Breakdown of Μέχρι τότε χρησιμοποιώ ένα παλιό ποντίκι και ένα δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο που είχα στο σπίτι.
Questions & Answers about Μέχρι τότε χρησιμοποιώ ένα παλιό ποντίκι και ένα δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο που είχα στο σπίτι.
Μέχρι τότε literally means “until then” or “up to that time”.
- Μέχρι = until / up to
- τότε = then / that time
Putting it at the start of the sentence sets a time frame for the action that follows:
Μέχρι τότε χρησιμοποιώ…
Until then, I use / I’ll be using…
In Greek it’s very natural to begin with time expressions (Μέχρι τότε, Αύριο, Το βράδυ, etc.) to set the context:
- Αύριο πάω στο γραφείο. – Tomorrow I’m going to the office.
- Το βράδυ διαβάζω. – In the evening I study.
You could also say Χρησιμοποιώ… μέχρι τότε, but the original word order is more typical and sounds smoother.
Χρησιμοποιώ is the present tense, imperfective aspect: I use / I am using.
In Greek, the present tense can often describe a temporary situation leading up to a future point, especially when combined with something like Μέχρι τότε:
- Μέχρι τότε χρησιμοποιώ…
→ Until then, I’m using… / I’ll be using…
English prefers a future or progressive future here (I’ll be using), but Greek is happy with the plain present.
If you used a strict future tense:
- Μέχρι τότε θα χρησιμοποιώ…
this is also correct and emphasizes more clearly the future duration. Without θα, the sentence feels more like a statement of the current temporary arrangement, which happens to last until that future point.
A few points here:
Indefinite vs definite article
- ένα παλιό ποντίκι = an old mouse (non-specific, just “some old mouse”)
- το παλιό ποντίκι = the old mouse (a specific one you and the listener already know about)
The speaker just means “some old mouse I’m using,” not “that specific old mouse we’ve talked about.”
Why not “ο παλιός ποντίκι”?
- ποντίκι is neuter in Greek: το ποντίκι (not masculine ο).
- The correct article-adjective-noun chain is:
- ένα παλιό ποντίκι (indefinite)
- το παλιό ποντίκι (definite)
So ένα + παλιό agree with ποντίκι in gender (neuter), number (singular), and case (accusative):
- ένα παλιό ποντίκι = an old mouse (object of the verb).
Both παλιό (old) and δεύτερο (second) are adjectives that must agree with the nouns they modify.
The nouns are:
- ποντίκι – neuter, singular, accusative
- πληκτρολόγιο – neuter, singular, accusative
So the adjectives must also be:
- neuter
- singular
- accusative
That is exactly what we see:
- ένα παλιό ποντίκι
- ένα δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο
The pattern is:
> [article] + [adjective] + [noun]
> ένα παλιό ποντίκι
> ένα δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο
If the nouns were masculine or feminine, the adjectives would change:
- έναν παλιό υπολογιστή (masc.) – an old computer
- μια παλιά καρέκλα (fem.) – an old chair
The sentence has:
…ένα παλιό ποντίκι και ένα δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο…
The article ένα is repeated to clearly show that we are talking about two separate items:
- one old mouse
- one second keyboard
In everyday speech, you might sometimes hear:
- χρησιμοποιώ ένα παλιό ποντίκι και δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο
This can still be understood, but it’s less clear and less standard. Repeating ένα keeps the rhythm and clarity.
So:
- With repetition (standard, clear):
ένα παλιό ποντίκι και ένα δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο - Without repetition (possible but not ideal here):
ένα παλιό ποντίκι και δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο
Both are possible, but they have slightly different nuances:
δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο
= a second keyboard
It implies number/order: there is a first keyboard, and this is the second one. It also often means “an additional, extra keyboard” in a more concrete, counted sense.άλλο πληκτρολόγιο
= another / a different keyboard
This focuses on difference, not on order. Just “a different keyboard from the usual one.”
In this sentence, δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο suggests:
“I have my main keyboard, and this is my second/extra one that I had at home.”
So δεύτερο matches the idea of “spare / extra” more directly.
Yes. Here που works as a relative pronoun / subordinator, roughly like English “that / which”:
- πληκτρολόγιο που είχα στο σπίτι
= a keyboard *that I had at home*
A few key points:
που is invariable: it doesn’t change form for gender, number, or case.
It can mean who / that / which / where / when, depending on context.It introduces a relative clause that describes or identifies the noun:
- το βιβλίο που διάβασα – the book that I read
- ο άνθρωπος που είδα – the man (that) I saw
In more formal language, you could use ο οποίος / η οποία / το οποίο etc., which do change for gender and case:
- το πληκτρολόγιο το οποίο είχα στο σπίτι
But in everyday Modern Greek, που is by far the most common choice.
- είχα = I had (past, imperfect)
- έχω = I have (present)
που είχα στο σπίτι means “that I had at home (before)”.
The imperfect είχα suggests possession in the past, often as background information.
In this context, the idea is probably:
I’m now using a second keyboard, which I (used to) have at home.
So the keyboard was kept at home before, and now it’s being used somewhere else.
If you said που έχω στο σπίτι, it would mean:
a second keyboard that I have at home (still there now),
which would sound odd if you are currently using it somewhere else.
Grammatically, που είχα στο σπίτι attaches to the closest noun, which is πληκτρολόγιο:
…ένα παλιό ποντίκι και ένα δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο που είχα στο σπίτι.
→ …an old mouse and a second keyboard that I had at home.
So by default, only the keyboard is modified by που είχα στο σπίτι.
If you wanted the clause to apply to both the mouse and the keyboard, you’d normally make that clear, for example:
- …ένα παλιό ποντίκι και ένα δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο, που τα είχα στο σπίτι.
→ “…an old mouse and a second keyboard, which I had at home.”
Here τα (them) clearly refers to both objects.
στο is a combination of the preposition σε + the neuter article το:
- σε = in / at / to / on
- το = the (neuter singular nominative/accusative)
They fuse into στο in everyday Greek:
- σε + το = στο
- σε + τον = στον
- σε + την = στην
So στο σπίτι literally = “in the house / at the house”, usually translated as “at home” in this context.
Compare:
- Είμαι στο σπίτι. – I am at home.
- Πηγαίνω στο γραφείο. – I’m going to the office.
In Greek, we usually do not put a comma before που when it introduces a restrictive relative clause, that is, a clause that identifies which noun we are talking about.
Here:
- ένα δεύτερο πληκτρολόγιο που είχα στο σπίτι
is specifying which keyboard: the one that I had at home.
Because this information is essential to identify the keyboard, there is no comma.
We would use commas if the relative clause were non-essential / parenthetical:
- Το πληκτρολόγιο, που είχα στο σπίτι, είναι παλιό.
– The keyboard, which I had at home, is old.
Here, the extra information “which I had at home” is not needed to identify the keyboard; it’s just added detail, so we set it off with commas.
Yes, you can change the word order:
- Μέχρι τότε χρησιμοποιώ ένα παλιό ποντίκι…
- Χρησιμοποιώ μέχρι τότε ένα παλιό ποντίκι…
Both are grammatically correct and mean essentially the same thing.
Differences:
- Starting with Μέχρι τότε feels more natural and typical in Greek for this kind of sentence, because it sets the time frame first.
- Putting μέχρι τότε after the verb is possible, but the focus feels a bit more on the action (“I use…”) and then you add “until then” as an extra detail.
In everyday speech, the original word order (time expression first) is more common here.