Breakdown of Η δασκάλα λέει ότι είναι βεβαίως λογικός στόχος να μιλάμε λίγο καλύτερα κάθε μήνα.
Questions & Answers about Η δασκάλα λέει ότι είναι βεβαίως λογικός στόχος να μιλάμε λίγο καλύτερα κάθε μήνα.
Yes. In this sentence, λέει ότι… works like “(she) says that…” in English.
- ότι introduces a reported/indirect statement: what the teacher is saying.
- You could also use πως here (λέει πως…) with almost the same meaning in modern Greek. ότι is a bit more neutral or formal; πως can feel slightly more colloquial in many contexts.
- Don’t confuse this ότι (conjunction = that) with ό,τι (with a comma), which means whatever / anything that.
Greek usually drops the dummy “it” in sentences like this.
- English: It is a logical goal to…
- Greek: (Ø) είναι λογικός στόχος να… (no explicit subject like it)
The subject is understood from context as ο στόχος (the goal) or as an impersonal judgment. Greek doesn’t need a separate pronoun for this kind of impersonal “it”.
Both are possible, but Greek often omits the indefinite article in “X is (a) Y” type sentences when describing a role, quality, or classification:
- Είναι δάσκαλος. = He is a teacher.
- Είναι λογικός στόχος. = It is a logical goal.
Adding ένας can give a slight nuance of “one logical goal (among others)”, or a bit of emphasis:
- Είναι ένας λογικός στόχος. = It is one logical/sensible goal (maybe not the only one).
In your sentence, omission is natural and very common.
Because adjectives in Greek agree with the noun in gender, number and case.
- στόχος is masculine singular nominative.
- So its adjective must also be masculine singular nominative: λογικός στόχος.
If the noun were neuter, you would see λογικό:
- λογικό πράγμα (neuter noun + neuter adjective)
- λογικός στόχος (masculine noun + masculine adjective)
So λογικός is just matching στόχος in form.
βεβαίως is an adverb meaning something like:
- of course,
- certainly,
- indeed.
In this sentence it emphasizes that the goal is clearly reasonable:
- είναι βεβαίως λογικός στόχος…
= it is certainly / of course a logical/sensible goal…
Related words:
- βέβαιος (adjective): sure, certain
- βέβαια (adverb/particle): in everyday speech, often used like βεβαίως, a bit more colloquial:
- Ναι, βέβαια. = Yes, of course.
- βεβαίως can sound a bit more formal/polite, especially on its own as an answer (—Μπορώ; —Βεβαίως.)
Both are subjunctive, but they differ in aspect:
να μιλάμε (present subjunctive)
– focuses on an ongoing / repeated / habitual action.
– Here, the idea is: to be speaking better on an ongoing basis, month after month.να μιλήσουμε (aorist subjunctive)
– focuses on the action as a single, complete event (one act of speaking).
Since the sentence talks about every month and an ongoing improvement process, Greek prefers the present subjunctive: να μιλάμε.
They are forms of the same verb, just different style/register or person:
- Dictionary form: μιλάω / μιλώ (I speak)
- 1st person plural:
- μιλάμε (common, colloquial)
- μιλούμε (more formal/standard, or Cypriot)
In everyday modern Greek, μιλάμε is the most common 1st person plural form:
- να μιλάμε = (that) we speak / are speaking.
μιλάω vs μιλώ: both are accepted 1st person singular. μιλάω is more colloquial; μιλώ a bit more formal/“textbooky”.
καλύτερα is the comparative of the adverb καλά (well):
- καλά = well
- καλύτερα = better (in the sense of more well)
πιο καλά literally means more well, and in everyday Greek it’s often used with the same meaning as καλύτερα. So:
- να μιλάμε λίγο καλύτερα
- να μιλάμε λίγο πιο καλά
are both understandable and close in meaning. καλύτερα is a bit shorter and more “standard” as the comparative form.
Yes. λίγο here is an adverb meaning a little / slightly / somewhat, and it modifies καλύτερα:
- καλύτερα = better
- λίγο καλύτερα = a little better / slightly better
So the nuance is modest improvement rather than dramatic change: “to speak a bit better” each month.
With κάθε (= every/each), Greek uses the singular form of the noun, normally in the appropriate case. Here:
- κάθε μήνα = every month (accusative singular)
You do not add a preposition like σε in this expression of frequency; κάθε + time word is enough:
- κάθε μέρα = every day
- κάθε εβδομάδα = every week
- κάθε χρόνο = every year
κάθε μήνας would be ungrammatical here; κάθε does not take nominative like that unless it’s in a different syntactic role (e.g. subject in a different kind of sentence).
Yes, βεβαίως is fairly flexible in position. You might hear:
- είναι βεβαίως λογικός στόχος να μιλάμε…
- είναι λογικός στόχος, βεβαίως, να μιλάμε…
- βεβαίως είναι λογικός στόχος να μιλάμε…
The core meaning (certainly / of course) stays the same, but:
- Earlier placement (βεβαίως είναι…) can emphasize the certainty.
- Insertion with commas (…στόχος, βεβαίως, να…) feels a bit more parenthetical, like “a logical target, of course,”.
The version in your sentence is very natural and neutral.
μιλάμε is 1st person plural (“we”). The idea is:
- να μιλάμε = (for) us to speak / that we speak.
The teacher is probably including herself and the students, or speaking in general about people learning a language: “for us (people learning) to speak a bit better every month.”
If you wanted to talk only about you (singular):
- να μιλάς λίγο καλύτερα κάθε μήνα = for you to speak a bit better every month.
But the original sentence describes a general or shared goal, so μιλάμε is used.
Modern Greek has no true infinitive like English. Instead, it uses να + subjunctive:
- να μιλάμε functions similarly to to speak / to be speaking in this context.
So:
- λογικός στόχος να μιλάμε λίγο καλύτερα κάθε μήνα
≈ a logical goal (is) to speak a little better every month
Grammatically:
- λογικός στόχος = noun phrase
- να μιλάμε λίγο καλύτερα κάθε μήνα = a subordinate clause introduced by να, acting like an infinitive clause in English (“to speak…”).