Learn Hardcore Greek: Σήμερα φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος, αλλά συνεχίζω να δουλεύω. - Today I seem very tired, but I continue to work.

So φαίνομαι literally means “I appear / I seem” by itself.
You can say Εγώ φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος to emphasize “I”, but normally Greek drops the subject pronoun because the verb ending makes it clear.

Why is the verb φαίνομαι in the middle/passive form and not active like φαίνω?

Many Greek verbs that involve how something seems, feels, behaves are commonly used in the middle/passive form only. They are often called “deponent” verbs.

φαίνομαι = I seem / I appear / I look
There is also an active verb φαίνω, but it has a different, more limited meaning (“to show, to make something appear”) and is not what you want here.

In everyday Greek, when you want to say “I look tired”, you always use φαίνομαι:

Φαίνομαι κουρασμένος. = I look tired.

What tense and person is φαίνομαι exactly?

φαίνομαι is:

Tense: Present
Person: 1st person
Number: Singular
Voice: Middle/passive

So grammatically it is “I am appearing / I appear / I seem” right now (or generally).

Why is κουρασμένος in the masculine form? How would a woman say this sentence?

Adjectives in Greek agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun (or the implied subject).

Here the implied subject is “I”, and we imagine the speaker is male, so we use the masculine form:

Masculine singular: κουρασμένος

If a woman were speaking, she would say:

Σήμερα φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένη, αλλά συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.

(feminine singular: κουρασμένη)

So:

κουρασμένος – masculine (he is tired / I am tired, if I am male)
κουρασμένη – feminine (she is tired / I am tired, if I am female)
κουρασμένο – neuter (for neuter nouns)

What is the role of πολύ here? How is πολύ different from πολλός / πολλή / πολλά?

In this sentence, πολύ is an adverb modifying the adjective κουρασμένος:

πολύ κουρασμένος = very tired

As an adverb, πολύ is invariable (it doesn’t change form).

But πολλός / πολλή / πολύ / πολλά can also be an adjective meaning “many / much”, and then it does change with gender, number, and case:

πολλός χρόνος – much time (masculine)
πολλή δουλειά – much work (feminine)
πολλά βιβλία – many books (neuter, plural)

So here:

πολύ = very (adverb) → πολύ κουρασμένος.

Could I say Είμαι πολύ κουρασμένος instead of Φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος? What is the difference?

Yes, both are correct but they have different nuances:

Είμαι πολύ κουρασμένος.
= I am very tired.
Focuses on the actual state: you really feel tired.
Φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος.
= I look / seem very tired.
Focuses on appearance: how you look to others.
You might or might not actually feel tired; maybe you “just look tired”.

In your sentence:

Σήμερα φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος, αλλά συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.

it implies: “I look very tired today (people can see it), but I keep working.”

Why is Σήμερα at the beginning? Can I move it elsewhere in the sentence?

Yes, you can move Σήμερα; Greek word order is quite flexible. All of these are grammatical:

Σήμερα φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος, αλλά συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.
Φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος σήμερα, αλλά συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.
Φαίνομαι σήμερα πολύ κουρασμένος, αλλά συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.

The basic meaning is the same. Differences are subtle and about emphasis:

At the very beginning (Σήμερα φαίνομαι…) you highlight “today” as the topic.
At the end (…πολύ κουρασμένος σήμερα) it sounds slightly more like an afterthought: “I look very tired, today.”

Why is there a comma before αλλά? Is it used like “but” in English?

Yes. αλλά is a coordinating conjunction meaning “but”, and the comma is used very similarly to English.

In a sentence like this, you normally separate the two clauses with a comma:

Σήμερα φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος, αλλά συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.
= Today I look very tired, but I keep working.

So the comma before αλλά is standard and correct.

Why is it συνεχίζω να δουλεύω and not just συνεχίζω δουλεύω or something like that?

Modern Greek does not have an infinitive like English “to work”.
Instead, it uses να + verb (subjunctive) where English often uses the infinitive.

English: I continue to work.
Greek: Συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.

After verbs like συνεχίζω, θέλω, πρέπει, μπορώ etc., you usually use να + verb:

Θέλω να δουλέψω. – I want to work.
Μπορώ να δουλέψω. – I can work.
Συνεχίζω να δουλεύω. – I continue to work.

So συνεχίζω δουλεύω is incorrect; you must say συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.

What tense/mood is δουλεύω in συνεχίζω να δουλεύω?

Formally, δουλεύω here is in the present subjunctive after να.

However, the form of the present subjunctive is identical to the present indicative for most verbs:

Indicative: (εγώ) δουλεύω – I work
Subjunctive: να δουλεύω – (that) I work / to work

In this sentence:

Συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.

the combination συνεχίζω + να + δουλεύω expresses a continuous, ongoing action:
“I keep on working / I continue working.”

What is the difference between δουλεύω and εργάζομαι? Could I say συνεχίζω να εργάζομαι?

Both verbs can mean “to work”, but they differ in style and typical use:

δουλεύω
- More common and informal
- Used for most kinds of work:
  - Δουλεύω σε ένα γραφείο. – I work in an office.
  - Δουλεύω πολύ. – I work a lot.
εργάζομαι
- More formal and somewhat bureaucratic / official
- Often used in written language, CVs, official speech:
  - Εργάζομαι στο δημόσιο. – I am employed in the public sector.

You can say:

Συνεχίζω να εργάζομαι.

It sounds a bit more formal: “I continue to be employed / I continue working (in a formal sense).”
In everyday conversation, συνεχίζω να δουλεύω is more natural.

Can I replace αλλά with όμως? How would the sentence change?

Yes, you can use όμως, but it behaves a bit differently.

αλλά is a conjunction: it normally comes immediately after the comma.
όμως is an adverb: it often stands at the beginning of the second clause.

Possible versions:

Σήμερα φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος, αλλά συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.
Σήμερα φαίνομαι πολύ κουρασμένος, όμως συνεχίζω να δουλεύω.

Both mean “Today I look very tired, but I keep working.”
όμως can sound slightly more emphatic or “contrasty”, but the difference is small.

How do you pronounce φαίνομαι, and what sound does αι represent here?

φαίνομαι is pronounced approximately:

[FÉ-no-me] (stress on the first syllable)

Syllables: φαί–νο–μαι

The combination αι in modern Greek is usually pronounced like “e” in “bed”.
So φαί sounds like “fe”.

Putting it together:

φαίνομαι ≈ FE-no-me (with a short e sound in “fe” and “no”)