Learn Hardcore Greek: Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι να είμαι υγιής.

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου literally means “the wish of my mom” → my mom’s wish.
In Greek, when you say “X’s Y”, you usually put Y in the nominative with the article, and X in the genitive:
- η ευχή της μαμάς μου = the wish of my mom
- το σπίτι του φίλου μου = the house of my friend

If you wanted “My mom wishes that I be healthy” (making μαμά the subject), you would say:

Η μαμά μου εύχεται να είμαι υγιής.

So:

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου… = My mom’s wish is…
Η μαμά μου… = My mom … (does something)

What exactly does της μαμάς μου mean, and why do we need both της and μου?

Της μαμάς μου is a genitive phrase meaning “of my mom”.

It contains three parts:

της – the definite article in the genitive feminine singular (“of the”)
μαμάς – the noun “mom” in the genitive (“of mom”)
μου – the possessive pronoun “my”

So:

της μαμάς μου = “of my mom”
Structurally: (of the) (mom) (my)

You can’t drop της and keep only μαμάς μου in standard Greek; the article is normally needed:

✔ της μαμάς μου
✘ μαμάς μου (sounds incomplete)

And you can’t drop μου if you still want to say my mom (instead of just the mom):

της μαμάς = of the mom (some specific mom, but not clearly “mine”)
της μαμάς μου = of my mom

Why is μαμάς ending in -ς here instead of just μαμά?

Because μαμάς is in the genitive case, while μαμά is the nominative.

η μαμά = the mom (nominative, subject form)
της μαμάς = of the mom (genitive, “possessive” form)

The pattern for many feminine nouns like μαμά is:

Nominative singular: η μαμά
Genitive singular: της μαμάς

So της μαμάς μου = of my mom.

Why is there a definite article Η before ευχή? Could we just say Ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι…?

Greek uses the definite article much more than English, especially with singular, specific, countable nouns.

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου literally: “the wish of my mom”
In natural English we usually say: “my mom’s wish”, without “the”.
But in Greek, the article η is normal and expected here.

Without the article:

Ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι… sounds odd and incomplete, like you’re making a headline or note, not a normal sentence.

So in standard speech and writing, you need:

✔ Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι να είμαι υγιής.

Can I change the word order in this sentence?

A little, but not freely. The standard, neutral word order is:

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι να είμαι υγιής.

Possible variations:

Της μαμάς μου η ευχή είναι να είμαι υγιής.
- Puts extra emphasis on της μαμάς μου (“My mom’s wish, in particular, is…”).
In informal speech, people might drop είναι:
- Η ευχή της μαμάς μου, να είμαι υγιής.
  (Sounds like: “My mom’s wish – that I be healthy.”)

But you cannot do things like:

✘ Η μαμάς μου ευχή είναι…
✘ Είναι η ευχή της μαμάς μου να είμαι υγιής (this one is understandable, but feels heavy; the original order is more natural).

So small movements for emphasis are OK, but the core structure Η ευχή … είναι να… should stay.

What does the structure είναι να + verb mean here?

Είναι να + verb (in the subjunctive) often corresponds to English:

“is to…”
“is for (someone) to…”
“is that (someone) …”

In this sentence:

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι να είμαι υγιής.

You can understand:

“My mom’s wish is to be healthy (for me to be healthy).”
“My mom’s wish is that I be healthy.”

So:

είναι = is
να είμαι υγιής = that I be healthy / to be healthy

This να + verb is the Greek subjunctive construction.

What is να είμαι grammatically?

Να είμαι is the present subjunctive, 1st person singular, of the verb είμαι (“to be”).

είμαι (without να) is indicative: “I am”.
να είμαι is subjunctive, triggered by να, and it often translates:
- “that I be”
- “(for me) to be”

You see να + subjunctive after verbs or nouns of:

wish: εύχομαι να είμαι… (“I wish that I be…”)
desire: θέλω να είμαι… (“I want to be…”)
plan/aim: σκοπός μου είναι να είμαι… (“My aim is to be…”)

In our sentence, the wish naturally calls for the subjunctive:

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι να είμαι υγιής.
= “My mom’s wish is that I be healthy.”

Why is the adjective υγιής in that form? Why not υγιός or υγιή?

Υγιής is an adjective meaning “healthy”. Its basic nominative forms are:

Masculine: υγιής
Feminine: υγιής
Neuter: υγιές

In this sentence, υγιής agrees with the implied subject εγώ (“I”), in the nominative singular:

If the speaker is male: (Εγώ είμαι) υγιής.
If the speaker is female: (Εγώ είμαι) υγιής.

So:

να είμαι υγιής = “that I be healthy.”

About υγιός:

υγιός is an older / more formal form; modern everyday Greek normally uses υγιής.

About υγιή:

υγιή is another case/form (e.g. accusative), not nominative singular, so it doesn’t fit here.

Could I say να είμαι καλά instead of να είμαι υγιής?

Yes, and it would be natural, but the nuance is slightly different.

να είμαι υγιής = “that I be healthy”
- More literal, more about health in the strict sense.
να είμαι καλά = “that I be well / okay”
- Broader and more informal. It can refer to health, but also general well-being.

Both are grammatically correct:

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι να είμαι υγιής. (more precise, a bit more formal)
Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι να είμαι καλά. (very natural, everyday speech)

In real life, many people would naturally say να είμαι καλά.

Why don’t we use που or ότι, like Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι ότι είμαι υγιής?

In Greek, after nouns like ευχή, επιθυμία, σκοπός etc., it’s very common to use να + subjunctive to express what that wish/aim is.

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι να είμαι υγιής.
= literally “My mom’s wish is to be healthy (for me to be healthy).”

Using ότι usually introduces a factual statement, not a wish:

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι ότι είμαι υγιής.
This sounds wrong/unnatural, as if the “wish” is a statement of fact.

Using που in this position to introduce the content of ευχή is also not idiomatic.

So the natural pattern here is:

ευχή / σκοπός / στόχος … είναι να + subjunctive

Is there any difference between μαμά and μητέρα?

Yes, mainly in register (how formal or emotional the word is).

μαμά = “mom / mum / mommy”
- Informal, familiar, emotionally warm.
- Very common in everyday spoken Greek.
μητέρα = “mother”
- More formal, neutral, or sometimes a bit distant.
- Used in formal writing, official documents, or very polite speech.

You could say:

Η ευχή της μαμάς μου είναι να είμαι υγιής. (normal, everyday)
Η ευχή της μητέρας μου είναι να είμαι υγιής. (more formal / neutral)

Both are correct; choice depends on tone.

How do you pronounce ευχή, μαμάς, είμαι, and υγιής?

Approximate pronunciations (in English-like spelling):

ευχή → ef-HEE
- Stress on the second syllable.
- ευ here sounds like ef (because it’s before a voiceless consonant χ).
μαμάς → ma-MAS
- Stress on the second syllable.
- Final ς is like English “s”.
είμαι → EE-me
- Stress on the first syllable.
- The ει is like a long ee.
υγιής → roughly ee-yee-IS
- Stress on the last syllable (-ης).
- υι together pronounced like ee / yi; learners often simplify it to i-YIS.

So the whole sentence could be heard as:

i ef-HI tis ma-MAS mu Í-me i-yi-ÍS (with the correct stress on bolded syllables).