Learn Hardcore Greek: Ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού το πρωί μου δίνει ενέργεια. - Orange juice in the morning gives me energy.

Πορτοκαλιού is in the genitive case. In Greek, when you say “juice of orange” (orange juice), the thing the juice is made from is usually put in the genitive:

ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού = the juice of orange → orange juice
(literally: the juice of orange)

So:

ο χυμός → nominative (subject)
πορτοκάλι → dictionary form (neuter nominative)
πορτοκαλιού → neuter genitive singular (“of orange”)

This is a common pattern:

χυμός μήλου = apple juice (juice of apple)
χυμός λεμονιού = lemon juice (juice of lemon)

For many neuter nouns ending in -ι, the genitive singular ends in -ιού:

το παιδί → του παιδιού (child → of the child)
το πορτοκάλι → του πορτοκαλιού (orange → of the orange)

Is ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού definite (specific “the juice”) or can it be general like “orange juice”? Could we drop ο?

In Greek, the definite article is used much more than in English, even when we speak in general.

Ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού το πρωί μου δίνει ενέργεια.
→ “Orange juice in the morning gives me energy.”
(Not necessarily one specific glass; it can mean orange juice in general.)

If you drop the article and say:

Χυμός πορτοκαλιού το πρωί μου δίνει ενέργεια.

it sounds incomplete or odd in standard modern Greek. For a general statement about a type of thing (juice, coffee, milk, bread, etc.), Greek usually keeps the article:

Ο καφές το πρωί με ξυπνάει. = Coffee in the morning wakes me up.
Το γάλα κάνει καλό στα κόκαλα. = Milk is good for the bones.

So:
Use ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού for both “the orange juice” and general “orange juice” in this kind of sentence.

Can the word order change? For example:
Το πρωί ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού μου δίνει ενέργεια or
Ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού μου δίνει ενέργεια το πρωί. Do these sound natural and what changes?

Greek word order is flexible, and all of these sentences are grammatically correct:

Ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού το πρωί μου δίνει ενέργεια.
(neutral order; slight focus on juice as the subject)
Το πρωί ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού μου δίνει ενέργεια.
(puts το πρωί in first position, so there’s a bit more emphasis on in the morning.)
Ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού μου δίνει ενέργεια το πρωί.
(sounds like you’re adding το πρωί as extra info at the end:
“Orange juice gives me energy – in the morning.”)

In everyday speech, 1 and 2 are probably the most natural.
The basic rules still hold:

Subject: ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού
Time expression: το πρωί
Indirect object (weak pronoun): μου
Verb: δίνει
Direct object: ενέργεια

Changing the order mainly changes emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Why is μου placed after το πρωί and not directly after the verb, like δίνει μου?

Μου here is a weak/clitic pronoun (“to me”). In Greek, these short pronouns usually go in the second position of the clause, after the first stressed word or phrase.

In your sentence, the first stressed phrase is ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού το πρωί, so μου comes right after that chunk:

Ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού το πρωί μου δίνει ενέργεια.

Other possibilities:

Ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού μου δίνει ενέργεια το πρωί.
(Here the first stressed element is ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού, so μου comes right after it.)

But:

δίνει μου is almost always wrong in modern Greek in this kind of sentence.
In normal statements, the weak pronoun does not go after the finite verb alone (except in imperatives and a couple of special structures).

Compare:

Μου δίνει ενέργεια. (He/She/It gives me energy.)
Here the verb is first, so μου follows immediately – it is still in second position.

So the rule to remember: weak pronouns like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους generally go in “second position” in the clause, after the first stressed element.

What is the difference between μου δίνει ενέργεια and δίνει ενέργεια σε μένα?

Both can translate as “gives me energy”, but:

μου δίνει ενέργεια
- uses the weak pronoun μου
- is the normal, neutral way to say it
- sounds natural and unmarked in everyday speech
δίνει ενέργεια σε μένα
- uses the full prepositional phrase σε μένα (“to me”)
- is more emphatic, like “it gives energy to me (not to others)”

You can also combine them for very strong emphasis:

Σε μένα μου δίνει ενέργεια.
= To me it gives energy (really stressing “to me”).

