Learn Hardcore Greek: Και η μαμά μου ψηφίζει πάντα, ακόμα κι όταν είναι κουρασμένη, γιατί πιστεύει ότι οι εκλογές επηρεάζουν την καθημερινή μας ζωή. - And my mom always votes, even when she is tired, because she believes that elections affect our daily life.

Και is the conjunction “and”, but at the beginning of a sentence it often works more like a discourse marker: it links this sentence to the previous thought or story.

It suggests: “And also / And what’s more, my mom always votes…”
Grammatically it is not necessary; you could say Η μαμά μου ψηφίζει πάντα… and the sentence would still be correct.
Using Και just makes it sound more natural and connected in context, like in English when we sometimes start with “And” in conversation or narrative.

Why do we say η μαμά μου instead of just μαμά μου? In English we say “my mom”, not “the my mom”.

In Greek, it is normal to keep the definite article even when using a possessive pronoun:

η μαμά μου = the mom my → “my mom”
ο πατέρας σου = “your father”
το σπίτι μας = “our house”

The pattern is usually:

article + noun + possessive pronoun

You can drop the article in some special cases:

In direct address: Μαμά, έλα εδώ! (“Mom, come here!”) – no article.
In some fixed expressions and very informal speech.

But in a normal declarative sentence like this, η μαμά μου with the article is the standard, natural form.

What’s the difference between μαμά and μητέρα?

Both mean “mother”, but they differ in register and tone:

μαμά: informal, affectionate, everyday word → like “mom / mum / mommy”.
μητέρα: more formal or neutral → like “mother” in English. It sounds a bit more serious or respectful.

So η μαμά μου feels warm and colloquial, well suited to personal, everyday speech.

What tense and person is ψηφίζει, and who is the subject?

ψηφίζει is:

Present tense
Active voice
3rd person singular

The subject is η μαμά μου (“my mom”). So:

η μαμά μου ψηφίζει = “my mom votes / is voting”

The present tense in Greek is used for:

habits / regular actions (as here: “always votes”)
general truths
actions happening now (depending on context)

Where can πάντα go in the sentence? Could we say η μαμά μου πάντα ψηφίζει or πάντα η μαμά μου ψηφίζει?

πάντα means “always”, and like many adverbs in Greek, it is fairly flexible in position. All of these are grammatically correct:

Η μαμά μου ψηφίζει πάντα.
Η μαμά μου πάντα ψηφίζει.
Πάντα η μαμά μου ψηφίζει.

Nuances:

Η μαμά μου ψηφίζει πάντα: very natural, neutral; adverb after the verb.
Η μαμά μου πάντα ψηφίζει: also common; a tiny bit more emphasis on πάντα.
Πάντα η μαμά μου ψηφίζει: often gives stronger emphasis, like “It’s always my mom who votes” (possibly in contrast to others who don’t).

In your sentence, ψηφίζει πάντα is the most straightforward and common-sounding choice.

What does the expression ακόμα κι όταν mean, and why is it κι instead of και?

ακόμα κι όταν means “even when”.

ακόμα (or ακόμη) = “still / yet / even” (here: “even”)
και = “and”, but in expressions like ακόμα και it functions like English even:
- ακόμα και όταν… = “even when…”

When και comes before a vowel (here όταν), it is very commonly shortened to κι in speech and writing:

και όταν → κι όταν
και έτσι → κι έτσι

So:

ακόμα και όταν and ακόμα κι όταν mean the same thing.
The form with κι is just smoother and more natural before a vowel.

Why is κουρασμένη in the feminine form?

κουρασμένη is the feminine singular form of the adjective meaning “tired”.

In Greek, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

Gender (masculine, feminine, neuter)
Number (singular, plural)
Case (nominative, accusative, etc.)

Here:

The noun is η μαμά → feminine, singular, nominative.
So the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative: κουρασμένη.

Other forms would be:

κουρασμένος (masculine singular)
κουρασμένο (neuter singular)

Because μαμά is feminine, only κουρασμένη is correct in this context.

γιατί can mean “why” or “because”. How do I know which it is here, and is the comma important?

γιατί has two main uses:

Interrogative “why” (usually in questions)
- Γιατί δεν ήρθες; = “Why didn’t you come?”
Conjunction “because” (introducing a reason)
- Δεν ήρθα, γιατί ήμουν άρρωστος. = “I didn’t come, because I was sick.”

In your sentence, γιατί introduces the reason for the previous statement (“she always votes”), so it means “because”.

The comma helps:

…, γιατί πιστεύει ότι…
- Comma + γιατί
  - clause = “because …”

In questions, you’ll usually see γιατί at the beginning and no comma:

Γιατί πιστεύει ότι οι εκλογές…; = “Why does she believe that the elections…?”

What is the role of ότι after πιστεύει? Could we use πως instead?

Here ότι is a subordinating conjunction meaning “that” (introducing a content clause):

πιστεύει ότι οι εκλογές επηρεάζουν…
= “she believes that elections affect…”

So ότι links the verb πιστεύει (“believes”) to what she believes.

Yes, you can also use πως in this context:

πιστεύει πως οι εκλογές επηρεάζουν…

In modern Greek:

ότι and πως are both common after verbs like λέω, πιστεύω, νομίζω, ξέρω.
ότι is often a bit more “standard” or clear in writing; πως can sound slightly more colloquial, but the difference is small and both are widely accepted.

(Be careful not to confuse ότι the conjunction with ό,τι [with a comma] = “whatever / anything that”. Here we have ότι without a comma.)

Why do we say οι εκλογές with a definite article? In English we just say “elections”.

Greek uses the definite article much more frequently than English, even in fairly general statements.

οι εκλογές literally = “the elections”
But it can correspond to English “elections” both in a general and a specific sense, depending on context.

We often use the article:

With abstract or general plural nouns:
- Οι εκλογές επηρεάζουν… = “Elections affect…”
- Οι άνθρωποι είναι κοινωνικά όντα. = “People are social beings.”

English often drops “the” where Greek keeps ο/η/το / οι/οι/τα. So οι εκλογές here is the natural Greek way to express the general idea of elections.

How does επηρεάζουν work grammatically? What case is την καθημερινή μας ζωή?

επηρεάζουν is:

Present tense
Active voice
3rd person plural

The subject is οι εκλογές (plural), so the verb is also plural:

οι εκλογές επηρεάζουν = “the elections affect”

την καθημερινή μας ζωή is the direct object of the verb:

It is in the accusative case (used for direct objects).
Breakdown:
- την = feminine singular accusative article
- καθημερινή = adjective, feminine singular accusative
- μας = “our” (possessive pronoun)
- ζωή = “life”, feminine singular accusative

So structurally:

(Subject) οι εκλογές → (Verb) επηρεάζουν → (Object) την καθημερινή μας ζωή

Why is it την καθημερινή μας ζωή and not η καθημερινή ζωή μας? Is that wrong?

Both patterns are grammatically correct:

την καθημερινή μας ζωή
την καθημερινή ζωή μας

The usual and most natural order with a possessive is:

article + (adjective) + noun + possessive
η ζωή μας, την καθημερινή ζωή μας

However, placing the possessive before the noun is also possible and common:

την καθημερινή μας ζωή

This order can sometimes give a subtle emphasis to μας (“our everyday life”), but the difference is very small in this sentence. Both forms would be understood the same way in practice.

Note that whichever order you choose, the article and adjective must still agree with ζωή and be in the accusative singular feminine:

την καθημερινή μας ζωή
την καθημερινή ζωή μας

(You wouldn’t say η καθημερινή μας ζωή here because after επηρεάζουν you need the accusative: την, not η.)