Learn Hardcore Greek: Καθόμαστε στο παγκάκι μπροστά στην καφετέρια και μιλάμε ήρεμα για τη μέρα μας. - We sit on the bench in front of the café and talk calmly about our day.

You don’t add a separate verb “to be” (είμαι) to form a continuous tense here. The one verb κάθομαι covers what English expresses as “are sitting”.

Why is it καθόμαστε and not something like καθίζουμε or είμαστε καθιστοί?

In everyday modern Greek, the natural way to say “we are sitting” is with κάθομαι:

καθόμαστε στο παγκάκι = “we are sitting on the bench”

Other options are either less common or have a different nuance:

καθίζω is mostly transitive (“I seat [someone]”) or sounds more formal/old-fashioned if used like “sit down”.
είμαστε καθιστοί literally means “we are in a seated state” and sounds more like a description of posture, not a neutral “we’re sitting there”.

So καθόμαστε is the standard, natural verb for this context.

Why doesn’t the Greek sentence say Εμείς καθόμαστε...? Where did the “we” go?

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

καθόμαστε clearly tells you “we sit / we are sitting”.
Εμείς καθόμαστε... is also correct but adds emphasis: “We are sitting... (as opposed to someone else).”

You only use εμείς when you want to stress or contrast the subject. In a neutral sentence, the pronoun is normally omitted.

What exactly is στο in στο παγκάκι?

στο is a contraction of the preposition and the definite article:

σε + το = στο

So:

σε = in / at / on (very general location preposition)
το παγκάκι = the bench (neuter, singular, accusative)

στο παγκάκι literally = “in/at/on the bench”, and in this context it is understood as “on the bench”.

In Greek, σε + accusative is used both for “at/in” and often for “on” when talking about being seated or placed somewhere.

What does the word παγκάκι tell us? Why the -άκι ending?

παγκάκι is a neuter noun meaning “bench”.

The ending -άκι often has two roles:

Diminutive: indicating something small (a “little” version of something).
Affectionate / everyday tone: even if size isn’t strongly felt, it sounds neutral or friendly.

So παγκάκι can originally be thought of as “little bench”, but in modern everyday speech, παγκάκι is simply the normal word for a (park) bench. You don’t usually say πάγκος here (that’s more “counter / workbench / stall table”).

How does μπροστά στην καφετέρια work grammatically?

The phrase breaks down like this:

μπροστά = in front (an adverb)
σε = to / at (preposition)
την καφετέρια = the café (feminine, singular, accusative)
στην = σε + την

So:

μπροστά στην καφετέρια = literally “in front at-the café” → “in front of the café”.

Structure:

μπροστά σε + accusative = in front of something
e.g. μπροστά στην πόρτα (in front of the door)

Why is there an ν in στην καφετέρια? Sometimes I see στη without the ν.

στην comes from σε + την (to/at + the, feminine accusative).

Modern Greek has a “movable ν” (ένα τελικό ν) that:

is kept before vowels and certain consonants (κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ),
may be dropped before other consonants in casual writing/speech.

καφετέρια starts with κ, so according to the standard rule you keep the ν:

✅ στην καφετέρια (correct, standard)
στη καφετέρια would be seen as less careful or non‑standard spelling.

Is there any difference between μπροστά στην καφετέρια and μπροστά από την καφετέρια?

Both can mean “in front of the café”, but there’s a subtle nuance:

μπροστά στην καφετέρια often suggests right at the front side of the café, close to it.
μπροστά από την καφετέρια can more easily mean simply somewhere in front of it, possibly with a bit more distance (e.g. across the street).

In many contexts they are interchangeable, and learners don’t need to worry too much; μπροστά στην καφετέρια is perfectly natural here.

What is the nuance of καφετέρια? Is it the same as καφενείο?

They are not the same:

η καφετέρια = a modern café (can serve coffee, snacks, drinks, often more “urban” or international style).
το καφενείο = a more traditional Greek coffee house, often with an older, local clientele, playing cards, backgammon, etc.

In this sentence, καφετέρια matches the neutral idea of a modern café.

