Breakdown of Το παράπονο της δασκάλας είναι ότι συχνά διακόπτουμε ο ένας τον άλλον στην τάξη.
Questions & Answers about Το παράπονο της δασκάλας είναι ότι συχνά διακόπτουμε ο ένας τον άλλον στην τάξη.
In Greek, common nouns are usually used with an article (ο, η, το) when you talk about something specific.
- παράπονο = “complaint” (neuter noun)
- το παράπονο = “the complaint”
Here we are talking about a specific complaint that the teacher has, so Greek naturally uses the definite article:
- Το παράπονο της δασκάλας = “The teacher’s complaint”
If you said just Παράπονο της δασκάλας είναι ότι…, it would sound incomplete or stylistically odd, like saying “Complaint of the teacher is that…” in English. The article makes it a clear, specific subject.
της δασκάλας is in the genitive case, which in this sentence expresses possession: “of the teacher”.
- η δασκάλα = the teacher (nominative, subject form)
- της δασκάλας = of the teacher (genitive, possessive)
So:
- Το παράπονο της δασκάλας
literally: “The complaint of the teacher”
meaning: “The teacher’s complaint”
If the teacher were male, the phrase would change to:
- Το παράπονο του δασκάλου
(δάσκαλος → του δασκάλου in the genitive)
The rest of the sentence would stay the same.
Yes. The original is a bit formal/neutral:
- Το παράπονο της δασκάλας είναι ότι συχνά διακόπτουμε ο ένας τον άλλον στην τάξη.
“The teacher’s complaint is that we often interrupt each other in class.”
More direct alternatives:
Η δασκάλα παραπονιέται ότι συχνά διακόπτουμε ο ένας τον άλλον στην τάξη.
“The teacher complains that we often interrupt each other in class.”Η δασκάλα έχει παράπονο ότι συχνά διακόπτουμε ο ένας τον άλλον στην τάξη.
“The teacher has a complaint that we often interrupt each other in class.”
The meaning is very close; the original just uses a more nominal style (“the complaint is that…”) instead of a verb (“she complains that…”).
These three often confuse learners:
ότι (no comma)
- Conjunction meaning “that” (introduces a clause)
- Same role as English “that” in “He said that…”
- In our sentence: είναι ότι συχνά διακόπτουμε… = “is that we often interrupt…”
πως (without accent in this use)
- Also a conjunction meaning “that”
- Often interchangeable with ότι, especially after verbs like λέω, νομίζω, πιστεύω, παραπονιέμαι
- More informal / conversational in many contexts
- You could say: είναι πως συχνά διακόπτουμε…
ό,τι (with a comma)
- Pronoun meaning “whatever, anything that”
- Example: Κάνε ό,τι θέλεις. = “Do whatever you want.”
So in this sentence you must use ότι (or πως), not ό,τι.
Greek usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows who the subject is.
- διακόπτουμε is 1st person plural → “we interrupt”
So:
- (Εμείς) διακόπτουμε ο ένας τον άλλον.
Both are correct, but normally you just say διακόπτουμε without εμείς.
You add εμείς only for emphasis or contrast, for example:
- Εμείς συχνά διακόπτουμε ο ένας τον άλλον.
“We (as opposed to others) often interrupt each other.”
διακόπτουμε is:
- Verb: διακόπτω = “to interrupt”
- Tense/aspect: present (continuous / habitual)
- Person/number: 1st person plural (“we” form)
The full present conjugation is:
- εγώ διακόπτω – I interrupt / I am interrupting
- εσύ διακόπτεις – you interrupt
- αυτός/αυτή/αυτό διακόπτει – he/she/it interrupts
- εμείς διακόπτουμε – we interrupt
- εσείς διακόπτετε – you (pl./formal) interrupt
- αυτοί/αυτές/αυτά διακόπτουν(ε) – they interrupt
In Greek, the present can express both “are interrupting” (right now) and “often interrupt” (habit). Here, because of συχνά, it clearly means a habitual action.
