Learn Hardcore Greek: Φέτος έχουμε εκλογές και όλοι μιλάνε για την οικονομία και για τα προβλήματα της προηγούμενης κρίσης. - This year we have elections and everyone talks about the economy and about the problems of the previous crisis.

It already contains the idea of “in this year”, so you don’t need a preposition like σε.
Grammatically, φέτος functions like other time adverbs: σήμερα (today), τώρα (now), χθες (yesterday). You just put it at the beginning or end of the sentence:
- Φέτος έχουμε εκλογές.
- Έχουμε εκλογές φέτος.
You might also see εφέτος, which is a slightly more formal/older version of φέτος; in everyday speech φέτος is far more common.

So Φέτος on its own is the natural way to say “This year, …” in Greek.

Why is it έχουμε εκλογές (literally “we have elections”) instead of something like “there are elections”?

Greek often uses έχω (“to have”) where English uses an impersonal “there is / there are”.

Έχουμε εκλογές literally: “we have elections”, but in context it means “(in our country / this year) there are elections”.
The subject of έχουμε is (εμείς) “we”, but it’s implied and not spoken:
- (Εμείς) έχουμε εκλογές φέτος.

This pattern is very common:

Έχουμε μάθημα. – We have class / There is class.
Έχουμε δουλειά. – We have work / There is work to do.

So έχουμε εκλογές is the natural Greek way to say that elections are taking place (for us, in our context).

Why is εκλογές in the plural and without an article? Could it be οι εκλογές or η εκλογή?

Εκλογές is plural because in Greek (as in English “elections”), political elections are normally spoken about in the plural.

Singular: η εκλογή = a (single) election or choice (more abstract).
Plural: οι εκλογές = elections (the political event).

In this sentence:

Έχουμε εκλογές (no article) is like saying “We have elections” in a general/event sense.
You could also say Έχουμε τις εκλογές φέτος, but that sounds like you are referring to some specific, already-known elections on a schedule.
Έχουμε εκλογές φέτος is more neutral and typical when just talking about “this is an election year”.

So: plural is normal, and the article is dropped because we’re referring to the type of event, not a specific one you’ve already identified in the conversation.

Who is the subject of έχουμε here? Is it εμείς or όλοι?

The subject of έχουμε is (εμείς) = “we”.

The sentence actually has two clauses joined by και:

Φέτος έχουμε εκλογές
- Subject: (εμείς), implied.
- Verb: έχουμε.
(και) όλοι μιλάνε για την οικονομία…
- Subject: όλοι (“everyone”).
- Verb: μιλάνε.

So the structure is:

Φέτος (εμείς) έχουμε εκλογές
και (αυτοί / οι άνθρωποι) όλοι μιλάνε για…

Όλοι is not the subject of έχουμε; it’s the subject of μιλάνε in the second part.

What does όλοι mean exactly, and why is it in this form?

Όλοι means “everyone / all (people)”.

It’s the masculine nominative plural form of όλος (“whole, all”), but here it’s used in a general, gender-neutral sense: “everyone”.
It’s the subject of the verb μιλάνε:
- Όλοι μιλάνε… = “Everyone talks / is talking…”

Other common forms:

όλος ο κόσμος μιλάει… – literally “all the world is talking…”, also means “everyone is talking…”
όλοι τους – “all of them”.

In this sentence, όλοι on its own is enough to mean “everybody” in the context of the society/public.

Why is the verb μιλάνε and not μιλούν or μιλάν? Are these forms different?

All of these are related forms of the same verb μιλάω / μιλώ (“to speak, to talk”).

For the 3rd person plural (they):

μιλούν – more formal / standard written form.
μιλάνε – very common in everyday spoken Greek.
μιλάν – also heard in speech, a bit shorter/colloquial.

They all mean “they speak / they talk”.

Pattern: in the present tense, 3rd person plural of many verbs can have a -ουν or -ουνε ending:

γράφουν / γράφουνε – they write
τρώνε / τρών – they eat (slightly irregular spelling)

In this sentence, μιλάνε sounds perfectly natural, informal spoken Greek.

Why is the present tense μιλάνε used, even though in English we might say “are talking”?

Modern Greek uses one present tense for both:

English simple present: “they talk”
English present continuous: “they are talking”

So μιλάνε can mean both, depending on context:

Όλοι μιλάνε για την οικονομία.
= “Everybody is talking about the economy.”
or
= “Everybody talks about the economy.”

