Στο υπόγειο κρατάμε παλιά βιβλία και κουτιά που δεν χωράνε στο διαμέρισμα.

In the basement we keep old books and boxes that don’t fit in the apartment.

Breakdown of Στο υπόγειο κρατάμε παλιά βιβλία και κουτιά που δεν χωράνε στο διαμέρισμα.

• και: and
• δεν: not
• σε: in
• το βιβλίο: the book
• που: that
• παλιός: old
• το διαμέρισμα: the apartment
• κρατάω: to keep
• χωράω: to fit
• το υπόγειο: the basement
• το κουτί: the box

Questions & Answers about Στο υπόγειο κρατάμε παλιά βιβλία και κουτιά που δεν χωράνε στο διαμέρισμα.

What does στο υπόγειο literally mean, and why is it στο and not something else?

Στο υπόγειο literally means “in the basement” or “down in the basement.”

• σε + το = στο:
  
  • σε = in / at / to
  • το = the (neuter singular)
  • Together they contract to στο.

Υπόγειο is a neuter noun (το υπόγειο), so the correct form is στο.
You would see στον with masculine nouns (e.g. στον κήπο = in the garden).

Why does the sentence start with Στο υπόγειο instead of starting with the subject (e.g. “We”)?

Greek word order is flexible. Starting with Στο υπόγειο puts emphasis on the place:

• Στο υπόγειο κρατάμε… = In the basement we keep… (focus on the location)
• Κρατάμε παλιά βιβλία… στο υπόγειο. = We keep old books… in the basement. (more neutral order)

Both are correct; beginning with Στο υπόγειο just foregrounds the location.

Where is the word “we” in this sentence? Why isn’t εμείς used?

Greek usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the subject.

• κρατάμε is 1st person plural present → we keep / we are keeping.

So the full form would be Εμείς στο υπόγειο κρατάμε…, but εμείς is normally omitted unless you want to emphasize we (contrast: we, not someone else).

What does κρατάμε mean here exactly? Is it “hold,” “keep,” or “store”?

Κρατάμε comes from κρατάω / κρατώ. It can mean:

• to hold (physically): κρατάω ένα βιβλίο = I’m holding a book
• to keep / retain: κρατάμε παλιά βιβλία = we keep old books
• by extension, to store things somewhere

In this sentence, κρατάμε means “we keep / store” them in the basement, not that we’re physically holding them. It’s a present tense describing a habitual situation.

Why is there no article before παλιά βιβλία and κουτιά? Why not τα παλιά βιβλία και τα κουτιά?

Greek often omits the article with plural nouns when they are indefinite or general:

• παλιά βιβλία = (some) old books
• κουτιά = (some) boxes

If you say τα παλιά βιβλία και τα κουτιά, you are talking about specific, known books and boxes (for example, ones already mentioned in the conversation).

Here, the idea is “we keep old books and boxes” in general, not a particular set that has already been identified, so no article is used.

What exactly does παλιά mean here, and why does it go before the noun?

παλιά is the feminine plural form of the adjective παλιός and here means “old” (not new / aged).

• παλιά βιβλία = old books

Adjectives normally go before the noun in Greek when they simply describe it:

• παλιά βιβλία (old books)
• μεγάλα κουτιά (big boxes)

παλιά can also mean “former” depending on context (e.g. παλιά δουλειά = former job), but here it clearly means old in age.

Does κουτιά have a singular form, and what gender is it?

Yes:

• Singular: το κουτί = the box
• Plural: τα κουτιά = the boxes

It is neuter (like many nouns ending in -ι / -ιό / -μα).
In the sentence, κουτιά is plural without an article, so it simply means “boxes” (some boxes).

What is the role of που here, and why doesn’t it change form like “who/which/that” in English?

που is a relative pronoun here, meaning “that / which / who”.

• κουτιά που δεν χωράνε στο διαμέρισμα
  = boxes that don’t fit in the apartment

Important points about που:

• It is invariable: same form for masculine/feminine/neuter, singular/plural.
• It can translate who, that, which depending on context.
• It is very common in everyday speech; more formal alternatives (like ο οποίος, η οποία, το οποίο) do change form, but που itself does not.

Does που refer only to κουτιά, or to παλιά βιβλία και κουτιά together?

Grammatically, που can refer to the whole phrase before it:

• παλιά βιβλία και κουτιά που δεν χωράνε στο διαμέρισμα
  → old books and boxes that don’t fit in the apartment

So in normal reading, it’s understood as both the old books and the boxes that don’t fit.

If you wanted it clearly to refer only to “κουτιά”, you could rephrase, for example:

• Στο υπόγειο κρατάμε παλιά βιβλία και κουτιά, αυτά που δεν χωράνε στο διαμέρισμα.
• Στο υπόγειο κρατάμε παλιά βιβλία και εκείνα τα κουτιά που δεν χωράνε στο διαμέρισμα.

What does χωράνε mean, and is this the only correct form?

χωράνε comes from χωράω / χωρώ, meaning to fit (in size/capacity):

• Δεν χωράνε στο διαμέρισμα.
  = They don’t fit in the apartment.

3rd person plural present can be:

• χωράνε (very common in spoken/colloquial Greek)
• χωρούν(ε) (more standard / formal)

Both χωράνε and χωρούν(ε) are correct; χωράνε sounds more conversational.

Why is the verb χωράνε plural?

Because its subject is plural:

• Subject: παλιά βιβλία και κουτιά → “old books and boxes” (plural)
• Verb: χωράνε → “they fit / they don’t fit”

In Greek, the verb must agree in number with the subject, just like in English.

Why do we say στο διαμέρισμα with the article, if in English we just say “in the apartment” to mean “in our apartment”?

το διαμέρισμα = the apartment (neuter, singular).
In Greek, when you refer to a specific apartment (typically our apartment, the one we live in), you normally use the definite article:

• στο διαμέρισμα = in the (particular) apartment

English also uses “the” here, but even when English might drop it in other phrases, Greek tends to keep the article with specific, known places (το σπίτι, το σχολείο, το γραφείο, etc.). Here, στο διαμέρισμα clearly means in our apartment, where we live.

Is there any difference between διαμέρισμα and σπίτι in this kind of sentence?

Yes, there’s a nuance:

• το διαμέρισμα = the apartment (a flat in a building)
• το σπίτι = the house / home (can be a house or just “home” in general)

In many contexts you could say:

• που δεν χωράνε στο σπίτι
  = that don’t fit in the house / at home

The original sentence uses διαμέρισμα to be more specific: it tells you the home is an apartment, not a standalone house.