Ο βασικός μου στόχος είναι να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα.

My main goal is to speak Greek every day.

Breakdown of Ο βασικός μου στόχος είναι να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα.

• είμαι: to be
• μιλάω: to speak
• ελληνικά: in Greek
• να: to
• μου: my
• κάθε μέρα: every day
• ο στόχος: the goal
• βασικός: main

Questions & Answers about Ο βασικός μου στόχος είναι να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα.

Why does the sentence start with Ο? What does Ο mean here?

Ο is the definite article in Greek, like “the” in English.

Here it is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative case

It has to match the noun στόχος (goal), which is masculine singular nominative.

So Ο στόχος = the goal. Because we’ve added an adjective (βασικός), it becomes Ο βασικός στόχος = the main goal.

What exactly does βασικός mean, and how is it different from just “basic”?

βασικός most often means “main / primary / principal” in a sentence like this.

While it can mean “basic” in some contexts (e.g. βασικές γνώσεις = basic knowledge), here:

• Ο βασικός μου στόχος = my main goal / my primary goal

Other near-synonyms:

• κύριος στόχος – main goal
• πρωταρχικός στόχος – primary / first-in-importance goal

In everyday speech, βασικός στόχος is very natural for “main goal.”

Why is μου after βασικός instead of before, like in English “my main goal”?

In Greek, the possessive pronoun like “my” is usually an unstressed clitic that comes after the noun (or noun + adjective group), not before it.

• μου = my
• It is the genitive form of εγώ (I): εγώ → μου

So:

• ο στόχος μου = my goal
• ο βασικός στόχος μου = my main goal
• ο βασικός μου στόχος = my main goal (the possessive sticks to the whole noun phrase)

Both:

• Ο βασικός μου στόχος
• Ο βασικός στόχος μου

are grammatically correct and mean “my main goal”. The version in your sentence is very natural and common.

Why is it στόχος here? Could we say σκοπός instead?

Both στόχος and σκοπός can translate as “goal / aim / purpose,” but there are subtle differences:

• στόχος often feels more like a concrete target, something you set and try to achieve (similar to “goal” in goal-setting, plans, resolutions).
• σκοπός can be more about purpose / intention / reason, sometimes a bit more abstract or philosophical.

In the context of a learning objective (“my main goal is to speak Greek every day”), στόχος is the most typical and natural word, because it sounds like a specific, measurable goal you’ve set.

Why does the sentence use είναι να μιλάω? Why not an infinitive like in English, “is to speak”?

Modern Greek does not have a true infinitive the way English does.

Instead, Greek uses:

• να + verb (subjunctive mood)

So:

• είναι να μιλάω ≈ “is to speak”

The structure is:

• Ο βασικός μου στόχος – my main goal
• είναι – is
• να μιλάω… – (for me) to speak…

Whenever English would use “to do something” as a goal or purpose, Greek usually uses να + subjunctive.

What form is μιλάω, and why this form?

μιλάω is:

• 1st person singular
• present tense
• subjunctive / indicative form (same form in this verb)
• of the verb μιλάω / μιλώ = to speak

In this sentence, after να, it’s the present subjunctive:

• να μιλάω ≈ “to be speaking / to speak (habitually)”

It’s used because we are describing an ongoing, repeated action (speaking Greek every day), not a single finished event.

What’s the difference between μιλάω and μιλώ? Are both correct?

Yes, both are correct forms of the same verb.

• μιλάω – very common in everyday spoken Greek, slightly more informal
• μιλώ – a bit shorter, often feels a touch more formal or written, but also used in speech

So:

• να μιλάω ελληνικά
• να μιλώ ελληνικά

Both are grammatically fine; να μιλάω is probably what you’ll hear more in casual conversation.

Why is it να μιλάω and not να μιλήσω?

This is about aspect (how the action is viewed):

• να μιλάω – present subjunctive:

  • ongoing, repeated, or habitual action
  • here: speaking Greek every day (a habit)

• να μιλήσω – aorist subjunctive:

  • a single, complete event, or the action seen as a whole
  • e.g. στόχος μου είναι να μιλήσω με τον διευθυντή = my goal is to speak (once) with the manager

Since your goal is a daily, repeated action, να μιλάω is the natural choice.

Why is there no preposition before ελληνικά? In English we say “speak in Greek” or “speak Greek”.

In Greek, the verb μιλάω / μιλώ takes a direct object for the language, without a preposition:

• μιλάω ελληνικά – I speak Greek
• μιλάω αγγλικά – I speak English
• μιλάω ισπανικά – I speak Spanish

So ελληνικά here is just the direct object of the verb μιλάω, not part of a prepositional phrase. That’s why there’s no “in”.

Why is ελληνικά in the plural, and what is it grammatically?

Grammatically, ελληνικά is:

• the neuter plural form of the adjective ελληνικός, -ή, -ό (Greek)

In Modern Greek, names of languages are often neutral plural adjectives used as nouns:

• τα ελληνικά – Greek (language)
• τα αγγλικά – English
• τα γαλλικά – French
• μιλάω ελληνικά – I speak Greek

In your sentence there’s no article, so it’s just ελληνικά, but it’s still that same neuter plural form meaning “Greek (language).”

Could we say τα ελληνικά here? What’s the difference between μιλάω ελληνικά and μιλάω τα ελληνικά?

You can say μιλάω τα ελληνικά, but:

• μιλάω ελληνικά is the most natural and usual way to say “I speak Greek” in general.
• μιλάω τα ελληνικά might sound more:
  • contrastive (e.g. not another language)
  • or specific (these particular Greek skills / the Greek language as a subject of study)

In your sentence, which talks about a general daily habit, να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα is exactly what a native speaker would say.

What does κάθε μέρα literally mean, and are there alternatives like καθημερινά?

κάθε μέρα literally means “each day” or “every day.”

• κάθε = each / every
• μέρα = day (more colloquial than ημέρα)

Alternatives:

• κάθε ημέρα – more formal / written, same meaning
• καθημερινά – an adverb meaning “daily / every day”

You could also say:

• να μιλάω ελληνικά καθημερινά – to speak Greek daily

But κάθε μέρα is very natural and common in spoken Greek.

Is the word order Ο βασικός μου στόχος είναι… fixed, or can we move words around?

Greek word order is more flexible than English. Some possible variants:

• Ο βασικός μου στόχος είναι να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα. (your sentence – very natural)
• Ο στόχος μου ο βασικός είναι να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα. (more emphatic: my goal, the main one, is…)
• Ο κύριος στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα. (using κύριος instead of βασικός)

However, Ο βασικός μου στόχος είναι… is the most straightforward and typical order for neutral, everyday speech.

How do you pronounce μιλάω and βασικός? Where is the stress?

Stress in Greek is always marked by the accent (´) on one vowel.

• μιλάω – stress on the λά:

  • mi–LÁ–o
  • IPA: /miˈla.o/ or /miˈlao/

• βασικός – stress on the κός:

  • va–si–KÓS
  • IPA: /vasiˈkos/

In the whole sentence, the stressed syllables are:

• βα–σι–ΚΟΣ
• ΣΤΟ–χος
• μι–ΛΑ–ω
• ε–λλη–ΝΙ–κα
• ΚΑ–θε
• ΜΕ–ρα

Each word has one stressed syllable, and that stress never moves.