Learn Hardcore Greek: Μετά την αγορά πηγαίνω με την παρέα μου στην πλατεία και καθόμαστε σε ένα καφέ δίπλα στο πεζοδρόμιο. - After the market I go with my group of friends to the square and we sit at a café next to the sidewalk.

With nouns, Greeks commonly use either form.
With pronouns, you pretty much must use από:
- ✅ μετά από μένα (“after me”), not μετά μένα.

So Μετά την αγορά is completely normal and natural.

Why is the verb πηγαίνω used, and can I say πάω instead?

Both πηγαίνω and πάω mean “I go.”

πηγαίνω: slightly more neutral/formal.
πάω: very common, slightly more colloquial.

In this sentence, you can use either:

Μετά την αγορά πηγαίνω…
Μετά την αγορά πάω…

They mean the same thing here: “After shopping, I go…”

Why is the verb in the simple present πηγαίνω? In English I might say “I’m going” or “I go.”

Greek present tense covers both:

habitual actions (“I go there every day”), and
actions happening now (“I am going there now”).

So πηγαίνω can mean both “I go” and “I am going”, depending on context.

In this sentence, it most naturally means a regular habit:

After shopping, I (usually) go with my friends to the square…

Why is there no word for “I” (εγώ)? How do we know it means “I go”?

Greek is a “pro-drop” language: subject pronouns are usually omitted because the verb ending shows the person.

πηγαίνω → the ending -ω tells you it’s 1st person singular → “I go”.
If you say εγώ πηγαίνω, it adds emphasis: I go (as opposed to someone else).

So:

Πηγαίνω στην πλατεία. = I go to the square.
Εγώ πηγαίνω στην πλατεία. = I go to the square (contrast/emphasis).

What does παρέα mean exactly in με την παρέα μου? Is it the same as “friends”?

Παρέα literally means “company, group of people you hang out with.”

In με την παρέα μου, it means:

with my group of friends / with my mates / with my crowd

It’s very close in meaning to “friends”, but:

με την παρέα μου = with my social group, my gang, the people I usually hang out with.
με τους φίλους μου = with my friends.

Often they overlap; in many contexts you could use either.

Why is it με την παρέα μου and not just με παρέα μου? Why the article την?

In Greek, when you have a noun + possessive pronoun (μου, σου, του, etc.), you normally keep the definite article:

η παρέα μου = my group of friends
το σπίτι μου = my house
η μητέρα μου = my mother

So with a preposition:

με την παρέα μου = with my group of friends
με το σπίτι μου (less likely; grammar example)
με τη μητέρα μου = with my mother

Leaving out the article (με παρέα μου) is ungrammatical in standard modern Greek.

What is στην in στην πλατεία? Why not σε την πλατεία?

Στην is simply the contracted form of:

σε (in/at/to) + την (the, feminine accusative) → στην

Similarly:

σε + το → στο
σε + τον → στον

So:

στην πλατεία = σε την πλατεία = to the square / at the square
στο πεζοδρόμιο = σε το πεζοδρόμιο = on the sidewalk

In normal modern Greek, you almost always use the contracted forms (στο, στην, στον).

How should I understand στην πλατεία? Is πλατεία a “square”, “plaza”, or “park”?

Πλατεία is:

a town square / city square / plaza — an open public space, often with cafés, benches, maybe a fountain.

So στην πλατεία means:

to the square / at the square,
not “to the park” (στο πάρκο) and not “block” (as in city block).

Why is it καθόμαστε for “we sit”? What verb is this?

The verb is κάθομαι, a common -ομαι verb (a so‑called “middle/passive” verb) that is inherently intransitive and means “to sit / to be sitting / to sit down.”

Its present tense forms include:

εγώ κάθομαι – I sit / I am sitting
εσύ κάθεσαι – you sit
αυτός/αυτή κάθεται – he/she sits
εμείς καθόμαστε – we sit
εσείς κάθεστε / καθόσαστε – you (pl.) sit
αυτοί κάθονται – they sit

So και καθόμαστε σε ένα καφέ… means:

and we sit (down) at a café…

Greek normally uses κάθομαι (not a separate “to sit” verb in active voice) for this meaning.

Why is it σε ένα καφέ and not σε έναν καφέ? Is καφέ masculine or neuter?

There are two related words:

ο καφές (masculine, declinable) = the drink, coffee
- έναν καφέ = a coffee (to drink)
το καφέ (neuter, indeclinable) = the café, the coffee shop
- ένα καφέ = a café (a place)

In your sentence, the meaning is clearly “a café / coffee shop”, so:

σε ένα καφέ = in/at a café (place) → neuter ένα

If the speaker meant the drink, they’d typically say:

πίνω έναν καφέ = I drink a coffee (masc. accusative έναν)

Note: in casual speech, some people drop the final -ν and say ένα καφέ even for the drink, which can confuse learners, but the standard distinction is as above.

What does δίπλα στο πεζοδρόμιο literally mean, and why is στο used?

δίπλα = next, beside
σε = in/at/to
το πεζοδρόμιο = the sidewalk / pavement (BrE)

δίπλα σε + accusative means “next to / beside.”

δίπλα στο πεζοδρόμιο = δίπλα σε το πεζοδρόμιο → “next to the sidewalk.”

So σε + το has contracted to στο, as usual:

στο πεζοδρόμιο = on/by the sidewalk
δίπλα στο πεζοδρόμιο = next to the sidewalk.

Is στο here some kind of dative case?

No. Modern Greek no longer has a separate dative.

The preposition σε (in/at/to) is followed by the accusative case, and then often contracts with the article:

σε + το σπίτι → στο σπίτι (to/at the house)
σε + την πλατεία → στην πλατεία
σε + το πεζοδρόμιο → στο πεζοδρόμιο

So in δίπλα στο πεζοδρόμιο, στο is just σε + το with the noun in accusative, not dative.

Why does Greek use so many definite articles here: την αγορά, την παρέα μου, την πλατεία, στο πεζοδρόμιο, when in English I might say “after shopping, I go with friends to the square and we sit at a café next to the sidewalk”?

Modern Greek uses the definite article more often than English. Some key points:

With abstract or activity nouns:
- την αγορά = literally “the shopping,” even when English uses no article:
  - Μετά την αγορά ≈ “After (the) shopping.”
With noun + possessive:
- η παρέα μου, η μητέρα μου, το σπίτι μου always take the article:
  - με την παρέα μου = with my friends/group.
With specific locations:
- στην πλατεία, στο πεζοδρόμιο
  Greek usually treats these as definite (“the square,” “the sidewalk there”), even if English might drop “the” or use it more loosely.

So the Greek sentence is naturally full of articles, while the most idiomatic English translation often drops some of them.