Learn Hardcore Greek: Η βιογραφία αυτή μιλάει για τη ζωή τριών γενιών στην ίδια οικογένεια. - This biography talks about the life of three generations in the same family.

αυτή η βιογραφία: a bit more “pointing,” often used when introducing or contrasting:
- Αυτή η βιογραφία είναι καλύτερη από τις άλλες.
  This biography is better than the others.
η βιογραφία αυτή: often sounds a bit more neutral or slightly more formal/literary, like “this particular biography”, especially in written language.

In everyday speech, αυτή η βιογραφία is more common, but η βιογραφία αυτή is absolutely correct and common in writing.

What form of the verb is μιλάει? Is it the same as μιλά and μιλάει για?

μιλάει is:

3rd person singular present tense of μιλάω / μιλώ (to speak / to talk).
So μιλάει = μιλά = he/she/it speaks / talks.

In modern Greek:

μιλάει and μιλά are both used; μιλάει sounds slightly more colloquial, μιλά slightly more formal or shortened.
With για, μιλάει για means “talks about”:
- Η βιογραφία αυτή μιλάει για…
  This biography talks about…

So:

μιλάει = talks
μιλάει για κάτι = talks about something

Why do we use μιλάει για here and not a different verb like λέει or είναι?

In this context:

μιλάει για = “talks about / is about / deals with”
When we say what a book, film, article, etc. is about, μιλάει για is very common:
- Το βιβλίο μιλάει για τον πόλεμο.
  The book talks about/ is about the war.

Other possibilities:

είναι για:
- Η βιογραφία είναι για τη ζωή του συγγραφέα.
  The biography is about the life of the author.
  Also correct, a bit more neutral, less “active” than μιλάει.
λέει για:
- Το βιβλίο λέει για τη ζωή του.
  The book says/tells about his life.
  Can be used, but μιλάει για is more standard when describing the subject matter of a work.

The original sentence uses μιλάει για to present the content of the biography in a natural, idiomatic way.

Why is it τη ζωή and not just ζωή without an article?

τη ζωή is:

Definite article την (here in its contracted form τη) + feminine noun ζωή in the accusative case.
It literally means “the life”.

Greek uses the definite article more often than English. Even when English says “life” without “the”, Greek often uses the article:

Μιλάει για τη ζωή του.
It talks about his life.

Without the article (μιλάει για ζωή) the meaning would shift to something more general or abstract, like “talks about life (as a concept)”, not the specific life of certain generations.

Here, we mean the specific life of three generations, so τη ζωή is natural and correct.

Why is ζωή in the singular even though there are three generations?

Greek often uses a singular noun for a collective or shared life experience.

τη ζωή τριών γενιών = literally “the life of three generations”, understood as the continuous story of one family across three generations.

If you said τις ζωές τριών γενιών (the lives of three generations), it would focus more on each generation’s life as separate lives.

The singular ζωή in this sentence emphasizes the family’s ongoing story through time, rather than three separate disconnected lives.

What case is τριών γενιών? Why is it in that form, and how is it formed?

τριών γενιών is:

Genitive plural of:
- τρεις → τριών (number “three” in the genitive)
- η γενιά → γενιών (genitive plural: of generations)

We use the genitive to express possession or “of” relationships:

η ζωή τριών γενιών
= the life of three generations

This is exactly how English uses “of”, but Greek shows it through the genitive ending instead of a separate preposition.

Why is there no article before τριών γενιών? Could I say των τριών γενιών?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different nuances:

τη ζωή τριών γενιών
- No article before τριών γενιών.
- Feels a bit more general: “the life of three generations” (not ones already strongly specified).
τη ζωή των τριών γενιών
- With article των before the genitive phrase.
- More specific: “the life of the three generations”, as if those generations are already known or defined in the context.

In the original sentence, τη ζωή τριών γενιών is natural because we are just introducing the idea that the biography covers three generations, not necessarily “the three specific generations we already talked about”.

What does στην ίδια οικογένεια literally mean, and how is it built grammatically?

στην ίδια οικογένεια breaks down as:

σε (in, at, to) + την (feminine accusative definite article) → contracted: στην
ίδια: feminine singular adjective, “same”, agreeing with οικογένεια
οικογένεια: feminine noun, “family”

So:

στην ίδια οικογένεια = “in the same family”.

Grammatically:

The preposition σε normally takes the accusative case, which is why we have την ίδια οικογένεια (feminine accusative).

Why is ίδια feminine? What does it agree with?

Adjectives in Greek agree with the noun in:

Gender
Number
Case

Here:

οικογένεια is feminine, singular, accusative.
Therefore ίδια must also be feminine, singular, accusative.

Forms of ίδιος (“same”) in the singular:

Masculine: ίδιος (nom.), ίδιον/ίδιο (acc.)
Feminine: ίδια (nom./acc.)
Neuter: ίδιο (nom./acc.)

So:

στην ίδια οικογένεια → feminine
If it were masculine: στον ίδιο πατέρα (in/with the same father)
If it were neuter: στο ίδιο σπίτι (in the same house)

Could we change the word order, for example say Μιλάει αυτή η βιογραφία για τη ζωή…? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, Greek word order is fairly flexible. Some possible variants:

Η βιογραφία αυτή μιλάει για τη ζωή τριών γενιών στην ίδια οικογένεια.
Αυτή η βιογραφία μιλάει για τη ζωή τριών γενιών στην ίδια οικογένεια.
Μιλάει αυτή η βιογραφία για τη ζωή τριών γενιών στην ίδια οικογένεια.

They all are grammatical and convey the same basic meaning, but the emphasis shifts:

Starting with Η βιογραφία αυτή: neutral, topic-first: This biography talks about…
Starting with Αυτή η βιογραφία: slightly more contrastive: This (as opposed to another) biography talks about…
Starting with Μιλάει αυτή η βιογραφία…: emphasizes the verb/action first, can sound more stylistic or emphatic in speech or writing.

The original order is the most straightforward, neutral option.

How is βιογραφία pronounced, and where is the stress?

βιογραφία is pronounced:

/vi.o.ɣraˈfi.a/ (approximate IPA)

Syllables: βι-ο-γρα-φι-ά

The stress is on the last syllable: -ά
So you say: vi-o-gra-fi-A

In Greek spelling, the stress is marked by the accent: βιογραφία.

What is the gender and case of βιογραφία, and why is the article η?

βιογραφία:

Gender: feminine
Number: singular
Case: nominative (it is the subject of the verb μιλάει)

The nominative singular feminine article is η:

η βιογραφία = the biography

Because βιογραφία is the subject (“the biography talks about…”), it must be in the nominative case, and so the article is η rather than την or της, etc.

What is the difference between γενιά and γένια? They look similar.

These two words are easy to confuse but mean very different things:

η γενιά (plural: οι γενιές, genitive plural: γενιών)
- Meaning: generation
- Example: τρεις γενιές = three generations
τα γένια
- Meaning: beard / facial hair (plural-only neuter noun)
- Example: Έχει μεγάλα γένια. = He has a big beard.

In our sentence, γενιών clearly comes from γενιά (generation), not from γένια (beard). The accent and the endings help you distinguish them.