Όταν είμαι λυπημένος, ένα μικρό ποίημα με βοηθάει να χαλαρώσω.

When I am sad, a short poem helps me relax.

Breakdown of Όταν είμαι λυπημένος, ένα μικρό ποίημα με βοηθάει να χαλαρώσω.

• είμαι: to be
• να: to
• με: me
• βοηθάω: to help

Questions & Answers about Όταν είμαι λυπημένος, ένα μικρό ποίημα με βοηθάει να χαλαρώσω.

Why is it είμαι λυπημένος and not something like είμαι λυπηρό or είμαι λύπη?

In Greek, after είμαι (I am) you normally use an adjective that agrees with the subject in gender and number.

• λυπημένος is an adjective meaning “sad” (masculine, singular).
• The (understood) subject is I, and if the speaker is male, that’s masculine singular, so we use λυπημένος.
• If a woman were speaking, she would say είμαι λυπημένη (feminine singular).
• Neuter would be λυπημένο (for a neuter noun, e.g. το παιδί είναι λυπημένο – “the child is sad”).

λύπη is a noun (“sadness”), so είμαι λύπη would sound like “I am sadness,” which is wrong in normal Greek, just like in English.

λυπηρό is an adjective meaning “sad / regrettable” about situations, not about a person’s emotional state. You would say είναι λυπηρό που… (“it is sad that…”), but not είμαι λυπηρό for “I’m sad.”

What is the role of Όταν here, and why is the verb after it in the present tense (είμαι)?

Όταν means “when” in the sense of “whenever / every time that,” introducing a time clause.

In Όταν είμαι λυπημένος, the present tense είμαι is used not for a single moment, but for a general, habitual situation:

• Όταν είμαι λυπημένος, …
  = “When(ever) I’m sad, …” (in general, any time that happens)

If you were talking about one specific incident in the past, you could use the past tense:

• Όταν ήμουν λυπημένος, ένα μικρό ποίημα με βοήθησε να χαλαρώσω.
  “When I was sad, a short poem helped me relax.”

So: Όταν + present here = a general rule / repeated situation.