλασσα literally = “next to the sea”, i.e. by the sea.
The preposition σε always takes the accusative case.
The noun θάλασσα (“sea”) is feminine:
- Nominative: η θάλασσα – the sea (as subject)
- Accusative: τη θάλασσα – the sea (as object / after a preposition)
With σε:
- σε + τη θάλασσα → στη θάλασσα (common contraction)
So θάλασσα here is in the accusative case, and στη θάλασσα = “to the sea / at the sea / by the sea” depending on the verb. With δίπλα, it becomes “next to the sea”.
Yes, Greek word order is fairly flexible, especially with adverbials (time, place).
All of these are grammatically fine:
- Το Σάββατο θα πάμε σε μια μικρή ταβέρνα δίπλα στη θάλασσα.
- Το Σάββατο θα πάμε δίπλα στη θάλασσα σε μια μικρή ταβέρνα.
The original order (σε μια μικρή ταβέρνα δίπλα στη θάλασσα) slightly groups “small taverna” and “by the sea” together as one unit.
Putting δίπλα στη θάλασσα earlier can put a bit more focus on the location, but the meaning is essentially the same.
A natural way is to use the plural or κάθε (“every”) plus the imperfective verb πηγαίνουμε:
- Τα Σάββατα πηγαίνουμε σε μια μικρή ταβέρνα δίπλα στη θάλασσα.
– On Saturdays we go to a small taverna by the sea.
or
- Κάθε Σάββατο πηγαίνουμε σε μια μικρή ταβέρνα δίπλα στη θάλασσα.
– Every Saturday we go to a small taverna by the sea.
Here, πηγαίνουμε (imperfective) fits repeated / habitual action.
In IPA (approximate):
- Το Σάββατο θα πάμε σε μια μικρή ταβέρνα δίπλα στη θάλασσα.
→ [to ˈsavato θa ˈpame se mja miˈkri taˈverna ˈðipla sti ˈθalasa]
Key parts:
- θα → [θa], like English th in think
- a in father.
- ταβέρνα → [taˈverna], stress on -ver-, like “ta-VER-na”.
- θάλασσα → [ˈθalasa], stress on the first syllable: ΘΑ‑λα‑σα.
- θ again like English th in think.
- Double σ just sounds like a normal s ([s]) held slightly, not like ss in English spelling.