Learn Hardcore Greek: Μακάρι να είχα λίγο περισσότερο χρόνο κάθε μέρα.

Μακάρι να έχω χρόνο. – I hope / I wish I (will) have time. (realistic / future)
Μακάρι να είχα χρόνο. – I wish I had time (but I don’t). (unreal, contrary to reality)

In your sentence, Μακάρι signals an unreal wish about the present.

Why do we need να in Μακάρι να είχα?

In Modern Greek, να introduces a verb in a non‑indicative (subjunctive / optative‑like) environment: wishes, hopes, intentions, necessities, etc.

With μακάρι, να is obligatory:

Μακάρι να είχα… – I wish I had…
Μακάρι να μπορούσα… – I wish I could…

You cannot say ✗ Μακάρι είχα here; that would be ungrammatical. The μακάρι + να + verb pattern is fixed.

Why is it είχα (“I had”) and not έχω (“I have”)?

The choice of είχα (past) instead of έχω (present) shows that the wish is unreal in the present, like English “I wish I had more time (but I don’t).”

Compare:

Μακάρι να έχω περισσότερο χρόνο αύριο.
I hope / I wish I have more time tomorrow. (a real possibility)
Μακάρι να είχα περισσότερο χρόνο κάθε μέρα.
I wish I had more time every day. (implies: but I don’t)

So είχα marks a counterfactual wish, not past time in a literal sense.

But after να, shouldn’t the verb be in the subjunctive? Is είχα subjunctive or past tense?

Modern Greek subjunctive forms are the same as the non‑past forms (like να έχω, να φάω, να πάω). For the imperfect (είχα, έκανα, μπορούσα), there is no separate subjunctive form; the same morphology is used.

So grammatically:

Some descriptions say να είχα is “imperfect indicative with να”.
Others treat να είχα as a special “past wish” construction (optative‑like).

Functionally, for you as a learner, it means:

να + present / aorist → normally real possibility (dependent on context)
να + imperfect → unreal / counterfactual wish about present or future

So να είχα here expresses an unreal wish, even though είχα is morphologically an imperfect form.

Why don’t we say Εγώ μακάρι να είχα…? Where is the subject “I”?

Greek usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the person:

είχα = “I had” (1st person singular)
είχες = “you had”
είχε = “he/she/it had”

So Μακάρι να είχα… already means “I wish I had…”.
You would only add εγώ for emphasis or contrast:

Εγώ μακάρι να είχα χρόνο, αλλά εσύ έχεις.
I wish I had time, but you do.

Why is it λίγο περισσότερο χρόνο and not something like περισσότερο λίγο χρόνο?

The natural order for quantity adjectives here is:

λίγο – “a little / a bit” (degree)
περισσότερο – “more” (comparative)
χρόνο – “time” (noun)

So λίγο is modifying περισσότερο:
→ λίγο περισσότερο = “a little more / slightly more”

If you said ✗ περισσότερο λίγο χρόνο, it would sound wrong or at best very unnatural. Think of λίγο here as an adverb softening “more”:

περισσότερο χρόνο – more time
λίγο περισσότερο χρόνο – a little more time

Why is there no article before χρόνο? Why not τον χρόνο?

In Greek, uncountable/abstract nouns used in a general or indefinite sense often appear without an article, especially after quantifiers like λίγο, πολύ, αρκετό, περισσότερο:

λίγο χρόνο – a little (unspecified amount of) time
πολύ χρόνο – a lot of time
περισσότερο χρόνο – more time

Adding an article (τον χρόνο) would make it more specific/definite: that (particular) time or “the time (we talked about).”

Here you mean time in general, an unspecified amount each day, so no article is correct: λίγο περισσότερο χρόνο.

What is the role of κάθε μέρα, and why is μέρα singular?

κάθε μέρα means “every day / each day”:

κάθε is invariable (it doesn’t change form for gender/case) and is followed by a singular noun.
μέρα is the singular form “day” (accusative here: κάθε μέρα).

Greek uses singular after κάθε, just like English uses “every day” (not “every days”):

κάθε μέρα – every day
κάθε Σάββατο – every Saturday

You could move it to the front:

Κάθε μέρα μακάρι να είχα λίγο περισσότερο χρόνο.

That’s also correct; the meaning is essentially the same, just a different emphasis in word order.

Could I say ημέρα instead of μέρα? Is there a difference?

Yes, ημέρα is the more formal / learned form of μέρα, and both mean “day.”

μέρα – everyday, colloquial, very common
ημέρα – more formal, often seen in written language, official speech, documents, etc.

In spoken, natural language, κάθε μέρα is by far the more usual choice here.
κάθε ημέρα is possible but sounds more formal or written.

Can I replace περισσότερο with παραπάνω? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Μακάρι να είχα λίγο παραπάνω χρόνο κάθε μέρα.

Both περισσότερο and παραπάνω mean “more”, but:

περισσότερο is the standard comparative of πολύ (“much”):
- πολύ → περισσότερο (much → more)
παραπάνω is slightly more colloquial/informal and often used in speech for “more / extra / over and above.”

In your sentence, both are natural. περισσότερο is a bit more neutral/standard; παραπάνω a bit more conversational.

Is Μακάρι να είχα always unreal, like English “I wish I had”?

Μακάρι + να + imperfect (είχα, μπορούσα, κτλ.) normally expresses a wish contrary to reality:

Μακάρι να είχα λεφτά. – I wish I had money (but I don’t).
Μακάρι να μπορούσα να έρθω. – I wish I could come (but I can’t).

So yes, in typical usage, μακάρι να είχα implies that the wish is not fulfilled in reality, just like English “I wish I had…”

How would I say the same idea with εύχομαι instead of μακάρι?

You can use εύχομαι (I wish) with να + verb, but it’s a bit less direct for counterfactual wishes; μακάρι is more idiomatic here. Still, it’s possible:

Εύχομαι να είχα λίγο περισσότερο χρόνο κάθε μέρα.

This is understandable and grammatically correct, but in everyday speech, for this kind of “if only…” feeling, Μακάρι να είχα… is the more common and natural choice.

How do you pronounce the sentence naturally?

Approximate pronunciation (in simplified English-based notation):

Μακάρι – ma-KA-ree (stress on -κά-)
να – na
είχα – EE-ha (stress on εί-)
λίγο – LEE-go (stress on λί-)
περισσότερο – pe-ree-SO-te-ro (stress on -σώ-)
χρόνο – HRO-no (the χ is like German ch in Bach)
κάθε – KA-the (soft th as in this, stress on κά-)
μέρα – ME-ra (stress on μέ-)

Main stress pattern:
ΜαΚΆρι να ΕΊχα ΛΊγο περιΣΌτερο ΧΡΌνο ΚΆθε ΜΈρα.