What does μιλάμε mean exactly, and how is it related to μιλάω / μιλώ? Is μιλούμε also correct?

μιλάμε is 1st person plural of μιλάω / μιλώ (“to speak / to talk”):

μιλάω / μιλώ = I speak / I talk
μιλάς = you speak
μιλάει / μιλά = he/she/it speaks
μιλάμε = we speak / we are speaking
μιλάτε = you (pl./formal) speak
μιλάνε / μιλούν(ε) = they speak

μιλούμε is also grammatically correct and means the same thing, but:

μιλάμε is more common in everyday modern Greek.
μιλούμε can sound a bit more formal or regional (common in some dialects or more formal speech).

Here, μιλάμε ήρεμα = “we are speaking calmly” / “we are talking calmly”.

Why is ήρεμα used here instead of the adjective ήρεμος?

ήρεμος is an adjective (“calm”), while ήρεμα is an adverb (“calmly”).

ήρεμος άνθρωπος = a calm person (adjective)
μιλάμε ήρεμα = we talk calmly (adverb describing how we talk)

Greek often forms adverbs from adjectives by using a neuter plural or -α ending:

ήρεμος → ήρεμα
γρήγορος → γρήγορα (quick → quickly)

So ήρεμα modifies the verb μιλάμε and answers “how?” → “calmly”.

Why do we say μιλάμε για τη μέρα μας? Could we just say μιλάμε τη μέρα μας?

With the verb μιλάω/μιλώ (“to speak / talk”), when you talk about a topic, you normally use μιλάω για + accusative:

μιλάμε για τη μέρα μας = we are talking about our day
μιλάω για την ταινία = I talk about the film

If you say μιλάμε τη μέρα μας, it sounds wrong or at least very unnatural. Without για, the verb “μιλάω” expects either:

a language: μιλάω ελληνικά (I speak Greek),
or a person you talk to with με: μιλάω με τον φίλο μου (I talk with my friend).

So for “talk about something”, you really need για.

Why is there a definite article in τη μέρα μας? In English we just say “our day”, not “the our day”.

In Greek, possessive pronouns (μου, σου, του, μας, σας, τους) almost always go together with the definite article:

η μέρα μας = literally “the day our” → “our day”
το σπίτι μου = the house my → my house
τα βιβλία σου = the books your → your books

So the usual pattern is:

article + noun + possessive
e.g. τη μέρα μας, το αυτοκίνητό μου, τα παιδιά τους

Leaving out the article (μέρα μας) is possible only in limited, special contexts and is not the neutral, standard phrasing here. That’s why τη μέρα μας is used.

What’s the difference between μέρα and ημέρα?

Both mean “day”.

μέρα is the everyday, colloquial form used in normal speech.
ημέρα is a bit more formal or written and appears in:
- official language,
- legal texts,
- fixed expressions (e.g. Εθνική Ημέρα = National Day).

In a casual sentence about “our day”, μέρα is the natural choice.

How does μας work here? Is it “us” or “our”, and where does it go in the sentence?

In τη μέρα μας, the word μας is a clitic possessive pronoun meaning “our”.

It follows the noun: η μέρα μας = our day.
It combines with a definite article, as explained above.

The same form μας can mean “us” as an object:

μας βλέπει = he/she sees us

So μας can be:

“our” when it follows a noun (η μέρα μας, το σπίτι μας),
“us” when it follows a verb (μας αγαπά, μας καλεί).

In this sentence it clearly functions as “our”.

Could the word order of the sentence change in Greek and still sound natural?

Yes, Greek word order is fairly flexible, as long as the relationships stay clear. For example, you could say:

Μπροστά στην καφετέρια καθόμαστε στο παγκάκι και μιλάμε ήρεμα για τη μέρα μας.
Καθόμαστε στο παγκάκι και ήρεμα μιλάμε για τη μέρα μας μπροστά στην καφετέρια.

The original:

Καθόμαστε στο παγκάκι μπροστά στην καφετέρια και μιλάμε ήρεμα για τη μέρα μας.

is very natural and neutral. Other orders add slight emphasis (e.g. putting μπροστά στην καφετέρια first emphasizes the location), but the basic meaning remains the same.