Learn Hardcore Greek: Το καλοκαίρι ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα στο προάστιο, αλλά ο κήπος μας έχει δέντρα και δροσιά. - In the summer I get hot easily in the suburb, but our garden has trees and coolness.

Definite article with seasons
Greek normally uses the definite article with seasons:
- το καλοκαίρι – (in) summer / the summer
- τον χειμώνα – (in) winter / the winter
So you usually say το καλοκαίρι, not just καλοκαίρι, when you mean "in summer" in a general way.
No preposition needed
Time expressions like το καλοκαίρι, το βράδυ, κάθε μέρα often stand alone, without σε:
- Το καλοκαίρι δουλεύω λιγότερο. – In (the) summer I work less.
- Το βράδυ διαβάζω. – At night I study.
You could say το καλοκαίρι, το χειμώνα with σε in some contexts (στον χειμώνα is unusual in modern usage for “in winter”), but for this temporal meaning it is normally just το καλοκαίρι with no preposition.

There is no word for "I" in the sentence. How do we know ζεσταίνομαι means "I get hot"?

Greek verbs are fully conjugated, and the ending tells you who the subject is.

ζεσταίνομαι is:
- present tense
- 1st person singular
- mediopassive voice

So its basic meaning is “I (myself) get warm / hot.”

Because the person and number are built into the verb ending, Greek normally omits subject pronouns (this is called a “pro‑drop” language):

(Εγώ) ζεσταίνομαι. – I get hot.
The εγώ is only used for emphasis, e.g. Εγώ ζεσταίνομαι, όχι εσύ. – I get hot, not you.

What exactly is ζεσταίνομαι grammatically, and why use it instead of something like είμαι ζεστός?

Grammatically:

ζεσταίνομαι is the mediopassive form of the verb ζεσταίνω (to heat, to warm).
Form: present, 1st person singular, mediopassive → “I get warm / I become hot / I feel hot.”

Usage:

For how you feel (you are becoming or feeling warm), Greek naturally uses ζεσταίνομαι:
- Το καλοκαίρι ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα. – In summer I get hot easily.
είμαι ζεστός/ζεστή literally is “I am warm/hot” as an adjective, and is more neutral with things:
- Το φαγητό είναι ζεστό. – The food is warm.
- For people, είμαι ζεστός/ζεστή is much less common for temperature and can sound odd or have non‑literal/slangy overtones.

So for “I get hot / I feel hot” about yourself, ζεσταίνομαι is the normal, idiomatic verb.

What does εύκολα mean here, and how is it related to εύκολος?

εύκολα means “easily”. It’s an adverb derived from the adjective εύκολος (“easy”).

Pattern: many adjectives in ‑ος form their adverbs by taking the neuter plural ending ‑α:

γρήγορος → γρήγορα – fast → quickly
εύκολος → εύκολα – easy → easily

In the sentence:

ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα = “I get hot easily.”

So εύκολα answers the question “how?” about the verb.

In στο προάστιο, what is στο exactly, and why is προάστιο in that form?

στο is a contraction of the preposition σε (“in, at, to”) plus the neuter definite article το:

σε + το → στο

So στο προάστιο literally is “in/to the suburb.”

About προάστιο:

Its dictionary form is neuter: το προάστιο – the suburb.
After σε, nouns appear in the accusative case, and for neuter singular, nominative and accusative look the same:
- το προάστιο (nom./acc. singular neuter)

So στο προάστιο = σε + το προάστιο = “in the suburb.”

In English we usually say “in the suburbs” (plural). Why does the sentence have singular στο προάστιο instead of something like στα προάστια?

Greek has both:

το προάστιο – a suburb (a specific suburban area)
τα προάστια – the suburbs (the suburban areas of a city in general)

So:

στο προάστιο = in the suburb (in that suburban area where I live)
στα προάστια = in the suburbs (in the suburban region)

The sentence as given describes living in a particular suburb, so στο προάστιο is natural.
If you wanted the more general geographical idea “in the suburbs,” you’d usually say:

Το καλοκαίρι ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα στα προάστια. – In summer I get hot easily in the suburbs.

What does αλλά do in this sentence, and could I replace it with όμως?

αλλά is the standard conjunction “but” that connects two clauses with a contrast:

…στο προάστιο, αλλά ο κήπος μας…
“…in the suburb, but our garden…”

You can often replace αλλά with όμως, but:

αλλά is a coordinating conjunction, goes between clauses.
όμως is more like an adverb meaning “however / though,” and its position is more flexible:
- Το καλοκαίρι ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα στο προάστιο, όμως ο κήπος μας έχει δέντρα και δροσιά.
- Το καλοκαίρι ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα στο προάστιο. Ο κήπος μας όμως έχει δέντρα και δροσιά.