ο ένας τον άλλον is a common Greek way to express a reciprocal action (“each other”):
- ο ένας = the one (masculine nominative singular)
- τον άλλον = the other (masculine accusative singular)
Literally: “we interrupt the one the other” → “we interrupt each other”.
Key points:
- ο ένας is in the nominative because it conceptually refers back to the subject (“we, one by one”).
- τον άλλον is in the accusative because it’s the object of the verb (“interrupt whom? the other”).
This fixed phrase ο ένας τον άλλον is widely used with plural subjects:
- Αγαπιόμαστε ο ένας τον άλλον. – We love each other.
- Βοηθάμε ο ένας τον άλλον. – We help each other.
In Greek, the masculine is generally used as the default gender for mixed or unspecified groups.
So:
- For a mixed group of boys and girls (or unknown composition), ο ένας τον άλλον is normal.
If the group is all women, more specifically feminine forms are possible and common:
- Η μία την άλλη
- η μία = the one (feminine)
- την άλλη = the other (feminine accusative)
- Example: Στην τάξη, μιλάμε πάνω από η μία την άλλη. (We [females] talk over each other in class.)
- Η μία την άλλη
For neuter things (objects, ideas): το ένα το άλλο (“one another / one the other”).
But in most everyday cases with people, ο ένας τον άλλον is the standard default.
Both τον άλλο and τον άλλον are used in modern Greek. The final -ν is often:
- Kept before vowels and some consonants (κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ)
- Optional or often dropped before other consonants
In careful or more formal writing, many speakers keep the -ν more consistently:
- τον άλλον
- τον καλό μαθητή
- έναν άνθρωπο
In everyday speech you will also hear:
- τον άλλο
In this sentence, τον άλλον is just a slightly more “careful” or standard-written choice; meaning-wise there is no difference.
συχνά is an adverb of frequency (“often”), and its position is flexible. All of these are possible:
- Το παράπονο της δασκάλας είναι ότι συχνά διακόπτουμε ο ένας τον άλλον στην τάξη.
- Το παράπονο της δασκάλας είναι ότι διακόπτουμε συχνά ο ένας τον άλλον στην τάξη.
- Το παράπονο της δασκάλας είναι ότι διακόπτουμε ο ένας τον άλλον συχνά στην τάξη.
The most neutral positions are right before or right after the verb. Moving it can slightly shift emphasis, but all are grammatically correct.
στην τάξη comes from:
- σε = in, at, to
- την = the (feminine accusative singular)
- τάξη = class / classroom / grade
In speech and writing, σε + την usually contracts to στην:
- σε την τάξη → στην τάξη
This contraction also happens with other articles:
- σε + τον → στον (στον δρόμο – in/on the street)
- σε + το → στο (στο σπίτι – at home)
- σε + τις → στις (στις τάξεις – in the classes)
- σε + τα → στα (στα παιδιά – to the children)
Literally, στην τάξη is “in the class / in the classroom”, but it can also mean “during class” in context.
Yes, but each option has a slightly different nuance:
στην τάξη
- Most general and common: “in class”, “in the classroom”
- Can refer to the lesson time or the room/group.
μέσα στην τάξη
- Literally “inside the classroom”
- Emphasizes being inside the physical space as opposed to outside it.
στην αίθουσα
- “In the (class)room / hall”
- αίθουσα is a more general word for a room used for events, lectures, classes, etc.
- Slightly more formal or specific about the physical room.
All three could work depending on what exactly you want to emphasize, but στην τάξη is the most natural for the general idea “in class”.
No, normally no comma is used before ότι when it means “that” and directly follows a verb like είναι, λέει, νομίζει:
- Το παράπονο της δασκάλας είναι ότι συχνά διακόπτουμε…
In standard modern Greek punctuation:
- No comma: Είπε ότι θα έρθει. – “He said that he will come.”
- No comma: Το πρόβλημα είναι ότι αργείς. – “The problem is that you are late.”
A comma might appear if the clause is more detached or for stylistic reasons, but in most cases (including this one) the correct, natural form is without a comma before ότι.