Learn Hardcore Greek: Στο σαλόνι βάζω τον καφέ μου πάνω στο μικρό τραπεζάκι. - In the living room I put my coffee on the small coffee table.

Σε is a very general preposition (roughly “in / on / at”), and το σαλόνι is “the living room.”
So στο σαλόνι literally means “in/at the living room,” and in English we translate that as “in the living room.”

Why is there no word for “I” in the sentence?

Greek is a “pro-drop” language: the subject pronoun is usually omitted because it’s clear from the verb ending.

βάζω = “I put” (1st person singular)
- βάζω → the ending -ω tells you the subject is “I”

So Στο σαλόνι βάζω τον καφέ μου… already means “In the living room I put my coffee…”

You would add εγώ (“I”) only for emphasis or contrast:

Εγώ βάζω τον καφέ μου πάνω στο μικρό τραπεζάκι.
“I put my coffee on the small table (not someone else).”

Why is the verb βάζω here and not βάλω or έβαλα?

These three forms are different tenses/aspects of the same verb:

βάζω – present tense: “I put / I am putting”
θα βάλω – future (simple): “I will put”
έβαλα – aorist past: “I put / I placed (once, completed action)”
να βάλω – subjunctive: “(for me) to put”

In your sentence, βάζω can mean either:

A habitual/general action:
- “In the living room I (usually) put my coffee on the small table.”
A present, ongoing action (depending on context):
- “In the living room I am putting my coffee on the small table (right now).”

Greek uses the present tense both for “I put” and “I am putting,” like many European languages.

Why is it τον καφέ and not ο καφές?

Ο καφές is nominative (subject form), but here “coffee” is the direct object of the verb “put,” so it must be in the accusative:

Nominative (subject): ο καφές – “the coffee (as subject)”
Accusative (object): τον καφέ – “the coffee (as object)”

In the sentence:
βάζω τον καφέ μου… → “I put my coffee…”

So τον καφέ is required because something is being done to the coffee.

Why does μου come after καφέ (τον καφέ μου) instead of before, like “μου καφέ”?

The normal way to express possession with the weak pronoun (my/your/his…) is:

article + noun + possessive clitic

Examples:

το βιβλίο μου – my book
ο φίλος σου – your friend
το σπίτι του – his house
τον καφέ μου – my coffee

Putting μου before the noun (e.g. μου καφές) is not standard; it sounds wrong on its own.
When you want to emphasize the possessor, you use a different structure:

ο δικός μου καφές – my coffee (as opposed to someone else’s)

So τον καφέ μου is the normal, neutral way to say “my coffee.”

What exactly does πάνω add? Could I just say στο μικρό τραπεζάκι?

Yes, you can say:

Στο σαλόνι βάζω τον καφέ μου στο μικρό τραπεζάκι.

That can still mean “I put my coffee on the small table,” because σε can already cover “on.”

However, πάνω (literally “on top”) makes the spatial relation very explicit:

πάνω στο μικρό τραπεζάκι = “on top of the small table”

So:

στο μικρό τραπεζάκι – could be understood as “at the little table” or “on the little table” depending on context.
πάνω στο μικρό τραπεζάκι – clearly “on top of the little table,” emphasizing placement on its surface.

In everyday Greek, πάνω σε / πάνω στο is the most straightforward way to say “on (top of)” something.

Can πάνω go somewhere else in the sentence, like στο μικρό τραπεζάκι πάνω?

Yes, πάνω is an adverb and it’s fairly mobile, though some positions are more natural than others.

The most neutral, common versions:

πάνω στο μικρό τραπεζάκι (as in your sentence)
στο μικρό τραπεζάκι πάνω – possible, and understood, but a bit less typical in careful speech

For example:

Στο σαλόνι βάζω τον καφέ μου πάνω στο μικρό τραπεζάκι. – very natural
Στο σαλόνι βάζω τον καφέ μου στο μικρό τραπεζάκι πάνω. – understandable, more colloquial/marked

Greek usually keeps πάνω right before σε / στο when it clearly modifies that prepositional phrase.

What is the difference between τραπέζι and τραπεζάκι? What does -άκι mean?

