Learn Hardcore Greek: Μετά κλείνω το στόμα μου και βάζω τη βούρτσα στη θέση της. - Then I close my mouth and put the brush back in its place.

Μετά κλείνω το στόμα μου… = Then I close my mouth…
It’s very common at the beginning of a sentence when you’re describing a routine or giving instructions.

You can often replace Μετά with Έπειτα or Ύστερα in this meaning, with only slight differences in style or formality:

Έπειτα κλείνω το στόμα μου…
Ύστερα κλείνω το στόμα μου…

All three can work as then / afterwards in everyday speech.

Why is κλείνω (I close) in the present tense? Wouldn’t a future like θα κλείσω be more logical?

Greek uses the present tense in a few ways:

Habitual / routine actions
If you’re describing what you usually do (e.g. how you brush your teeth), you use the present:
- Μετά κλείνω το στόμα μου… = Then I (usually) close my mouth…
Narrating a typical sequence, like instructions
Similar to English “First I do X, then I do Y” (not “I will do”):
- Πρώτα βουρτσίζω τα δόντια μου. Μετά κλείνω το στόμα μου…
If you wanted to talk about a single future event, you’d say:
- Μετά θα κλείσω το στόμα μου… = Then I will close my mouth…

So the present κλείνω is correct and natural when describing a routine or a step-by-step process.

Why do we say το στόμα μου and not just στόμα μου or μου στόμα?

The normal Greek pattern for “my X” is:

article + noun + weak pronoun
το στόμα μου = my mouth

So:

το στόμα μου (the mouth my) = my mouth
το χέρι σου (the hand your) = your hand
η μαμά του (the mom his) = his mom

You almost always need the article in this pattern.
Forms like στόμα μου or μου στόμα are either wrong in standard Greek or sound poetic/old-fashioned in very specific contexts.

So το στόμα μου is the normal, everyday way to say my mouth.

What is μου doing here, and why does it come after στόμα?

Μου here is the weak (clitic) genitive form of εγώ (I). It means my / of me.

εγώ = I (subject form)
μου = my / of me (weak genitive, unstressed)

In this position:

το στόμα μου = the mouth of me → my mouth

Weak pronouns like μου / σου / του / της / μας / σας / τους usually come:

after the noun they belong to: το στόμα μου
or after the verb if they are object pronouns: μου δίνει = he gives me

So μου must follow στόμα here: το στόμα μου, not μου το στόμα in normal speech.

Why is it βάζω and not βάλω or έβαλα?

These are different tense/aspect forms of the same verb:

βάζω = I put / I am putting (present, ongoing or habitual)
έβαλα = I put (aorist, a single completed past action)
να βάλω / θα βάλω = (to) put / I will put (aorist stem for subjunctive & future)

In this sentence we’re describing a routine step:

…και βάζω τη βούρτσα στη θέση της.
= …and I put the brush back in its place.

So the present form βάζω is used for the regular step in the process.
You might say έβαλα in a past narrative:

Μετά έκλεισα το στόμα μου και έβαλα τη βούρτσα στη θέση της.
= Then I closed my mouth and put the brush back in its place.

What exactly does βάζω mean here? Is it “put”, “place”, or something else?

Βάζω is a very common verb meaning to put / to place / to insert / to put on depending on context.

In the pattern:

βάζω + object + σε/στη/στο + place

it usually means to put / to place:

βάζω τη βούρτσα στη θέση της
= I put the brush in its place
= I put the brush back where it belongs.

Other examples:

Βάλε το βιβλίο στο ράφι. = Put the book on the shelf.
Βάζω τα κλειδιά στην τσέπη μου. = I put the keys in my pocket.

Why is it τη βούρτσα and not την βούρτσα?

The feminine accusative article is την in full form, but in everyday writing it often drops the final -ν before most consonants.

Modern rule of thumb:

Keep -ν (την) before vowels and the consonants κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ.
Drop -ν (τη) before other consonants (like β, γ, δ, ζ, λ, μ, ν, ρ, σ, φ, χ).

Since βούρτσα starts with β, it’s normal to write:

τη βούρτσα, not την βούρτσα.

You will still sometimes see την βούρτσα, but τη βούρτσα follows the modern spelling convention.

How do I know that βούρτσα is feminine? Why is the article τη?

In Greek, every noun has a gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), and the article shows the gender:

η βούρτσα = the brush (feminine, nominative)
τη βούρτσα = the brush (feminine, accusative)

Many nouns ending in -α / -η are feminine, and βούρτσα follows that pattern.
So we use the feminine article:

η βούρτσα (subject)
τη βούρτσα (object)

In this sentence, βούρτσα is the object of βάζω, so we use τη:

βάζω τη βούρτσα…

What does στη mean here? Is it one word or two?

Στη is a contraction of two words:

σε (in / at / to)
τη(ν) (the, feminine singular accusative)

So:

σε + τη → στη

In this sentence:

στη θέση της = in/at its place

Other examples:

στη δουλειά = at work
στη θάλασσα = to the sea / at the sea
στη σχολή = at the (university) department / to the department

What does στη θέση της literally mean, and what does της refer to?

Literally, στη θέση της means:

στη = in the / at the
θέση = position / place
της = of her / of it (feminine)

So στη θέση της = in its place / back where it belongs.

Here, της refers back to η βούρτσα (the brush), which is feminine.
So της must also be feminine, singular, in the genitive:

η βούρτσα → τη βούρτσα → η θέση της (the place of it / its place)

If we wanted to spell it out fully, we could say:

βάζω τη βούρτσα στη θέση της βούρτσας
(I put the brush in the place of the brush)

But that’s redundant, so we just use της.

Why don’t we say εγώ for “I” in this sentence? How do we know the subject?

Greek normally omits subject pronouns like εγώ (I), εσύ (you) because the verb ending already shows the subject.

κλείνω = I close
βάζω = I put

From the verb forms κλείνω and βάζω, we know the subject is I (1st person singular), so we don’t need to say εγώ.

You can add εγώ if you want to emphasize the subject:

Μετά εγώ κλείνω το στόμα μου…
(Then I close my mouth…) – stressing that I, not someone else, do it.

But in neutral sentences, it’s more natural to just say:

Μετά κλείνω το στόμα μου και βάζω τη βούρτσα στη θέση της.

Could I change the word order, for example Μετά το στόμα μου κλείνω or βάζω στη θέση της τη βούρτσα?

Greek word order is fairly flexible, but there is a natural, preferred order.

Verb–Object is the usual order here:
- κλείνω το στόμα μου (not το στόμα μου κλείνω in this context)
- βάζω τη βούρτσα στη θέση της
You can say το στόμα μου κλείνω to emphasize το στόμα μου, but it sounds marked or poetic.
With βάζω τη βούρτσα στη θέση της, moving the object to the end:
- βάζω στη θέση της τη βούρτσα is possible, but it emphasizes στη θέση της more than τη βούρτσα, and sounds less neutral.

The original:

Μετά κλείνω το στόμα μου και βάζω τη βούρτσα στη θέση της.

has the most natural, neutral word order for everyday speech.

How do you pronounce βούρτσα and what sound does the letter β make in modern Greek?

Pronunciation of βούρτσα: roughly VOOR-tsa.

β = like English v (never like English b in modern Greek)
ου = like oo in food
ρ = trilled or tapped r
τσ = like ts in cats
Stress is on βούρ-: ΒΟΟΡ-tsa

So:

β → v sound
μπ (together) is usually used to represent the b sound in modern Greek.