Learn Hardcore Greek: Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει να ανοίξω το στόμα μου για να δει το δόντι. - The dentist asks me to open my mouth in order to see the tooth.

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?

The “me” is expressed in two places:

μου after οδοντίατρος
- This is possessive: my dentist.
The verb ζητάει is understood as “asks (me)” here, even though there is no separate direct-object pronoun.
- If you want to make it explicit, you can say:
  Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει να ανοίξω εγώ το στόμα μου…
  or
  Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει από μένα να ανοίξω το στόμα μου…

Greek often relies on context and the form of the following clause (να ανοίξω) to show who is being asked, so a separate με (direct object “me”) isn’t always necessary.

Why is it ζητάει? What is the difference between ζητάει and ζητά?

Both ζητάει and ζητά are present tense, 3rd person singular, of ζητάω / ζητώ (to ask for, to request):

ζητάει = he/she asks
ζητά = he/she asks

They are effectively the same in meaning. The difference is style/feel:

ζητάει (with -ει) sounds a bit more informal / colloquial.
ζητά (shorter form) sounds a bit more formal or written.

In everyday speech, ζητάει is very common:
Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει… / Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητά…
Both are correct.

Could the word order be Ο οδοντίατρος ζητάει μου instead of Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει?

No. The clitic pronoun μου has a fixed position relative to the verb:

In affirmative main clauses it goes before the verb:
- Μου ζητάει (he asks me)
- Μου λέει (he tells me)

So:

Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει… ✅
Ο οδοντίατρος ζητάει μου… ❌ (ungrammatical)

When μου is possessive (my), it goes after the noun:

ο οδοντίατρος μου (my dentist)
Here, in the sentence, μου is possessive with οδοντίατρος, not an object of ζητάει.

Why is it να ανοίξω and not να ανοίγω? What is the difference?

Both forms come from ανοίγω (to open), but they differ in aspect (how the action is viewed):

να ανοίξω = aorist subjunctive → one complete action
“to open (once, completely)”
να ανοίγω = present subjunctive → ongoing / repeated action
“to be opening / to keep opening repeatedly”

Here, the dentist wants you to perform one complete action: open your mouth (once). So Greek naturally uses the aorist:

…μου ζητάει να ανοίξω το στόμα μου…
= he asks me to open my mouth (now, once, fully).

If you said να ανοίγω, it would suggest something like “asks me to be (continually) opening my mouth”, which sounds wrong in this context.

Why do we use να? In English we just say “to open my mouth”.

Modern Greek does not have an infinitive form like English “to open”. Instead, it uses να + subjunctive:

να ανοίξω ≈ “to open”
να φάω ≈ “to eat”
να πάω ≈ “to go”

After verbs of wanting, asking, telling, planning, etc., Greek uses this να + subjunctive structure:

Θέλω να ανοίξω το στόμα μου. = I want to open my mouth.
Μου ζητάει να ανοίξω το στόμα μου. = He asks me to open my mouth.

So να here marks a subordinate verb in the subjunctive mood, functioning similarly to the English infinitive “to …” in this context.

Why is να ανοίξω in the first person (I open) instead of να ανοίξει (he opens)?

The subject of να ανοίξω is “I” (understood):

(Εγώ) να ανοίξω το στόμα μου = that I open my mouth.

In English we say:
“The dentist asks me to open my mouth.”
If you expand it, it’s like:
“The dentist asks (that I open my mouth).”

Greek keeps this structure:

Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει [να ανοίξω το στόμα μου]
= The dentist asks me [that I open my mouth].

If you used να ανοίξει, that would mean “that he opens”, which would be wrong here, because it’s you, not the dentist, who opens your mouth.

What does για να mean in για να δει? Could we just say να δει?

για να introduces a purpose clause and usually means “in order to / so that”:

…να ανοίξω το στόμα μου για να δει το δόντι.
= “…to open my mouth so that he can see the tooth / in order to see the tooth.”

You can sometimes drop για and just say να δει, but the nuance changes:

να δει on its own can be more neutral or just mark a subordinate verb.
για να δει clearly expresses purpose / intention.

In this sentence, για να δει is the natural, explicit way to say “in order to see”.

What is δει exactly? Why not βλέπει?

δει is the aorist subjunctive of the verb βλέπω (to see):

βλέπει = he sees / he is seeing (present indicative)
να δει = that he see (aorist subjunctive: a single, complete act of seeing)

After για να, we usually use subjunctive, and for a single, complete action (see once), Greek prefers the aorist:

για να δει το δόντι = in order to see the tooth (once).

If you said για να βλέπει το δόντι, it would sound like “so that he is (continually) seeing the tooth”, which doesn’t fit as well here.

Why is it το στόμα μου but το δόντι (without μου)? Shouldn’t it be το δόντι μου?

Both are possible:

το στόμα μου = my mouth
το δόντι = the tooth (the one we’re talking about)
το δόντι μου = my tooth

In practice:

Using μου makes the possession explicit: my mouth, my tooth.
Even without μου, context often makes it clear it’s your tooth; there is only one patient there.

Many speakers would actually say το δόντι μου in a real conversation:
…για να δει το δόντι μου.

The given sentence is still natural: το δόντι is “the (problem) tooth” already known from the situation. Greek freely chooses between bare το + body part and το + body part + μου, depending on style, emphasis, and clarity.

Why do we say το στόμα μου at all? In English we just say “open your mouth”, but sometimes Greek uses just the article with body parts, right?

Yes, Greek very often uses the definite article (not the possessive) with body parts when it’s obvious whose body part it is:

Άνοιξε το στόμα. = Open your mouth.
Σήκωσε το χέρι. = Raise your hand.

So:

να ανοίξω το στόμα ✅ (perfectly natural)
να ανοίξω το στόμα μου ✅ (explicit: my mouth)

Using μου is not wrong; it just makes the possession explicit. Many speakers would naturally say either version in this context:

Ο οδοντίατρος μου ζητάει να ανοίξω το στόμα (μου) για να δει το δόντι (μου).
All four combinations are grammatically fine; the choice is mostly stylistic.