τραπέζι = table
τραπεζάκι = little table / small table / side table / coffee table

The ending -άκι is a common diminutive suffix in Greek. It often expresses:

Smaller size
- παιδί (child) → παιδάκι (little kid)
- σκύλος (dog) → σκυλάκι (little dog)
Sometimes affection / endearment
- σπίτι (house) → σπιτάκι (little house; can sound cute/affectionate)

In everyday speech, τραπεζάκι is very commonly used for a coffee table / small living-room table, not just any table that happens to be small. So “the small table in the living room” is very naturally called το τραπεζάκι.

Why is the adjective μικρό placed before τραπεζάκι? Are there other options?

The standard attributive position for adjectives is:

article + adjective + noun

So:

το μικρό τραπεζάκι – the small table
το μεγάλο σπίτι – the big house

Another common option is:

article + noun + article + adjective

For emphasis:

το τραπεζάκι το μικρό – “the table, the small one” (slightly more emphatic)

But you cannot usually say το τραπεζάκι μικρό in this context; without a second article that tends to be understood as “the table is small” (a predicate, not an attribute).

So in your sentence, στο μικρό τραπεζάκι is the normal, neutral attributive order.

Is σαλόνι masculine, feminine, or neuter, and how can I tell?

σαλόνι is neuter.

Clues:

The ending -ι is often neuter (though not always).
Its article is το in the dictionary form: το σαλόνι – “the living room.”

In your sentence:

στο σαλόνι = σε + το σαλόνι
So it’s neuter singular with the article το (in accusative, but neuter nominative and accusative look the same: το).

Basic forms:

Nominative: το σαλόνι
Accusative: το σαλόνι
Genitive: του σαλονιού

The repeated το and the typical -ι ending help learners remember that it’s neuter.

Why does Greek use the same preposition σε for “in,” “on,” and “at”?

Greek σε is a very general locative preposition. Its exact meaning is refined by:

context
the verb
sometimes an extra word (like πάνω, μέσα, δίπλα)

Examples:

στο σαλόνι – in the living room
στο τραπέζι – on the table / at the table
στη δουλειά – at work
μέσα στο κουτί – inside the box
πάνω στο τραπέζι – on top of the table
δίπλα στο σπίτι – next to the house

So Greek uses σε the way English distributes meaning across in / on / at, plus extra words like πάνω (on top), μέσα (inside), etc., when needed.

What case is used after σε in this sentence?

In Modern Greek, almost all simple prepositions (including σε) take the accusative case.

In your sentence:

στο σαλόνι
- σε + το σαλόνι → accusative singular neuter
πάνω στο μικρό τραπεζάκι
- σε + το μικρό τραπεζάκι → accusative singular neuter

So both σαλόνι and τραπεζάκι are in the accusative, because they are objects of the preposition σε.

For many neuter nouns, nominative and accusative look identical (το σαλόνι / το τραπεζάκι), which is why this isn’t visually obvious at first.

Could I also say πάνω στο μικρό μου τραπεζάκι instead of πάνω στο μικρό τραπεζάκι?

Yes, that would mean:

πάνω στο μικρό μου τραπεζάκι – “on my little table”

Your original sentence:

βάζω τον καφέ μου πάνω στο μικρό τραπεζάκι
→ emphasizes that the coffee is yours.

If you say:

βάζω τον καφέ μου πάνω στο μικρό μου τραπεζάκι
→ now both the coffee and the table are yours.

Grammar-wise, το μικρό μου τραπεζάκι follows the same pattern:

article + adjective + noun + possessive clitic
e.g. το ωραίο μου σπίτι – my nice house.

How is the sentence stressed and pronounced? Do accent marks ever move when you add endings like -άκι or μου?

Stressed syllables (in capitals):

Στο σαΛΟνι ΒΑζω τον καΦΕ μου ΠΑνω στο μηΚΡΟ τραπεζΑκι.

Accent positions:

σαλόνι – sa-LÓ-ni
βάζω – VÁ-zo
καφέ – ka-FÉ
πάνω – PÁ-no
μικρό – mi-KRÓ
τραπεζάκι – tra-pe-ZÁ-ki

Notice the base word:

τραπέζι – tra-PÉ-zi
τραπεζάκι – tra-pe-ZÁ-ki

The stress moves when you add -άκι. In Greek, the accent is not fixed on the same syllable of the root; it can shift when suffixes are added. The written accent mark (´) always shows you where the stress goes in the final word.

Adding clitics like μου (e.g. καφές → ο καφές μου) does not change the stress of the main word; the accent stays on καφές, not on μου.