Breakdown of Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει να ανοίξω το στόμα μου για να δει το δόντι.
να
to
μου
my
μου
me
βλέπω
to see
Questions & Answers about Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει να ανοίξω το στόμα μου για να δει το δόντι.
Why is it Ο οδοντίατρος μου and not just ο οδοντίατρος or ο δικός μου οδοντίατρος? How does μου work here?
In Greek, adding μου after a noun is the normal way to say “my …”.
- Ο οδοντίατρος μου = my dentist
- Literally: “the dentist of mine”
So:
- ο οδοντίατρος = the dentist (general)
- ο οδοντίατρος μου = my dentist (specific to me)
You can say ο δικός μου οδοντίατρος, but that is more emphatic, like “my own dentist / my dentist (as opposed to someone else’s)”. The neutral, everyday form is ο οδοντίατρος μου.
Why does μου come after οδοντίατρος instead of before it, like in English (my dentist)?
In Greek, unstressed possessive pronouns like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους normally come after the noun:
- ο φίλος μου = my friend
- το σπίτι μας = our house
- η μητέρα του = his mother
So ο οδοντίατρος μου follows the regular Greek pattern: article + noun + possessive pronoun. Putting μου before the noun (μου ο οδοντίατρος) is not grammatical in standard modern Greek.
In English I say “the dentist asks me…”. Where is the “me” in the Greek sentence?