Learn Hardcore Greek: Το βράδυ έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα και βάζω δύο μαξιλάρια στο κρεβάτι. - At night I have a warm blanket and put two pillows on the bed.

So Το βράδυ literally is “the evening”, but functionally it means “in the evening / at night” in a general, habitual sense. Dropping the article (Βράδυ έχω…) is not natural here.

What case is το βράδυ in, and what is it doing grammatically?

Το βράδυ is in the accusative case. It’s an example of the “accusative of time” — it tells you when something happens:

Το βράδυ έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα… – Literally: “The evening I have a warm blanket…”, i.e. “In the evening / At night I have a warm blanket…”

So it functions as an adverbial phrase of time.

What’s the difference between το βράδυ and τη νύχτα? Could I say Τη νύχτα έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα…?

Both are possible, but they’re not identical in feel:

το βράδυ: evening and often stretching into night; quite common and neutral.
τη νύχτα: literally “the night”; focuses more on the nighttime / when it’s dark.

You can say Τη νύχτα έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα…; it would sound more like “at night I have a warm blanket…”, with the emphasis more clearly on nighttime rather than evening.

Why is there no article before ζεστή κουβέρτα? Why not έχω μια ζεστή κουβέρτα?

Both are possible, but they’re used slightly differently.

Έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα.
- No article: general, descriptive, almost like saying “I have warm blanket/cover” as a type of thing I have at night.
- In habitual statements, Greek often omits μια when you’re just describing the existence/availability of something.
Έχω μια ζεστή κουβέρτα.
- With μια (“a / one”): focuses more on one specific blanket you have.
- This sounds a bit more like counting or specifying “one warm blanket” among others.

In this sentence, the version without μια feels natural for a general routine description.

Why is the adjective ζεστή before κουβέρτα? Can I say κουβέρτα ζεστή instead?

The normal, neutral order in Greek is:

adjective + noun → ζεστή κουβέρτα – warm blanket

You can put the adjective after the noun (κουβέρτα ζεστή), but that tends to sound more marked or emphatic, like:

“a blanket that is warm (as opposed to cold)”
or poetic / stylistic speech.

So in everyday Greek, ζεστή κουβέρτα is the default order.

Why does ζεστή end in -ή? How is it agreeing with κουβέρτα?

Ζεστή comes from the adjective ζεστός – ζεστή – ζεστό (masc – fem – neut).

κουβέρτα is feminine singular (η κουβέρτα).
The adjective must match the noun in gender, number, and case.

So we get:

feminine, singular, accusative: ζεστή κουβέρτα

If the noun were masculine or neuter, you’d see different endings, e.g.:

ζεστός καφές (masc) – warm coffee
ζεστό γάλα (neuter) – warm milk

Why is the subject pronoun “I” not written? Why don’t we see Εγώ έχω…?

Greek usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

έχω = I have
έχεις = you (sg) have
έχει = he/she/it has

So έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα already means “I have a warm blanket”.
You only add εγώ for emphasis or contrast:

Εγώ έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα, αλλά εσύ δεν έχεις.
“I have a warm blanket, but you don’t.”

What tense is έχω and βάζω here, and does it mean “I am putting” or “I put”?

Both έχω and βάζω are in the present tense, first person singular.

Greek present tense covers both:

English “I have / I put (in general, habitually)”
and “I am having / I am putting (right now)”

In this sentence, because we also have Το βράδυ (“at night / in the evening”) and it sounds like a routine, the meaning is:

“At night I have a warm blanket and I (usually) put two pillows on the bed.”

To talk about a single completed action in the past, you’d use the aorist:

Έβαλα δύο μαξιλάρια στο κρεβάτι. – I put two pillows on the bed (once).

What exactly is βάζω? Is it always just “to put”?

The basic meaning of βάζω is “to put / to place”:

βάζω κάτι κάπου – I put something somewhere

It can also mean:

to add something (e.g. in food): βάζω αλάτι – I add salt
to wear/put on in some expressions: βάζω το παλτό μου – I put on my coat

In this sentence, it’s the literal “I put (place) two pillows on the bed.”

What is στο in στο κρεβάτι? Is it one word or two?

Στο is a contraction of:

σε (preposition: in, on, at, to)
το (neuter singular definite article: “the”)

So:

σε + το κρεβάτι → στο κρεβάτι – “on the bed / in the bed”

This contraction is very common and standard in Greek:

σε + τον καναπέ → στον καναπέ
σε + την καρέκλα → στην καρέκλα

Does στο κρεβάτι mean “on the bed” or “in bed”?

Στο κρεβάτι can mean both, depending on context:

physically on top of the bed: “on the bed”
idiomatically: “in bed” (as in the place where you sleep)

In βάζω δύο μαξιλάρια στο κρεβάτι, the natural understanding is “on the bed” (you put two pillows onto the bed). But in other sentences, like:

Είμαι στο κρεβάτι. – I am in bed.

the same phrase is understood as “in bed”. Context decides.

Why doesn’t δύο change form? Is “two” in Greek indeclinable?

Δύο is indeclinable: it does not change form for gender, case or number. It’s always δύο.

So you say:

δύο κουβέρτες – two blankets
δύο μαξιλάρια – two pillows
δύο φίλους / δύο φίλες – two (male) friends / two (female) friends

Some other Greek numerals do change form (like ένας, μία, ένα for “one”), but δύο stays the same.

What are the genders and basic forms of κουβέρτα, μαξιλάρι, and κρεβάτι?

η κουβέρτα (feminine) – blanket
- singular: η κουβέρτα (nom), την κουβέρτα (acc)
- plural: οι κουβέρτες, τις κουβέρτες
το μαξιλάρι (neuter) – pillow
- singular: το μαξιλάρι (nom/acc)
- plural: τα μαξιλάρια (nom/acc)
το κρεβάτι (neuter) – bed
- singular: το κρεβάτι (nom/acc)
- plural: τα κρεβάτια (nom/acc)

In the sentence:

ζεστή κουβέρτα – feminine singular accusative
δύο μαξιλάρια – neuter plural accusative
στο κρεβάτι – “σε” + το κρεβάτι, neuter singular accusative.

Can I change the word order? For example, is Έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα το βράδυ also correct?

Yes. Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially for adverbial phrases like το βράδυ.

All of these are grammatically correct:

Το βράδυ έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα.
Έχω ζεστή κουβέρτα το βράδυ.
Έχω το βράδυ ζεστή κουβέρτα. (less usual, but possible)

Placing Το βράδυ at the beginning gives it a little more emphasis: it frames the whole sentence as “As for the evening / at night…”.