The idea of “right now / these days” comes from the context (φέτος, “this year”), not from a different verb form. There is no separate continuous present in Greek like “are talking”.

What does μιλάνε για mean? How does για work here?

Μιλάω για + accusative means “to talk about (something)”.

μιλάω για την οικονομία – I talk about the economy
μιλάνε για τα προβλήματα – they talk about the problems

Here, για means “about / regarding”, not “for” in the sense of “on behalf of”.

So the pattern is:

μιλάω για + [thing] (accusative) = I talk about [thing]

Why is για repeated: για την οικονομία και για τα προβλήματα? Can you drop the second για?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different.

With repetition (as in the sentence):
- …μιλάνε για την οικονομία και για τα προβλήματα…
  This:
- Emphasizes each item slightly more.
- Sounds very clear and a bit more careful.
Without repetition:
- …μιλάνε για την οικονομία και τα προβλήματα…
  This:
- Is also correct.
- Feels a bit more compact and fluent in fast speech.

Repeating για before each noun is a very natural style in Greek when you want to clearly separate the items or give them equal weight.

Why do we say την οικονομία with the article? In English we often just say “about economy” or “about economics”.

In Greek, abstract nouns very often take the definite article, especially when you mean a specific, known concept like “the economy of the country / in general”.

η οικονομία – the economy (as a concrete system or situation)
την οικονομία – accusative form (because of για).

Some examples:

Μιλάνε για την πολιτική. – They talk about politics.
Η δημοκρατία είναι σημαντική. – Democracy is important.

So για την οικονομία is the natural way to say “about the economy”.
Saying για οικονομία (without article) is possible but feels more like “about some economy / about economy in principle” and is less usual in this context.

What is the structure of τα προβλήματα της προηγούμενης κρίσης? Which word modifies which?

Break it down:

τα προβλήματα – “the problems” (neuter plural, nominative/accusative)
της κρίσης – “of the crisis” (feminine singular, genitive)
της προηγούμενης κρίσης – “of the previous crisis”
- προηγούμενης – adjective “previous” (feminine, genitive, singular)
- κρίσης – noun “crisis” (feminine, genitive, singular)

So literally:

τα προβλήματα της προηγούμενης κρίσης
= “the problems of the previous crisis”.

Προηγούμενης agrees with κρίσης in gender, number and case:

gender: feminine
number: singular
case: genitive

That whole genitive phrase της προηγούμενης κρίσης describes τα προβλήματα: “the problems (that belong to / come from) the previous crisis”.

Why is κρίσης in the genitive case? Could you also say από την προηγούμενη κρίση?

Της προηγούμενης κρίσης is in the genitive because it shows possession or relation:

τα προβλήματα της κρίσης
= “the problems of the crisis” / “the crisis’s problems”.

Yes, you can also say:

τα προβλήματα από την προηγούμενη κρίση
= “the problems from the previous crisis”.

Both are correct, but there is a nuance:

της προηγούμενης κρίσης (genitive) sounds a bit more compact and perhaps slightly more formal/neutral.
από την προηγούμενη κρίση emphasizes origin (“from”) more explicitly.

In everyday speech and writing, the genitive της προηγούμενης κρίσης is very common in such expressions.

What exactly does προηγούμενης mean, and how is it different from περασμένης or τελευταίας?

All three can relate to something in the past, but with slightly different nuances:

προηγούμενη – “previous” in a sequence, the one before this one.
- η προηγούμενη κρίση – the crisis before the current one.
περασμένη – “last / past” in time, often about the most recent past.
- η περασμένη εβδομάδα – last week.
τελευταία – “last” (the final one in a series) or “latest”.
- η τελευταία κρίση – the last crisis (either most recent, or final, depending on context).

In της προηγούμενης κρίσης, προηγούμενης suggests “the one that came before the current situation” (e.g. a previous economic crisis as opposed to a new one).

Could the word order in the second part be changed, for example όλοι για την οικονομία μιλάνε? Would that still be correct?

Yes, Greek word order is flexible, and several variations are possible. They are all grammatically correct but may shift emphasis slightly.

Some options:

…και όλοι μιλάνε για την οικονομία…
(neutral: everyone is talking about the economy)
…και όλοι για την οικονομία μιλάνε…
(emphasizes “about the economy” – that’s specifically what they’re talking about)
…και για την οικονομία όλοι μιλάνε…
(strong focus on “about the economy”: as for the economy, everyone is talking about it)

In normal, unmarked speech, όλοι μιλάνε για… is the most straightforward and common order. The given sentence uses this neutral, natural order.