Learn Hardcore Greek: Όταν οδηγώ, προτιμώ να ακούω ραδιόφωνο αντί να κοιτάω το κινητό. - When I drive, I prefer to listen to the radio instead of looking at my phone.

Why is όταν followed by οδηγώ (present tense)? In English I might say “when I’m driving” or “when I drive”—how does this work in Greek?

In Greek, όταν + present tense is the normal way to talk about repeated or general situations in the present, and it covers both:

“when I drive (generally)” and
“when I’m driving (at any given time)”

So:

Όταν οδηγώ… = Whenever I drive / When I’m driving…

You don’t need a special “-ing” form in Greek; the simple present οδηγώ already includes this idea of “while doing” or “whenever I do” in the right context.

If you wanted to talk about a specific future situation, you could use a future form:

Όταν θα οδηγάω, θα σε πάρω τηλέφωνο.
When I’m driving (then), I’ll call you.

But for general habits and preferences, όταν + present is standard.

What’s the difference between οδηγώ and οδηγάω? Are both correct?

Both forms are correct and common; they’re just two variants of the same verb:

οδηγώ – more “standard”, often a bit more formal or written
οδηγάω – very common in spoken Greek, slightly more informal

They have the same meaning: I drive.

You can conjugate the verb in both ways:

εγώ οδηγώ / οδηγάω
εσύ οδηγείς / οδηγάς
αυτός οδηγεί / οδηγάει, etc.

In your sentence, using οδηγώ is perfectly normal. You could also hear:

Όταν οδηγάω, προτιμώ να ακούω ραδιόφωνο…

Why do we say προτιμώ να ακούω instead of something like προτιμώ ακούω or προτιμώ το να ακούω?

In Greek, many verbs of desire, preference, intention, etc., are followed by να + verb. Προτιμώ is one of them.

The natural pattern is:

προτιμώ να κάνω κάτι – I prefer to do something

So:

Προτιμώ να ακούω ραδιόφωνο. – I prefer to listen to the radio.

Saying προτιμώ ακούω is ungrammatical. The particle να is required to introduce the verb in what’s traditionally called the subjunctive mood.

Το να ακούω ραδιόφωνο is possible but more heavy/abstract:

Προτιμώ το να ακούω ραδιόφωνο από το να κοιτάω το κινητό.
This sounds more formal/bookish. In everyday speech you just say προτιμώ να….

Why is it να ακούω and not να ακούσω? What’s the difference?

Greek has an aspect distinction in these να-forms:

να ακούω – imperfective aspect: ongoing, repeated, or habitual action
να ακούσω – aorist aspect: a single, complete action

In your sentence, we’re talking about a general habit while driving, not one specific act of listening, so the imperfective is right:

προτιμώ να ακούω ραδιόφωνο
I prefer (to be) listening to the radio / to listen (habitually).

If you used να ακούσω here, it would sound like preferring one single act of listening at some specific moment, which doesn’t fit the “when I drive” habitual context.

So:

Habits / “while doing something” → να ακούω
One-off event / “do it once” → να ακούσω (not appropriate in this sentence)

Why is ραδιόφωνο used without an article, while το κινητό has το?

Good observation—this is a typical Greek pattern.

ραδιόφωνο without article
Here it’s used in a generic sense: listening to the radio as an activity. Greek often omits the article with certain mass or “activity” nouns when talking about them in general:
- Ακούω ραδιόφωνο. – I listen to the radio (in general).
- Βλέπω τηλεόραση. – I watch TV.
- Πίνω καφέ. – I drink coffee.
το κινητό with article
This refers to a specific object in the context: my phone. Greek very often uses the definite article instead of a possessive when the possessor is obvious from context:
- το κινητό (my phone)
- τα κλειδιά (my keys)
- το αυτοκίνητο (my car)

So the mixed pattern να ακούω ραδιόφωνο (activity, generic) vs να κοιτάω το κινητό (a particular object) is perfectly natural in Greek.

How does αντί να work exactly? Is it the same as “instead of”? Can I also say αντί or αντί για?

Αντί να is used before a verb and means “instead of doing X”:

αντί να κοιτάω το κινητό – instead of looking at the phone

Structure:

αντί να
- verb (in a να-form)

Variants:

αντί να + verb – instead of doing
- Αντί να βγεις, μείνε σπίτι. – Instead of going out, stay home.
αντί + noun / pronoun – instead of X (no να)
- Πήρε τσάι αντί καφέ. – He took tea instead of coffee.
αντί για + noun / pronoun – also instead of X, a bit more colloquial / explicit
- Αντί για καφέ, πήρε τσάι.

So in your sentence:

αντί να κοιτάω το κινητό is correct because it’s followed by a verb.
αντί κοιτάω το κινητό is wrong; you must have να there.

Why is it να κοιτάω here? Could I say να κοιτάζω or να κοιτάξω instead?

The verb has several close forms:

κοιτάω / κοιτώ – very common, everyday
κοιτάζω – also common; often slightly more “careful” or neutral
κοιτάξω – aorist stem (for single, completed actions)

In this sentence, the key points are:

Aspect
We want the imperfective (ongoing/habitual) because we’re contrasting listening vs (habitually) looking at the phone while driving. So we use να κοιτάω or να κοιτάζω.
Style / preference
- να κοιτάω sounds very natural and conversational.
- να κοιτάζω is also correct and natural; some speakers might use it slightly more.
What about να κοιτάξω?
να κοιτάξω is aorist (one-off action). In this sentence it would sound odd: it would mean instead of (once) taking a look at my phone, which doesn’t match the general-habit meaning.

