Breakdown of Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμος πριν από την εξέταση.
Questions & Answers about Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμος πριν από την εξέταση.
Modern Greek doesn’t really use an infinitive the way English does.
Instead, it uses να + a verb (subjunctive mood) to express ideas like “to do / to be / to go” after another verb.
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι ήρεμος
literally: I try that I be calm → I try to be calm.
Here:
- προσπαθώ = I try / I am trying
- να είμαι = (subjunctive) “to be”
So να είμαι is the Greek way to say “to be” after προσπαθώ (and after many other verbs that take a complement clause).
In Modern Greek, the present subjunctive of είμαι looks exactly the same as the present indicative:
- (Εγώ) είμαι = I am (indicative)
- (να) είμαι = (that) I be / to be (subjunctive)
What tells you it’s subjunctive is not a special verb ending, but the particle «να» in front of it.
So:
- Είμαι ήρεμος. = I am calm. (simple statement, indicative)
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι ήρεμος. = I try to be calm. (subjunctive after να)
Yes, «όσο γίνεται» is a very common expression.
Literally:
- όσο = as much (as)
- γίνεται = it becomes / it is possible / it can be (from γίνομαι, “to become, to happen”).
Together, όσο γίνεται means:
- “as much as possible”,
- or “as … as I/it can be” in context.
So:
- όσο γίνεται ήρεμος ≈ as calm as possible / as calm as I can be.
You’ll hear similar structures:
- όσο γίνεται πιο ήρεμος = as calm as possible (literally “as more calm as possible”)
- όσο γίνεται πιο γρήγορα = as quickly as possible
Both are very close in meaning, but there is a nuance:
- όσο μπορώ = as much as I can (focus on my own ability)
- όσο γίνεται = as much as possible (more general: as much as it can be done / as is feasible)
In your sentence, you could say:
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο μπορώ ήρεμος.
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμος.
Both are natural.
«όσο μπορώ» sounds a bit more personal (“as much as I can manage”),
«όσο γίνεται» sounds slightly more general (“as much as it is possible to be calm”).
Greek adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun (or pronoun) they describe.
Here, ήρεμος describes the subject εγώ (I).
By default, if the speaker is male, we use masculine singular:
- (male speaker) Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμος.
If the speaker is female, the adjective should be feminine:
- (female speaker) Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμη.
So:
- ήρεμος = calm (masculine, singular, nominative)
- ήρεμη = calm (feminine, singular, nominative)
- ήρεμοι = calm (masculine plural)
etc.
«Πριν από» means “before” in the temporal sense.
In your sentence:
- πριν από την εξέταση = before the exam.
Yes, you can also say:
- πριν την εξέταση (without από)
This is very common in everyday speech and is also correct.
Rough guide:
- πριν από + noun / article+noun is slightly more explicit and a bit more neutral/formal.
- πριν + article+noun is very common and natural in speech.
Both:
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι ήρεμος πριν από την εξέταση.
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι ήρεμος πριν την εξέταση.
are fine and mean the same thing in this context.
«η εξέταση» (the exam) is a feminine noun.
In Greek:
- Nominative singular: η εξέταση (subject)
- Accusative singular: την εξέταση (object, after prepositions like πριν από)
After πριν από, the noun goes in the accusative:
- πριν από την εξέταση = before the exam.
We also usually keep the definite article in Greek where English might omit it:
- Greek: πριν από την εξέταση
- English: before (the) exam / before the exam
So την is just the feminine singular accusative article that matches εξέταση.
Yes. Greek word order is fairly flexible, especially with time expressions. You can say:
- Πριν από την εξέταση προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμος.
This is perfectly correct.
It just puts extra emphasis on the time frame “before the exam”.
Both orders are natural:
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμος πριν από την εξέταση.
- Πριν από την εξέταση προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμος.
Not always, but very often.
When προσπαθώ is followed by another verb (“I try to do something”), you normally use να:
- Προσπαθώ να διαβάσω. = I try to study.
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι ήρεμος. = I try to be calm.
προσπαθώ can also stand alone or with an adverb:
- Προσπαθώ πολύ. = I make a big effort / I try hard.
- Προσπαθώ καθημερινά. = I try every day.
So προσπαθώ + να + verb is the standard pattern when you specify what you are trying to do.
Yes, you can say that, but there is a nuance:
να είμαι ήρεμος
→ focus on the state itself: to be calm (in general / during that period).να παραμείνω ήρεμος (from παραμένω = to remain)
→ focus on staying calm, not losing your calmness when something might disturb you.
So:
Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμος πριν από την εξέταση.
= I try to be as calm as possible before the exam (in general).Προσπαθώ να παραμείνω όσο γίνεται πιο ήρεμος κατά τη διάρκεια της εξέτασης.
= I try to remain as calm as possible during the exam (not to stop being calm once it has started).
In your original context (before the exam), να είμαι ήρεμος is simpler and very natural.
Προσπαθώ is the present tense, 1st person singular of the verb προσπαθώ (to try, to make an effort).
Present tense (active voice):
- (εγώ) προσπαθώ = I try
- (εσύ) προσπαθείς = you try
- (αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) προσπαθεί = he/she/it tries
- (εμείς) προσπαθούμε = we try
- (εσείς) προσπαθείτε = you (pl./formal) try
- (αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά) προσπαθούν(ε) = they try
Here, προσπαθώ means:
- I am trying (right now), or
- I try (generally, as a habit or attitude).
The context “before the exam” suggests a more general or repeated effort: I try to be as calm as possible before an exam.
Yes, this is a very common pattern in Greek:
- όσο πιο + adjective + γίνεται
Examples:
- όσο πιο ήρεμος γίνεται = as calm as possible
- όσο πιο γρήγορα γίνεται = as fast as possible
- όσο πιο απλά γίνεται = as simply as possible
Your sentence could be:
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο γίνεται ήρεμος.
- Προσπαθώ να είμαι όσο πιο ήρεμος γίνεται.
The second is a bit more emphatic, but both are idiomatic and mean essentially the same thing.