Learn Hardcore Greek: Στη μεγάλη πλατεία της πόλης έχει πάντα πολλούς ανθρώπους, και όλοι μιλάνε δυνατά, σαν να είναι γιορτή κάθε μέρα. - In the big city square there are always many people, and everyone speaks loudly, as if it is a celebration every day.

Keep the ν before:
- vowels: στην Αθήνα
- κ, π, τ: στην Κρήτη, στην πόρτα
- and the clusters μπ, ντ, γκ, ξ, ψ, τσ, τζ
Drop the ν before other consonants, like μ:
- στη μεγάλη πλατεία (not στην μεγάλη πλατεία in normal modern usage)

So Στη μεγάλη πλατεία is the standard modern form. You mainly need to notice when the ν is clearly kept (before vowels and the consonants above); otherwise it is often left out in everyday speech and writing.

Why does the sentence use έχει to mean there are?

In spoken Greek, έχει is very commonly used impersonally with the meaning there is / there are:

Στη μεγάλη πλατεία της πόλης έχει πάντα πολλούς ανθρώπους.
= In the big square of the city, there are always many people.

Literally it is it has many people, but in English we translate as there are.

More formal or neutral Greek could also say:

… υπάρχουν πάντα πολλοί άνθρωποι.
(using υπάρχουν = there exist)

For everyday speech, έχει with this meaning is completely natural and very frequent.

How does μεγάλη πλατεία work? Why is the adjective before the noun?

In Greek, adjectives usually come before the noun and agree with it in gender, number and case.

η πλατεία – the square (feminine, singular, nominative)
η μεγάλη πλατεία – the big square

The adjective μεγάλη is:

feminine
singular
nominative

so it matches πλατεία exactly.

You could also say η πλατεία είναι μεγάλη (the square is big), but when it is directly modifying the noun, the normal order is:

article + adjective + noun
→ η μεγάλη πλατεία

Putting the adjective after the noun (e.g. η πλατεία η μεγάλη) is possible but has a special emphatic or poetic feel and is not the neutral, everyday pattern.

What does της πόλης mean, and why is πόλης not πόλη?

Της πόλης is genitive case and means of the city.

η πόλη – the city (nominative)
της πόλης – of the city (genitive)

Greek uses the genitive for:

possession or belonging: το σπίτι της πόλης (the city’s house / the house in the city)
many fixed prepositional-like phrases as well

In our sentence:

Στη μεγάλη πλατεία της πόλης
→ In the big square of the city

The accent moves: πόλη → πόλης, as in many feminine nouns ending in -η.

Why is it πολλούς ανθρώπους and not πολλοί άνθρωποι?

Πολλούς ανθρώπους is in the accusative plural, because it is the direct object of έχει.

έχει ποιον; / τι; – whom / what does it have?
→ έχει πολλούς ανθρώπους (it has many people)

Forms of πολύς (much / many), masculine:

nominative plural (subject): πολλοί άνθρωποι – many people (as the subject)
- Πολλοί άνθρωποι μιλάνε δυνατά. – Many people speak loudly.
accusative plural (object): πολλούς ανθρώπους – many people (as the object)
- Έχει πολλούς ανθρώπους. – There are many people.

So πολλούς ανθρώπους is required here because άνθρωπους is the object, not the subject.

Why is the word order έχει πάντα πολλούς ανθρώπους and not πάντα έχει πολλούς ανθρώπους?

Both orders are possible; Greek word order is quite flexible.

Έχει πάντα πολλούς ανθρώπους.
Πάντα έχει πολλούς ανθρώπους.

In everyday speech:

Putting πάντα after the verb (έχει πάντα) is very common and sounds neutral.
Putting πάντα first (Πάντα έχει…) can slightly emphasize always, but it is still normal.

So there is no big grammatical difference here; it is mostly a matter of rhythm and emphasis.

What is μιλάνε and how is it different from μιλούν?

Μιλάνε is the 3rd person plural of the verb μιλάω / μιλώ (to speak, to talk) in the present tense.

For this verb, several 3rd person plural forms are accepted:

μιλούν (more formal / standard)
μιλούν(ε) (neutral)
μιλάνε (very common in spoken Greek)
μιλάν (colloquial shortening)

In the sentence:

όλοι μιλάνε δυνατά – everyone speaks loudly

Using μιλάνε makes the sentence sound very natural and conversational. Όλοι μιλούν δυνατά is also correct, just a bit more neutral/formal.

What does δυνατά mean here, and how is it related to δυνατός?

Δυνατά here is an adverb meaning loudly.

μιλάνε δυνατά – they speak loudly

It is related to the adjective δυνατός:

δυνατός ήχος – a loud / strong sound
δυνατά – loudly, strongly

So you can think of it as “in a strong way”. It can also mean strongly, with force in other contexts:

Χτυπάει δυνατά την πόρτα. – He/She knocks hard on the door.

As an adverb, δυνατά does not change for gender or number; it stays δυνατά.

How does σαν να είναι work? Why do we need να there?

Σαν να is a fixed expression meaning as if / as though.

It is built as:

σαν (like, as)
- να (introduces the subjunctive)
- a verb in the subjunctive (here είναι)

So:

σαν να είναι γιορτή
= as if it is a celebration / like it’s a holiday

You will often see similar patterns:

Σαν να σε ξέρω από παλιά. – As if I know you from long ago.
Σαν να μην καταλαβαίνει. – As if he/she doesn’t understand.

In modern Greek, να + present tense form serves as the subjunctive. Σαν να always takes this να-construction after it.

In English we say as if it were a holiday, but Greek has σαν να είναι γιορτή with είναι (is). Why?

English uses the past form were to mark unreality / hypothesis (subjunctive):
as if it were…

Modern Greek does not mark unreality in the same way. With σαν να, it normally uses the present subjunctive form (here: να είναι) to express:

a comparison
something unreal, hypothetical, or just imagined

So:

σαν να είναι γιορτή κάθε μέρα
literally: as if it is a celebration every day,
but functionally: as if it were a holiday every day

For past-time comparisons you can see the past form:

Ήταν σαν να ήταν γιορτή κάθε μέρα. – It was as if it was/were a holiday every day.

But for a general, vivid description in the present, σαν να είναι is completely natural.

Why is there no article before γιορτή? Why not σαν να είναι η γιορτή?

Here γιορτή is used in a general / indefinite sense:

σαν να είναι γιορτή – as if it’s (a) holiday / a celebration

Greek often omits the article with professions, roles, and general states after είμαι:

Είναι δάσκαλος. – He is a teacher.
Είναι γιορτή. – It is (a) holiday / there is a celebration.
Είναι χαρά. – It is (a) joy.

If you said σαν να είναι η γιορτή, it would sound like you mean a specific, known holiday (the holiday, e.g. Christmas, some particular feast), which is not the idea here. The sentence wants the generic feeling of “like it’s a holiday”.

How does κάθε μέρα work? Why is μέρα singular even though we mean many days?

Κάθε means every / each and it always takes a singular noun:

κάθε μέρα – every day
κάθε βδομάδα – every week
κάθε άνθρωπος – every person

So even though the meaning is “day after day”, the grammar is:

κάθε
- singular noun

In the sentence:

σαν να είναι γιορτή κάθε μέρα
= as if it’s a holiday every day

This is exactly parallel to English every day, which also uses “day” in the singular.