So:

να κοιτάω το κινητό – best in this context
να κοιτάζω το κινητό – also fine
να κοιτάξω το κινητό – usually not appropriate here

Does το κινητό literally mean “the mobile”? How do I say “mobile phone” more fully, and what is its gender and plural?

Yes, το κινητό is a shortened form of το κινητό τηλέφωνο:

το κινητό (τηλέφωνο) – the mobile (phone)

Details:

Gender: neuter
Singular:
- Nominative: το κινητό
- Genitive: του κινητού
- Accusative: το κινητό
Plural:
- Nominative: τα κινητά
- Genitive: των κινητών
- Accusative: τα κινητά

Examples:

Πού είναι το κινητό μου; – Where is my mobile (phone)?
Έχουμε δύο κινητά στο σπίτι. – We have two mobiles at home.

Why does το κινητό here mean “my phone” and not “the phone” in general? Where is the word μου?

Greek often uses the definite article instead of a possessive when the owner is clear from context, especially with personal objects:

το κινητό – my phone
τα κλειδιά – my keys
το παλτό – my coat
το χέρι – my hand (in many contexts)

In your sentence, the context is “when I drive”, so it is obvious we mean my phone, not someone else’s. Adding μου is possible but usually unnecessary:

…αντί να κοιτάω το κινητό μου.

That’s also correct and just slightly more explicit. Many speakers would still drop μου in casual speech.

Why are both verbs in the να-clauses in the present (να ακούω, να κοιτάω)? Could I mix aspects, like να ακούω ραδιόφωνο αντί να κοιτάξω το κινητό?

Both actions here are:

habitual / typical
happening in parallel with οδηγώ (driving)

So Greek naturally uses imperfective να-forms for both:

να ακούω ραδιόφωνο – (be) listening (habitually / during the driving)
να κοιτάω το κινητό – (be) looking at the phone (habitually / during the driving)

If you say:

να ακούω ραδιόφωνο αντί να κοιτάξω το κινητό

then:

να ακούω = ongoing/habitual
να κοιτάξω = one single, completed act of looking

This sounds inconsistent and strange in this context. You’d normally keep the same aspect for both parallel options:

να ακούω ραδιόφωνο αντί να κοιτάω (ή: να κοιτάζω) το κινητό

Is the comma after Όταν οδηγώ necessary? Could the sentence be written without it?

The comma is standard and recommended here. Greek punctuation puts a comma between a fronted dependent clause and the main clause:

Όταν οδηγώ, προτιμώ να ακούω ραδιόφωνο…

This is similar to English:

When I drive, I prefer to listen to the radio…

If you move the όταν-clause to the end, you usually drop the comma:

Προτιμώ να ακούω ραδιόφωνο αντί να κοιτάω το κινητό όταν οδηγώ.

So:

Subordinate clause first → use a comma
Subordinate clause last → usually no comma (unless for special emphasis)

Can I change the word order, for example: Προτιμώ να ακούω ραδιόφωνο όταν οδηγώ, αντί να κοιτάω το κινητό? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the order, and the basic meaning stays the same. Some natural variations:

Όταν οδηγώ, προτιμώ να ακούω ραδιόφωνο αντί να κοιτάω το κινητό.
– When I drive, I prefer to listen to the radio instead of looking at my phone.
(Original; neutral.)
Προτιμώ να ακούω ραδιόφωνο όταν οδηγώ, αντί να κοιτάω το κινητό.
– I prefer to listen to the radio when I drive, instead of looking at my phone.
(Slightly more focus on “I prefer X when I drive”.)
Προτιμώ, όταν οδηγώ, να ακούω ραδιόφωνο αντί να κοιτάω το κινητό.
– The commas add a small pause/emphasis on the condition “when I drive”.

All are grammatical. The differences are nuances of emphasis, not of core meaning.

How do you pronounce οδηγώ, προτιμώ, ακούω, ραδιόφωνο, and κινητό?

Approximate pronunciation with English-like hints (stress in bold):

οδηγώ – o-thi-GO
- θ like th in think.
- Final ώ is stressed, like “go” without the final w.
προτιμώ – pro-ti-MO
- προ like pro, τι like tee, stress on last syllable.
ακούω – a-KOO-o (often sounds like a-KOO)
- In fast speech the final ω is weak; it often sounds like two syllables: a-KOO.
ραδιόφωνο – ra-thi-O-fo-no
- ρα like ra, δι like dhi with th as in this,
- stress on ό: ra-dhi-O-fo-no.
κινητό – ki-ni-TO
- κι like kee, νη like nee, stress on last syllable.

Using IPA (more precise):

οδηγώ – /oðiˈɣo/
προτιμώ – /protiˈmo/
ακούω – /aˈku.o/ (often /aˈku.o/ ~ /aˈkuo/)
ραδιόφωνο – /raðiˈofono/
κινητό – /ciniˈto/ (the κ before ι is a bit palatal, like ky).