Learn Hardcore Greek: Σήμερα βάζω τα πιάτα στο πλυντήριο πιάτων και μετά χαλαρώνω στο σαλόνι. - Today I put the dishes in the dishwasher and then I relax in the living room.

Today I’m putting the dishes in the dishwasher and then I relax in the living room.
(either as a plan for later, or as something I usually do on days like today)

If you said:

Σήμερα θα βάλω τα πιάτα στο πλυντήριο πιάτων και μετά θα χαλαρώσω στο σαλόνι.

this would sound more clearly like a future plan or promise:
Today I will put the dishes in the dishwasher and then I will relax in the living room.

So the original present tense makes the sentence a bit more neutral and natural, similar to English:
Today I’m putting the dishes in the dishwasher and then I’m relaxing in the living room.

Why is there no word for “I” in the sentence?

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

βάζω = I put
χαλαρώνω = I relax

The -ω ending tells us the subject is 1st person singular (I), so εγώ (I) is not needed.

You can add Εγώ for emphasis:

Εγώ σήμερα βάζω τα πιάτα στο πλυντήριο πιάτων…
= I am the one putting the dishes in the dishwasher today (not someone else).

But in normal, neutral speech, it’s more natural without εγώ.

Why do we say τα πιάτα with the definite article τα, even though English just says “dishes”?

Greek uses the definite article (ο, η, το, οι, οι, τα) much more often than English.

Here, τα πιάτα literally means “the dishes”, but it’s the normal way to refer to the specific dishes you’re dealing with right now (the dirty dishes from this meal).

βάζω τα πιάτα στο πλυντήριο πιάτων
= I’m putting the (these) dishes in the dishwasher.

If you said βάζω πιάτα στο πλυντήριο, without the article, it would sound:

very general or incomplete, more like “I put dishes in the dishwasher (as an activity)” rather than describing this specific, real-life action.

So in many everyday situations, Greek uses the definite article where English might use no article at all.

What exactly does στο mean, and why do we see it twice: στο πλυντήριο πιάτων and στο σαλόνι?

στο is a contraction of:

σε (in, at, to) + το (the, neuter singular)

So:

στο πλυντήριο πιάτων = σε + το πλυντήριο πιάτων = in the dishwasher
στο σαλόνι = σε + το σαλόνι = in the living room

Greek almost always uses σε + definite article with locations, so you’ll see forms like:

στο (σε + το)
στη (σε + τη)
στην (σε + την)
στον (σε + τον)
στους, στις, στα (plural forms)

In this sentence, the nouns are neuter singular, so σε + το → στο in both cases.

Why do we have τα πιάτα and then πιάτων right after in πλυντήριο πιάτων? Why two different forms of “dishes”?

They look similar but play different roles:

τα πιάτα:
- Accusative plural, direct object of βάζω.
- What are you putting? → τα πιάτα (the dishes).
πιάτων (in πλυντήριο πιάτων):
- Genitive plural of πιάτο.
- Literally “washer of dishes”.

In Greek, you often use the genitive to show:

what something contains or is for:
- πλυντήριο πιάτων = dishwasher (washer of dishes)
- ποτήρι νερού = glass of water
- μηχανή καφέ = coffee machine (machine of coffee)

So the “double dishes” is natural:

βάζω τα πιάτα (I put the dishes)
στο πλυντήριο πιάτων (in the dishwasher, literally “washer of dishes”)

Why is πιάτων in the genitive case? Could we say πλυντήριο πιάτα instead?

πιάτων is in the genitive plural to show a relationship of purpose or content:

πλυντήριο πιάτων = washer of dishes → a machine for washing dishes.

Using πλυντήριο πιάτα would be ungrammatical in standard Greek.
In combinations like this (especially tool + object), Greek strongly prefers the genitive:

μηχανή ρούχων (clothes machine → washing machine for clothes)
σακούλα σκουπιδιών (bag of trash)
κουτί μπισκότων (box of biscuits)

So πιάτων must be in genitive to form the standard word for “dishwasher.”

What does μετά mean here, and why isn’t it μετά από?

In this sentence:

και μετά χαλαρώνω στο σαλόνι
μετά means “afterwards / then” as an adverb of time.

When μετά is used by itself, it often means “then, afterwards” in a sequence of actions:

Πρώτα τρώμε και μετά βλέπουμε τηλεόραση.
First we eat and then we watch TV.

When μετά is followed by a noun or pronoun, you usually add από:

μετά από το φαγητό = after the meal
μετά από εσένα = after you

So here, since it’s just “and then” / “afterwards”, μετά alone is correct and natural.

What exactly does χαλαρώνω mean? Is it always “relax”?

In everyday modern Greek, χαλαρώνω most commonly means:

to relax / to unwind (about a person)

So:

μετά χαλαρώνω στο σαλόνι = then I relax in the living room.

It can also mean to loosen / to make less tight:

Χαλάρωσε λίγο τη ζώνη σου. = Loosen your belt a bit.

And figuratively:

Χαλάρωσε, όλα θα πάνε καλά. = Relax, everything will be fine.

In this sentence, it clearly has the “relax, unwind” meaning, similar to English “I relax”.

Can we change the word order, for example move σήμερα or μετά, and still be correct?

Yes. Greek word order is fairly flexible, especially with adverbs like σήμερα and μετά. All of these are grammatically fine, with slightly different emphasis:

Σήμερα βάζω τα πιάτα στο πλυντήριο πιάτων και μετά χαλαρώνω στο σαλόνι.
(neutral; focus on what happens today)
Βάζω σήμερα τα πιάτα στο πλυντήριο πιάτων και μετά χαλαρώνω στο σαλόνι.
(slight emphasis on σήμερα as the day you’re doing it)
Σήμερα βάζω τα πιάτα στο πλυντήριο πιάτων και χαλαρώνω μετά στο σαλόνι.
(little emphasis on afterwards in the living room)

The most natural and common version is very close to the original, but moving adverbs like σήμερα and μετά is normal and does not change the basic meaning.

How do you pronounce the harder words like πλυντήριο and σαλόνι, and where is the stress?

Stress in Greek is shown by the accent (´) on a vowel.

πλυντήριο → πλυντήριο
- Stress on -τή-: πλυνΤΗριο
- Rough pronunciation: plee-NEE-ree-o (the ντ sounds like a d in this position)
σαλόνι → σαλόνι
- Stress on -λό-: σαΛΟνι
- Rough pronunciation: sa-LO-nee

Remember: in Greek, each vowel or vowel combination is one syllable, and there is exactly one stressed syllable per word, marked by the accent.