Learn Hardcore Greek: Με τη φίλη μου κάνουμε μια απλή συμφωνία να μιλάμε μόνο ελληνικά τα Σάββατα. - My friend and I make a simple agreement to speak only Greek on Saturdays.

Why does the sentence start with Με τη φίλη μου? In English we’d usually say “My friend and I…”, not “With my friend we…”. Is this normal in Greek?

Yes, this is very normal and natural in Greek.

Με τη φίλη μου literally means “with my friend”.
Putting it at the beginning is a way to set the scene or emphasize who you’re doing something with.
The full idea is something like: “With my friend, we make a simple agreement…”

In Greek, it’s very common to start with a prepositional phrase like Με τη φίλη μου, Στο σπίτι, Το βράδυ, etc., before the main subject and verb.

You could also say:

Εγώ και η φίλη μου κάνουμε μια απλή συμφωνία…
That’s closer to “My friend and I…”, but the original version is more idiomatic and lighter in style.

Why is it τη φίλη and not την φίλη? I thought the feminine accusative singular article is την.

The full form is indeed την (feminine accusative singular).

However, in everyday modern Greek, that final -ν is often dropped in front of many consonants. It is usually kept only before certain sounds (often written as μπ, ντ, γκ, ξ, ψ, κ, π, τ, τσ, τζ).

So:

την φίλη → τη φίλη
την κόρη often stays την κόρη (because of κ)
την πόρτα often stays την πόρτα (because of π)

In writing, both την φίλη and τη φίλη can be seen, but τη φίλη (without ν) before φ is very common and completely correct in modern usage.

What does φίλη tell me exactly? Is it specifically a female friend?

Yes.

φίλος = (male) friend, or gender-neutral in some contexts.
φίλη = female friend.

So η φίλη μου clearly means “my (female) friend.”
If it were a male friend, you’d say ο φίλος μου and in the sentence:

Με τον φίλο μου κάνουμε μια απλή συμφωνία…
(again, τον may appear as το in speech/writing before some consonants, but τον φίλο is very common in full form).

Why is there no word for “we” (like εμείς) in the sentence?

In Greek, the subject pronoun (εγώ, εσύ, αυτός, εμείς, etc.) is usually omitted, because the verb ending shows who the subject is.

κάνουμε is 1st person plural → “we do/make”

So κάνουμε already means “we make”.
You only add εμείς for emphasis or contrast, for example:

Εμείς κάνουμε μια απλή συμφωνία…
“We make a simple agreement…” (as opposed to someone else).

In this sentence no special emphasis is needed, so the pronoun is dropped.

What is exactly meant by κάνουμε μια απλή συμφωνία? Is this like “we are making” or “we make (generally)”?

The Greek present tense here (κάνουμε) can mean:

An action that’s happening around now: “we are making”
A regular or repeated action: “we (habitually) make”

In this context, combined with να μιλάμε μόνο ελληνικά τα Σάββατα, it naturally suggests a regular/habitual arrangement, something like:

“My friend and I have/make a simple agreement to speak only Greek on Saturdays.”

So it’s closer to a general ongoing arrangement than a one-time action.

Why is it μια απλή συμφωνία? Can I say just μια συμφωνία?

You can say just μια συμφωνία, and it would be correct.

However, μια απλή συμφωνία adds nuance:

απλή = simple
It suggests that it’s nothing complicated or formal; it’s an easy, straightforward agreement.

Grammar points:

μια is the feminine singular indefinite article (“a/an”).
απλή agrees in gender, number, and case with συμφωνία:
- μια (fem.) απλή (fem.) συμφωνία (fem. noun)

So the phrase is grammatically: [article] + [adjective] + [noun].

What is the role of να in να μιλάμε? Is it like “to speak”?

Yes, να often corresponds to English “to” before a verb, but grammatically it marks the subjunctive mood, not an infinitive (modern Greek has no true infinitive).

In this sentence:

μια απλή συμφωνία να μιλάμε…
= “a simple agreement to speak…”

So the structure is:

noun (συμφωνία) + να
- subjunctive verb (μιλάμε)

This is a very common way in Greek to express purpose or content:

έχω την ιδέα να πάμε = I have the idea to go
παίρνω την απόφαση να διαβάζω περισσότερο = I make the decision to study more

Why is it να μιλάμε and not να μιλήσουμε? What’s the difference?

