Breakdown of Ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου είναι ήρεμος και υπομονετικός, δεν παραπονιέται ποτέ.
Questions & Answers about Ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου είναι ήρεμος και υπομονετικός, δεν παραπονιέται ποτέ.
In Greek, grammatical gender is a property of the noun, not of the person or thing it refers to.
- χαρακτήρας is a masculine noun, so it always takes:
- the masculine article ο
- masculine adjectives: ήρεμος, υπομονετικός
- It doesn’t matter that it’s the character of my (female) friend; the word χαρακτήρας itself is masculine, so everything agreeing with it must be masculine.
So you say:
- Ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου είναι ήρεμος. not
- Ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου είναι ήρεμη. ❌
της φίλης μου is in the genitive case, and it literally means of my friend.
- Ο χαρακτήρας = the character
- της φίλης μου = of my friend
Greek often forms possession with:
- [the possessed thing] + [genitive of the owner]
- ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου = the character of my friend
(i.e. my friend’s character)
- ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου = the character of my friend
If you said:
- Η φίλη μου είναι ήρεμη και υπομονετική.
that would mean My friend is calm and patient, with η φίλη as the subject, not ο χαρακτήρας.
φίλη is a feminine noun (friend), and here it appears in the genitive singular to show possession.
Declension (singular):
- Nominative: η φίλη (the friend – subject)
- Genitive: της φίλης (of the friend – possession)
- Accusative: τη φίλη (the friend – object)
- Vocative: φίλη! (friend! – direct address)
Because it’s the character of my friend, we need the genitive:
- της φίλης μου = of my friend
Adjectives in Greek must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.
- The noun being described here is χαρακτήρας (masculine, singular, nominative).
- Therefore the adjectives must be:
- masculine: ήρεμος, υπομονετικός
- singular
- nominative
So:
- Ο χαρακτήρας είναι ήρεμος.
- Ο χαρακτήρας είναι υπομονετικός.
If you changed the subject:
- Η φίλη μου είναι ήρεμη και υπομονετική.
(Now the adjectives are feminine, agreeing with η φίλη.)
You can, but the nuance changes slightly.
- ήρεμος και υπομονετικός = calm and patient
(clear linking between two qualities) - ήρεμος, υπομονετικός = calm, patient
(just listing qualities, a bit more written/literary)
In everyday speech, using και between the last two adjectives is more natural:
- είναι ήρεμος και υπομονετικός
Both can translate as calm/quiet, but they’re used differently:
ήρεμος:
- emotionally calm, not easily upset
- can describe personality or mood
- ένας ήρεμος άνθρωπος = a calm person
- νιώθω ήρεμος = I feel calm
ήσυχος:
- quiet (not noisy), peaceful, not causing trouble
- can describe people, places, situations
- ένα ήσυχο χωριό = a quiet village
- είναι ήσυχο παιδί = he/she is a quiet, not troublesome child
In this sentence, ήρεμος emphasizes emotional calmness as a character trait.
- υπομονετικός is an adjective meaning patient (someone who shows patience).
- υπομονή is a noun meaning patience.
Examples:
- Είναι πολύ υπομονετικός. = He is very patient.
- Έχει μεγάλη υπομονή. = He has a lot of patience.
In your sentence:
- υπομονετικός describes the character: he/she tends to tolerate delays, difficulties, or annoying situations without complaining.
Greek allows you either to:
Connect the two parts with και:
- …είναι ήρεμος και υπομονετικός και δεν παραπονιέται ποτέ. (…is calm and patient and never complains.)
Or separate them with a comma:
- …είναι ήρεμος και υπομονετικός, δεν παραπονιέται ποτέ. (…is calm and patient, he never complains.)
The comma here works like a light break between two related statements. Adding και explicitly links them with and. Both are acceptable; with και sounds a bit more “connected” and slightly more natural in very careful speech.
In standard Greek, ποτέ (ever/never) used in a negative sentence must be combined with δεν:
- δεν + verb + ποτέ = never
- Δεν παραπονιέται ποτέ. = She never complains.
Position:
- The most common order is δεν + verb + ποτέ:
- Δεν παραπονιέται ποτέ.
- You might also hear Ποτέ δεν παραπονιέται.
(Beginning with ποτέ gives extra emphasis: She never, ever complains.)
But you cannot say:
- Παραπονιέται ποτέ to mean she never complains — it would be interpreted as a question (Does she ever complain?).
παραπονιέται is the 3rd person singular, present tense of the verb παραπονιέμαι (to complain).
- Infinitive form (dictionary form): παραπονιέμαι
- Present tense:
- εγώ παραπονιέμαι – I complain
- εσύ παραπονιέσαι – you complain
- αυτός/αυτή/αυτό παραπονιέται – he/she/it complains
- εμείς παραπονούμαστε / παραπονιόμαστε
- εσείς παραπονιέστε
- αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά παραπονιούνται
It’s a mediopassive/reflexive-type verb in Greek (ending in -ομαι), but in English we simply translate it as an active verb: complain.
You can reverse the order; Greek word order is quite flexible. Both are grammatically correct:
- Ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου είναι ήρεμος και υπομονετικός, δεν παραπονιέται ποτέ.
- Δεν παραπονιέται ποτέ, ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου είναι ήρεμος και υπομονετικός.
The difference is mainly in emphasis:
- The original version focuses first on her character, then adds and she never complains.
- The reversed version starts by highlighting the fact that she never complains, then explains her character.
For neutral description, the original order feels more natural.
Both can translate as character/personality, but there’s a nuance:
χαρακτήρας:
- focuses on moral and psychological traits
- often used in everyday speech to talk about what a person is like inside
- έχει καλό χαρακτήρα = he/she has good character
προσωπικότητα:
- more like personality, sometimes a bit more formal
- can also mean a “personality” in the sense of a notable figure
- μια δυνατή προσωπικότητα = a strong personality
- πολιτική προσωπικότητα = a political figure
In your sentence, ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου sounds very natural and focuses on her inner traits.
In standard Greek, possessive genitives like this almost always use the article:
- ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου
not - ο χαρακτήρας φίλης μου ❌ (sounds wrong/foreign)
Structure:
- [article + noun] + [article + genitive + possessive pronoun]
- ο χαρακτήρας της φίλης μου
You can sometimes drop the article in very specific, fixed expressions, but not in a normal noun phrase like this. So you should keep της here.