Breakdown of Η δασκάλα λέει ότι η δική μας γενιά ταξιδεύει πιο εύκολα στο εξωτερικό.
Questions & Answers about Η δασκάλα λέει ότι η δική μας γενιά ταξιδεύει πιο εύκολα στο εξωτερικό.
In Greek, nouns almost always need an article when they refer to a specific person or thing.
- Η δασκάλα = the (female) teacher, a specific teacher already known from context.
- Greek does not usually drop the article with professions the way English can.
So where English can say:
- Teacher says that… Greek normally needs:
- Η δασκάλα λέει ότι…
If you were speaking about teachers in general, you might say:
- Ο δάσκαλος είναι σημαντικός στη ζωή ενός παιδιού.
(The teacher is important in a child’s life.)
Even there, Greek still keeps the article.
Yes. ότι is a conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause, just like English that in she says that….
- Η δασκάλα λέει ότι η δική μας γενιά ταξιδεύει…
= The teacher says that our generation travels…
In speech, English can often drop that:
- The teacher says our generation travels…
In Greek, you usually keep ότι in standard language; dropping it is less common and can sound incomplete or very colloquial.
Both ότι and πως can introduce reported speech and both often translate as that.
- Η δασκάλα λέει ότι…
- Η δασκάλα λέει πως…
In modern standard Greek:
- They are usually interchangeable in this context.
- ότι is a bit more neutral and clearly a conjunction.
- πως feels slightly more colloquial or literary depending on context, but in everyday speech they are both very normal.
Be careful not to confuse ότι (conjunction that) with ό,τι (with a comma), which means whatever / anything that.
All three are possible, but they have slightly different nuance.
- η γενιά μας = our generation (normal, neutral way).
- η δική μας γενιά = our own generation, our particular generation, with emphasis on our.
- η γενιά alone would be the generation, with no possessive.
δική μας is the emphatic possessive:
- μας = our
- δικός / δική / δικό μας = our own (stressed, emphatic form)
So the sentence is subtly stressing our generation in contrast to other generations:
- Η δασκάλα λέει ότι η δική μας γενιά ταξιδεύει…
= The teacher says that our generation (as opposed to others) travels…
The emphatic possessive δικός / δική / δικό agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it refers to.
The noun γενιά:
- Gender: feminine
- Number: singular
- Case: nominative (it is the subject)
So we need the feminine singular nominative form:
- masculine: δικός μας
- feminine: δική μας
- neuter: δικό μας
Because γενιά is feminine, we use:
- η δική μας γενιά
In both Greek and English, generation is a collective noun: grammatically singular, but referring to many people.
- η γενιά = the generation
- η δική μας γενιά ταξιδεύει…
= our generation travels…
You could say οι γενιές (the generations) if you were talking about more than one generation, but here we are describing one specific generation, so singular is correct.
The subject of the verb is η δική μας γενιά:
- It is grammatically singular (one generation), even though it includes many people.
So the verb agrees with γενιά:
- η γενιά ταξιδεύει
(the generation travels)
If the subject were plural, for example:
- οι νεότερες γενιές ταξιδεύουν πιο εύκολα…
(the younger generations travel more easily…)
then the verb would be ταξιδεύουν (3rd person plural).
The Greek present tense (ταξιδεύει) can cover:
- Present time: is traveling
- Habitual action: travels, tends to travel
- General truth / typical behavior: our generation travels more easily
In this sentence, it describes a general and habitual fact about our generation, not a single trip:
- Η δική μας γενιά ταξιδεύει πιο εύκολα…
= Our generation generally travels more easily…
εύκολα here is an adverb, not an adjective.
- εύκολος = easy (adjective, masculine)
- εύκολη = easy (feminine)
- εύκολο = easy (neuter)
- εύκολα = easily (adverb, answering how?)
The verb ταξιδεύει needs an adverb:
- ταξιδεύει εύκολα = travels easily
- ταξιδεύει πιο εύκολα = travels more easily
So:
- adjective: ένα εύκολο ταξίδι (an easy trip)
- adverb: ταξιδεύουμε εύκολα (we travel easily)
Yes, you can say:
- η δική μας γενιά ταξιδεύει πιο εύκολα στο εξωτερικό
- η δική μας γενιά ταξιδεύει ευκολότερα στο εξωτερικό
Both mean our generation travels more easily abroad.
πιο εύκολα:
- Analytic comparative: more easily
- Very common in modern spoken Greek.
ευκολότερα:
- Synthetic comparative: easier / more easily
- Also correct, a bit more formal or written in many contexts, but used in speech too.
Meaning-wise, in this sentence they are effectively the same.
Literally:
- σε = in / to / at
- το = the (neuter singular article)
- εξωτερικό = the outside, the exterior
στο is the contraction of σε + το:
- σε + το = στο
So στο εξωτερικό literally is in/to the outside, but idiomatically it means abroad / overseas / in another country.
Examples:
- Ζει στο εξωτερικό. = He/She lives abroad.
- Θέλω να σπουδάσω στο εξωτερικό. = I want to study abroad.
In Greek, the preposition σε almost always combines with the definite article that follows it:
- σε + τον = στον
- σε + την = στη(ν)
- σε + το = στο
- σε + τους = στους
- σε + τις = στις
- σε + τα = στα
Since εξωτερικό is neuter singular and takes το, we get:
- σε + το εξωτερικό → στο εξωτερικό
This contraction is standard and nearly always used in speech and writing.
Greek word order is relatively flexible because roles are marked by endings, not position.
All of these are grammatical, with small differences in emphasis:
Η δασκάλα λέει ότι η δική μας γενιά ταξιδεύει πιο εύκολα στο εξωτερικό.
(emphasis on our generation versus others)Η δασκάλα λέει ότι η γενιά μας ταξιδεύει πιο εύκολα στο εξωτερικό.
(neutral our generation, less contrastive)
You can also move the subject:
- Η δασκάλα λέει ότι ταξιδεύει η δική μας γενιά πιο εύκολα στο εξωτερικό.
(extra emphasis on η δική μας γενιά)
Basic recommended learner pattern:
- [subject] [verb] ότι [subject] [verb] [adverb] [place]
as in the original sentence.