Both come from the verb “to speak,” but they express different aspects:

μιλάμε (present subjunctive) → ongoing / repeated action
μιλήσουμε (aorist subjunctive) → single, complete action

Here, the idea is “to speak only Greek on Saturdays” as a habit, not just once. So:

να μιλάμε μόνο ελληνικά τα Σάββατα = “to speak (whenever it happens / as a rule) only Greek on Saturdays”
να μιλήσουμε μόνο ελληνικά το Σάββατο = “to speak only Greek (once) on Saturday”

For habits and repeated actions, the present form (μιλάμε) is the natural choice.

Why is it μιλάμε and not μΙλάω or μΙλώ?

Good to separate the forms:

μιλάω / μιλώ = 1st person singular (“I speak”)
μιλάμε / μιλούμε = 1st person plural (“we speak”)

In this sentence we’re talking about “my friend and I”, so it must be “we speak” → μιλάμε.

μιλάμε is the more common modern colloquial form.
μιλούμε is also correct, a bit more formal or regional.

Why μόνο ελληνικά and not something like μόνο στα ελληνικά?

Both are possible, but they slightly differ in nuance.

μιλάμε μόνο ελληνικά
Literally: “we speak only Greek” (Greek is the only language we speak)
μιλάμε μόνο στα ελληνικά
Literally: “we speak only in Greek” (emphasizes the medium, “in Greek”)

In many contexts they overlap in meaning. Here:

μόνο ελληνικά is natural, direct and very common.
στα ελληνικά can sound a bit more like emphasizing the code / language (“in Greek”), but it’s also fine.

Grammatically, μόνο is an adverb meaning “only,” and ελληνικά is functioning as a noun (“Greek [language]”).

Why is ελληνικά in the neuter plural form? What does that mean here?

In Greek, many language names are neuter plural when referring to the language:

τα ελληνικά = Greek (language)
τα αγγλικά = English
τα γαλλικά = French
τα γερμανικά = German

So μιλάμε ελληνικά literally is “we speak [the] Greek (language).”
The article τα is often dropped in this kind of phrase:

μιλάω ελληνικά = I speak Greek
ξέρω αγγλικά = I know English

It’s just how Greek handles many abstract or collective nouns, and language names fall into this pattern.

Why is ελληνικά not capitalized like “Greek” in English?

In modern Greek:

Nationalities (Greek, English, French, etc.) are capitalized as adjectives referring to people or ethnicity:
- Έλληνας, Ελληνίδα, Αγγλος, Γάλλος, etc.
Languages and most adjectives are not capitalized:
- ελληνικά (Greek, the language)
- αγγλικά (English, the language)

So ελληνικά is lowercase because it refers to the language, not the nationality.

What does τα Σάββατα mean exactly? Why is it plural?

τα Σάββατα literally means “the Saturdays” (plural).

In Greek, using the neuter plural with the article like this often means “every [X-day]” / “on [X-day]s” in general:

τα Σάββατα = on Saturdays (habitually)
τις Κυριακές = on Sundays
τις Δευτέρες = on Mondays

So in this sentence, τα Σάββατα indicates a regular habit: every Saturday, as a routine.

Could I say κάθε Σάββατο instead of τα Σάββατα? Would the meaning change?

Yes, you can say:

…να μιλάμε μόνο ελληνικά κάθε Σάββατο.

This also means “every Saturday”, and is practically equivalent in meaning.

Nuance:

τα Σάββατα – slightly more like “on Saturdays” as a general category
κάθε Σάββατο – a bit more explicit that it’s each individual Saturday

In everyday speech, both are very common and the difference is minimal here.

Is the word order fixed? Could I move things around, like Κάνουμε με τη φίλη μου μια απλή συμφωνία…?

Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially compared to English. You can rearrange parts for emphasis or style.

Some possibilities:

Κάνουμε με τη φίλη μου μια απλή συμφωνία να μιλάμε μόνο ελληνικά τα Σάββατα.
Κάνουμε μια απλή συμφωνία με τη φίλη μου να μιλάμε μόνο ελληνικά τα Σάββατα.

These are all grammatical. Differences:

Starting with Με τη φίλη μου foregrounds the partner in the action.
Keeping με τη φίλη μου next to κάνουμε or συμφωνία is also fine and natural.

The original word order is very typical: a prepositional phrase at the start followed by the main clause.

What is μου doing in τη φίλη μου? Why is it after the noun instead of before, like “my friend”?

μου is a weak possessive pronoun meaning “my”. In Greek:

Possessives like “my, your, his/her” often follow the noun:
- η φίλη μου = my friend
- το σπίτι σου = your house
- το βιβλίο του = his book

You can also add a definite article before the noun, which is required:

η φίλη μου (not φίλη μου on its own in neutral style)
In our sentence, accusative: τη φίλη μου.

So the structure is: [article] + [noun] + [weak possessive pronoun].