Learn Hardcore Greek: Η παιδική μου ζωή ήταν πολύ ήσυχη στο χωριό. - My childhood was very quiet in the village.

Η παιδική μου ζωή = literally The childhood my life, but idiomatically just My childhood.
Without the article, παιδική μου ζωή would sound incomplete or poetic/unusual in normal speech.

So: article + adjective + possessive + noun is the standard pattern:

Η μητέρα μου = my mother
Το σπίτι σου = your house
Ο φίλος μας = our friend

Why is it παιδική and not παιδικός or παιδικό?

παιδικός, παιδική, παιδικό is an adjective meaning child(ish) / of a child / childhood-.

Greek adjectives agree with the noun in:

gender
number
case

The noun ζωή (life) is:

feminine
singular
nominative (subject of the sentence)

So the adjective must match:

η ζωή → η παιδική ζωή (feminine, singular, nominative)

That’s why you see παιδική:

παιδικός = masculine
παιδική = feminine
παιδικό = neuter

Why is μου after παιδική instead of before, like my childhood in English?

Greek possessive pronouns like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους are enclitics – they usually come after the noun (or after the last adjective in the noun phrase).

Basic pattern:

η ζωή μου = my life
το βιβλίο σου = your book

If there’s an adjective, it goes:

η παιδική μου ζωή
article – adjective – possessive – noun

You can’t say μου παιδική ζωή in normal Greek. The possessive doesn’t come in front like English my; it follows the noun phrase.

What does παιδική ζωή literally mean? Is it just childhood?

Literally:

παιδική = child(ish) / of a child / childhood-
ζωή = life

So παιδική ζωή = childhood life, which corresponds to the English abstract noun childhood.

Other common ways to say childhood:

η παιδική ηλικία = childhood age
τα παιδικά μου χρόνια = my childhood years

In everyday speech, η παιδική μου ζωή and τα παιδικά μου χρόνια are both very natural ways to say my childhood.

Why is it ήταν and not είναι or ήμουν?

είναι = is / are (present)
ήταν = was / were (past, 3rd person singular or plural)
ήμουν = I was (past, 1st person singular)

The subject of the sentence is η παιδική μου ζωή (my childhood), which is 3rd person singular. So we need the 3rd-person past form:

Η παιδική μου ζωή ήταν... = My childhood was...

If you said:

είναι → My childhood is very quiet (present; doesn’t match the meaning)
ήμουν πολύ ήσυχος στο χωριό → I was very quiet in the village (changes the subject from my childhood to me).

Why is it πολύ ήσυχη and not πολλή ήσυχη?

Greek has two related words:

πολύς, πολλή, πολύ (adjective) = much / many
- Used mostly before nouns:
  - πολλή δουλειά = much work
  - πολύς κόσμος = many people
πολύ (indeclinable adverb) = very / a lot
- Used before adjectives, adverbs, and verbs:
  - πολύ ήσυχη = very quiet
  - τρέχει πολύ = he/she runs a lot

In ήταν πολύ ήσυχη, πολύ is an adverb modifying the adjective ήσυχη, so it stays in the invariable form πολύ, not πολλή.

Why is ήσυχη in the feminine form?

The adjective ήσυχος, ήσυχη, ήσυχο means quiet / calm.

Again, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe:

ζωή is feminine singular nominative → ήσυχη must also be feminine singular nominative.

So:

η ζωή ήταν ήσυχη = the life was quiet
If the subject were masculine: ο τόπος ήταν ήσυχος (the place was quiet)
If neuter: το χωριό ήταν ήσυχο (the village was quiet)

What case are the words in, and how do they agree?

Breakdown:

Η παιδική μου ζωή
- Η = article, nominative singular feminine
- παιδική = adjective, nominative singular feminine
- μου = possessive clitic (doesn’t change form)
- ζωή = noun, nominative singular feminine
  → This whole phrase is the subject of the sentence.
ήταν = verb (3rd person singular past of είμαι)
πολύ ήσυχη
- πολύ = adverb (invariable)
- ήσυχη = adjective, nominative singular feminine
  → Predicate adjective describing η παιδική μου ζωή
στο χωριό
- σε
  - το → στο (preposition + article)
- χωριό = noun, accusative singular neuter (objects of σε take the accusative)
  → Prepositional phrase: in the village

What exactly does στο χωριό mean? Why στο and not just σε χωριό?

στο is a contraction:

σε (in/at) + το (the) → στο (in the / at the)

So:

στο χωριό = in the village / in my (the) village (a specific, known village)
σε χωριό = in a village (any village, more indefinite)

In this sentence, we’re talking about a specific place where the speaker grew up, so στο χωριό is natural.

Why is στο χωριό at the end? Can it go somewhere else in the sentence?

Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially for things like time and place expressions.

All of these are possible and correct (with slight differences in emphasis):

Η παιδική μου ζωή ήταν πολύ ήσυχη στο χωριό.
(neutral; normal order)
Στο χωριό, η παιδική μου ζωή ήταν πολύ ήσυχη.
(emphasis on in the village; sets the scene)
Η παιδική μου ζωή, στο χωριό, ήταν πολύ ήσυχη.
(more marked; adds in the village as an inserted comment)

The basic meaning doesn’t change; only the focus or flow of information does.

Is η παιδική μου ζωή the only way to say my childhood, or are there more natural alternatives?

Η παιδική μου ζωή is natural and perfectly correct.

Other very common options:

Τα παιδικά μου χρόνια ήταν πολύ ήσυχα στο χωριό.
= My childhood years were very quiet in the village.
Η παιδική μου ηλικία ήταν πολύ ήσυχη στο χωριό.
= My childhood (age/period) was very quiet in the village.

All three are good; τα παιδικά μου χρόνια is especially frequent in everyday speech.

How is παιδική pronounced, and where is the stress?

παιδική is pronounced roughly like pe-thi-KI in English approximation.

παι = [pe] (like pe in pet)
δι = [ði] (like English th in this
- ee)
κή = [ci] or [ki] depending on accent, but for most learners kee is close enough

The stress mark (´) is on the last syllable:

παι-δι-κή

So you say: pe-thi-KÍ.