Breakdown of Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών στο πανεπιστήμιο.
Questions & Answers about Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών στο πανεπιστήμιο.
The sentence is:
Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών στο πανεπιστήμιο.
Word by word:
- Σήμερα – today
- το απόγευμα – the afternoon
- κάνω – I do / I make
- μάθημα – lesson, class
- ελληνικών – of Greek (the Greek language), genitive plural
- στο – in/at the, = σε + το
- πανεπιστήμιο – university
Natural English: “This afternoon I have a Greek lesson at the university.”
In Greek, time expressions often use the definite article:
- το πρωί – in the morning
- το μεσημέρι – at noon
- το βράδυ – in the evening
- τη Δευτέρα – on Monday
So το απόγευμα literally is “the afternoon”, but together with Σήμερα it means “this afternoon (today, in the afternoon)”.
Leaving out the article (σήμερα απόγευμα) sounds unnatural or foreign; the normal, idiomatic form is σήμερα το απόγευμα.
It looks redundant in English, but in Greek this is the standard way to say “this afternoon”:
- Σήμερα το πρωί – this morning
- Σήμερα το απόγευμα – this afternoon
- Σήμερα το βράδυ – tonight / this evening
Here’s how you can think of it:
- Σήμερα gives the day: today.
- το απόγευμα gives the part of the day: the afternoon.
Together they narrow it down to the afternoon of today, which is just “this afternoon” in English.
You could also say just Το απόγευμα κάνω μάθημα… = “In the afternoon I have a lesson…”, but then the “today” element is not explicit.
In Greek, certain activities are expressed with κάνω in a way that doesn’t match English literally. Κάνω μάθημα is a very common collocation.
- κάνω μάθημα – I have a lesson / I’m having class
- κάνω γυμναστική – I exercise / I work out
- κάνω δουλειά – I do work
In this sentence:
- κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών
literally: I do a lesson of Greek
natural English: I have a Greek lesson.
You can also hear έχω μάθημα ελληνικών (literally “I have a Greek lesson”), and that is also correct.
κάνω μάθημα focuses more on the activity itself (“I’m doing the class”), while έχω μάθημα can feel slightly more like “I am scheduled for a class”, but in everyday speech they are often interchangeable.
Greek, like English, can use the present tense for fixed future arrangements, especially when there’s a time expression:
Αύριο το πρωί γράφω εξετάσεις.
Literally: “Tomorrow morning I write exams”
Meaning: “I’m taking an exam tomorrow morning.”Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών.
Literally: “Today the afternoon I do a lesson of Greek”
Meaning: “I’m having a Greek lesson this afternoon.”
If you want to emphasize the future more clearly, you can use θα:
- Σήμερα το απόγευμα θα κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών.
“This afternoon I will have a Greek lesson.”
Both are correct; the plain present with a time phrase is very natural for plans and scheduled events.
Μάθημα can cover several English words, depending on context:
- a single lesson/class meeting
- Έχουμε μάθημα στις 5. – We have class at 5.
- a school subject
- Το αγαπημένο μου μάθημα είναι η ιστορία. – My favorite subject is history.
- a course (less formal, everyday speech)
- Κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών στο πανεπιστήμιο. – I’m taking a Greek (language) course at the university.
So in this sentence, μάθημα is best understood as “lesson / class”, and overall:
“I have a Greek class at the university this afternoon.”
Ελληνικών here is:
- case: genitive
- number: plural
- gender: (plural of the neuter ελληνικό / τα ελληνικά)
In Greek, a very common pattern is:
[μάθημα / βιβλίο / δάσκαλος / κλπ.] + [genitive of what]
Examples:
- μάθημα μαθηματικών – math lesson (lesson of mathematics)
- βιβλίο ιστορίας – history book (book of history)
- λεξικό αγγλικών – English dictionary (dictionary of English)
So:
- μάθημα ελληνικών literally = “lesson of Greek (language)”
→ natural English: Greek lesson / Greek class
Using ελληνικά (nominative/accusative) after μάθημα would be ungrammatical in this structure. The genitive ελληνικών is required by this “lesson of X” pattern.
Both come from the same word, but they have different grammatical roles.
τα ελληνικά (nominative or accusative plural)
- As a noun: “the Greek language”
- Μαθαίνω ελληνικά. – I’m learning Greek.
- As an adverb: “in Greek”
- Μιλάω ελληνικά. – I speak Greek.
- As a noun: “the Greek language”
των ελληνικών (genitive plural)
- Used mostly in noun + genitive structures:
- μάθημα ελληνικών – Greek lesson (lesson of Greek)
- βιβλίο ελληνικών – Greek textbook (book of Greek)
- καθηγητής ελληνικών – Greek teacher (teacher of Greek).
- Used mostly in noun + genitive structures:
So in μάθημα ελληνικών, the form ελληνικών is required because it’s modifying the noun μάθημα in a “lesson of X” construction.
Στο is a contraction of:
- σε – in, at, to (very general preposition)
- το – the (neuter, singular, accusative)
So:
- σε + το = στο
Similarly:
- σε + τον = στον (masculine: στον φίλο μου – to my friend)
- σε + την = στην (feminine: στην πόλη – in the city)
In στο πανεπιστήμιο:
- στο = in/at the
- πανεπιστήμιο = university
So the phrase means “at the university” or “in the university” depending on context; in English we’d normally say “at the university” here.
Yes. Greek has relatively flexible word order, and you can move the time/place expressions around, as long as the sentence remains clear.
All of these are fine and mean essentially the same thing:
- Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών στο πανεπιστήμιο.
- Κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών σήμερα το απόγευμα στο πανεπιστήμιο.
- Στο πανεπιστήμιο σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών.
The basic information doesn’t change; what changes is emphasis:
- Putting Σήμερα το απόγευμα first emphasizes when.
- Putting Στο πανεπιστήμιο first would emphasize where.
- Starting with Κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών can sound more neutral: first the activity, then details.
For a learner, the most natural and clear version is the original:
- Σήμερα το απόγευμα κάνω μάθημα ελληνικών στο πανεπιστήμιο.
Using the article here suggests a specific, known university:
- στο πανεπιστήμιο – at the university
(the one that is understood from context: the local university, the one you attend, etc.)
Saying σε πανεπιστήμιο (without article) would sound like:
- “at a university” (indefinite, somewhere, not a particular known one),
which is grammatically possible but much less common in this context. In everyday speech, when you talk about your studies, you almost always say:
- Σπουδάζω στο πανεπιστήμιο. – I study at the university.
- Κάνω μάθημα στο πανεπιστήμιο. – I have class at the university.
So στο πανεπιστήμιο is the natural, idiomatic choice here.