Learn Hardcore Greek: Η φίλη μου μένει σε αυτό το χωριό από παλιά. - My friend female has lived in this village for a long time.

In Greek, the unstressed possessive pronouns (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) almost always come after the noun they belong to:

η φίλη μου = my friend
το σπίτι σου = your house
ο αδελφός μας = our brother

They behave like little clitic words attached to the noun phrase.

So η φίλη μου is the normal, neutral way to say “my (female) friend.”
Putting the possessive before the noun (μου φίλη) is not standard in modern Greek. If you want extra emphasis, you might say η δική μου φίλη (“my friend (as opposed to someone else’s)”).

What exactly does μένει mean here? Is it “lives” or “stays”? Could I use ζει instead?

The verb μένω primarily means:

“to live, reside” (have one’s home somewhere)
“to stay, remain” (not leave a place)

In this sentence, μένει naturally means “lives / resides.” Context tells us we’re talking about where she lives, not a temporary stay.

You can also say:

Η φίλη μου ζει σε αυτό το χωριό από παλιά.

Here ζει (from ζω) also means “lives,” but μένει is more common in everyday speech when talking about where someone resides. ζει can sound a bit more formal, or more about being alive / life in general, depending on context.

Why is the verb in the present tense μένει when the action started long ago? In English we’d say “has lived” or “has been living.”

Modern Greek normally uses the present tense for actions that:

started in the past
continue into the present

when they are accompanied by από (“since”) or εδώ και (“for”):

Μένει εδώ από το 2005. = She has been living here since 2005.
Μένει εδώ εδώ και πολλά χρόνια. = She has been living here for many years.

So μένει … από παλιά is naturally understood as “has been living … since long ago / for a long time.”

Greek does not need a special “perfect” form here; the simple present plus από already carries the “started in the past and still true” meaning.

What does the phrase από παλιά mean, and is it idiomatic?

Yes, από παλιά is a very common idiomatic phrase. Literally it is:

από = from / since
παλιά = long ago, in the old days, for a long time (here used adverbially)

Together από παλιά means something like:

“since long ago”
“for a long time (now)”
“for ages”

It gives a vague, non-specific sense of “not recently; this goes back a long way.”

So μένει σε αυτό το χωριό από παλιά ≈ “she has been living in this village for a long time / since long ago,” without specifying exactly when it started.

Why is παλιά used without an article or noun? Isn’t παλιό an adjective?

The basic adjective is παλιός, -ά, -ό (“old”).

However, the form παλιά is also very often used adverbially, meaning:

“in the past”
“long ago”
“for a long time (now)”

Used this way, it does not take an article or a noun:

Παλιά έμενα στην Αθήνα. = In the past / Long ago I lived in Athens.
Τον ξέρω από παλιά. = I’ve known him for a long time / since long ago.

So in από παλιά, παλιά acts like an adverb (“long ago”), not like an adjective modifying a noun.

Why do we say σε αυτό το χωριό and not just σε αυτό χωριό?

In Greek, when you use a demonstrative like αυτό (“this”) before a noun, you normally also keep the article:

αυτό το χωριό = this village
εκείνο το σπίτι = that house
αυτή η γυναίκα = this woman

So the normal structure is:

[demonstrative] + [article] + [noun]
αυτό το χωριό

Leaving out the article (σε αυτό χωριό) sounds ungrammatical or at best very unnatural in standard modern Greek. The article is an essential part of the noun phrase here.

Why is αυτό in the neuter form? Is it agreeing with χωριό?

Yes. In Greek, demonstratives and adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify.

χωριό is neuter singular.
In σε αυτό το χωριό, the noun phrase is in the accusative case (after σε), neuter singular.

So we use:

αυτό (neuter singular, accusative)
το χωριό (neuter singular, accusative)

If the noun were feminine or masculine, you’d see the corresponding forms:

σε αυτή την πόλη = in this city (πόλη is feminine)
σε αυτόν τον δρόμο = on this street (δρόμος is masculine)

Why doesn’t χωριό change form after σε? Shouldn’t there be a special case ending?

The preposition σε is followed by the accusative case. For many neuter nouns ending in -ό, the nominative and accusative forms are identical:

nominative: το χωριό (the village – subject)
accusative: το χωριό (the village – object / after preposition)

So even though the form looks the same, grammatically σε αυτό το χωριό is accusative.

You would see a visible change with many masculine and feminine nouns:

nominative: ο δρόμος → accusative: τον δρόμο
nominative: η πόλη → accusative: την πόλη

But with το χωριό, nominative and accusative happen to coincide in form.

Could I say σ’ αυτό το χωριό or στο χωριό instead of σε αυτό το χωριό? Are they different?

Yes, you can:

σε αυτό το χωριό → more careful / full form
σ’ αυτό το χωριό → very common spoken contraction of σε αυτό
στο χωριό = “in the village” (no αυτό, so no “this”)

Details:

σε + αυτό → σ’ αυτό
The ε of σε is dropped and we get σ’ before a vowel:
- σε αυτό → σ’ αυτό
σε + το → στο
When there is no demonstrative, we usually contract:
- σε το χωριό → στο χωριό

So:

Μένει σ’ αυτό το χωριό από παλιά. = perfectly natural, same meaning, just a more fluid spoken form.
Μένει στο χωριό από παλιά. = “She has lived in the village for a long time,” but now the idea “this village” becomes just “the village” (less specific, context-dependent).

Can I change the word order, for example Η φίλη μου από παλιά μένει σε αυτό το χωριό? Does the meaning change?

Greek word order is fairly flexible, and all of these are possible:

Η φίλη μου μένει σε αυτό το χωριό από παλιά.
Από παλιά η φίλη μου μένει σε αυτό το χωριό.
Η φίλη μου από παλιά μένει σε αυτό το χωριό.

The basic meaning (“My friend has lived in this village for a long time”) stays the same, but the focus shifts slightly:

Original: neutral; simple statement of where she lives and since when.
Από παλιά at the beginning: light emphasis on the “since long ago” part.
Η φίλη μου από παλιά μένει…: mild emphasis that this particular friend has been living there for a long time (often contrastive in context, e.g., compared to someone who moved there recently).

All are grammatically fine; the original is the most neutral, default word order.