So yes, you can use όμως, but it slightly changes the rhythm and feels a bit closer to “however / though” than to plain “but.”

Why is it ο κήπος μας (“our garden”) and not μας ο κήπος? How do possessive pronouns work here?

Greek has weak possessive pronouns (also called clitic possessives): μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους.

The normal pattern is:

[article] + [noun] + [possessive clitic]

So:

ο κήπος μας – our garden
το σπίτι σου – your house
η μητέρα μου – my mother

The possessive goes after the noun; it is unstressed and “leans” on the noun.

Fronting it (μας ο κήπος) is not standard modern prose; it sounds poetic, highly emphatic, or old‑fashioned. For everyday speech, use ο κήπος μας.

If you want extra emphasis on the possessor, you can use ο δικός μας κήπος – our own garden.

In ο κήπος μας έχει δέντρα και δροσιά, is έχει simply “has”? Could I also say Στον κήπο μας υπάρχουν δέντρα και δροσιά?

Yes, here έχει is the ordinary verb “to have.”

ο κήπος μας έχει δέντρα και δροσιά
= “our garden has trees and coolness.”

Your alternative:

Στον κήπο μας υπάρχουν δέντρα και δροσιά.

is also correct and means:

“In our garden there are trees and coolness.”

Difference in feel:

ο κήπος μας έχει… – a bit more personal/possessive: the garden has these features.
Στον κήπο μας υπάρχουν… – more impersonal/descriptive, like “there exist / there are… in our garden.”

Both are acceptable; the original is very natural and slightly more colloquial.

What exactly does δροσιά mean? Is it just “coolness”?

δροσιά is a feminine, usually uncountable noun that refers to pleasant coolness, typically from shade, fresh air, or lower temperature. It includes nuances like:

cool, fresh air
cool shade
the refreshing cool feeling

So in the sentence, δέντρα και δροσιά suggests:

“trees and (pleasant) coolness” → “trees and cool shade/freshness.”

Common expressions:

Έχει δροσιά. – It’s cool (pleasantly).
Πάμε εκεί γιατί έχει δροσιά. – Let’s go there because it’s nice and cool.

There isn’t always a single perfect English word, so translations often adapt it (“cool air,” “cool shade,” “it’s cool there,” etc.) depending on context.

Why do δέντρα and δροσιά appear without articles? Would έχει τα δέντρα και τη δροσιά be wrong?

Greek often omits the article with:

indefinite plural count nouns (here: δέντρα – trees)
mass/uncountable nouns used in a general sense (here: δροσιά – coolness)

So:

έχει δέντρα – it has (some) trees
έχει δροσιά – it has (some) coolness / it is cool

Adding articles would make them specific/definite:

έχει τα δέντρα και τη δροσιά
≈ “it has the trees and the coolness (that we know about / already mentioned).”

That sounds odd in this general descriptive context. It would only be natural if you were referring to particular, already known trees and a specific kind of coolness you’ve been talking about.

So in the given sentence, no article is the correct, natural choice.

Could we change the word order, for example say Το καλοκαίρι, στο προάστιο ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα? How flexible is the word order here?

Greek word order is quite flexible, especially with adverbial phrases like το καλοκαίρι, στο προάστιο, εύκολα.

All of these are possible and grammatical, with only slight differences in emphasis:

Το καλοκαίρι ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα στο προάστιο…
Το καλοκαίρι, στο προάστιο ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα…
Στο προάστιο ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα το καλοκαίρι…

The most neutral/common is close to the original: time phrase first, then verb, then place:

Το καλοκαίρι ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα στο προάστιο…

Moving parts around typically serves to highlight them:

Starting with Στο προάστιο emphasizes the place.
Putting εύκολα early (Εύκολα ζεσταίνομαι το καλοκαίρι…) emphasizes how easily you get hot.

So yes, you can rearrange the sentence, but the given order is nicely natural and neutral.

Does ζεσταίνομαι here mean a repeated habit every summer, or one specific summer? How does the present tense work in this kind of sentence?

In Greek, the present tense can express:

General/habitual truth
Ongoing current situation

In this sentence:

Το καλοκαίρι ζεσταίνομαι εύκολα στο προάστιο…

it naturally reads as a general habit that happens every summer:

“In summer, I (tend to) get hot easily in the suburb…”

If you wanted to talk about past habit, you’d switch to the imperfect:

Το καλοκαίρι ζεσταινόμουν εύκολα στο προάστιο.
– In (those days) summers I used to get hot easily in the suburb.

So with το καλοκαίρι and the present tense, assume it means “whenever it’s summer / every summer”, not just one particular summer.