In your sentence, μου δίνει ενέργεια is exactly what you want.

Why is it το πρωί and not something like στο πρωί to mean “in the morning”?

For parts of the day used as time expressions, Greek very often uses article + noun with no preposition, and that alone has an adverbial meaning:

το πρωί = in the morning
το βράδυ = in the evening/at night
το μεσημέρι = at noon
τη νύχτα = at night

So:

Πίνω καφέ το πρωί. = I drink coffee in the morning.

Using στο πρωί is usually wrong or at least very odd in this sense.
You can have στην αρχή του πρωινού (at the beginning of the morning), but that’s a different structure.

So simply remember: with πρωί, βράδυ, μεσημέρι, νύχτα in this time sense, Greek normally uses the article without a preposition.

Why is the verb δίνει and not δίνω? Can you show the present tense of δίνω?

Δίνει is the 3rd person singular form of the verb δίνω (to give).

Your subject is ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού = it (the juice), so the verb must agree and be “he/she/it gives” → δίνει.

Present tense of δίνω:

εγώ δίνω = I give
εσύ δίνεις = you give (singular)
αυτός / αυτή / αυτό δίνει = he / she / it gives
εμείς δίνουμε = we give
εσείς δίνετε = you give (plural or polite)
αυτοί / αυτές / αυτά δίνουν(ε) = they give

So:

Ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού … δίνει ενέργεια. = The orange juice gives energy.

What are the genders and cases of χυμός, πορτοκάλι, and ενέργεια in this sentence?

Let’s go word by word.

ο χυμός
- Gender: masculine
- Case: nominative (it’s the subject)
- Number: singular
- Article + noun: ο χυμός = the juice
πορτοκαλιού
- From: το πορτοκάλι (orange – neuter)
- Gender: neuter
- Case: genitive singular (“of orange”)
- It depends on χυμός and tells you what kind of juice.
ενέργεια
- Gender: feminine
- Case: accusative singular (direct object of δίνει)
- The nominative form is also ενέργεια; with the article it would be:
  - η ενέργεια (nominative)
  - την ενέργεια (accusative)

So the basic structure is:

[Nominative subject] ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού
[Indirect object, genitive pronoun] μου
[Verb] δίνει
[Accusative object] ενέργεια

How do I make this sentence negative?

To negate a verb in the present tense in modern Greek, you put δεν right before the verb:

Ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού το πρωί δεν μου δίνει ενέργεια.
= Orange juice in the morning doesn’t give me energy.

Word order detail:

δεν goes before δίνει, even if there is a pronoun:
- δεν μου δίνει (not μου δεν δίνει)

Other examples:

Δεν πίνω καφέ. = I don’t drink coffee.
Δεν του μιλάω. = I don’t talk to him.

Is there another common way to say “orange juice” in Greek, apart from χυμός πορτοκαλιού?

Yes, there are a couple of common options:

χυμός πορτοκαλιού
- Literally: juice of orange
- Very standard and clear: orange juice
πορτοκαλάδα
- Literally: orange drink
- Often means orangeade (can be juice, but also a soft drink)
- In everyday speech, many people say πορτοκαλάδα to mean orange juice, especially at cafés etc., but context matters.
πορτοκαλοχυμός
- A compound: orange-juice
- Exists and is understandable, but less common than χυμός πορτοκαλιού in neutral speech.

In your sentence, ο χυμός πορτοκαλιού is the most straightforward and standard way to say orange juice.

What’s the difference between το πρωί and just πρωί without the article?

Both exist, but they are used a bit differently.

το πρωί
- Very common as a time expression: “in the morning”
- Sounds complete and normal:
  - Πίνω καφέ το πρωί. = I drink coffee in the morning.
πρωί (without article)
- Often used in more telegraphic or informal phrases, or together with other words:
  - πολύ πρωί = very early in the morning
  - κάθε πρωί = every morning
  - αύριο πρωί (colloquial) = tomorrow morning
- On its own as “Πίνω καφέ πρωί.” sounds a bit clipped or incomplete; το πρωί is more natural.

So for a full normal sentence like yours, το πρωί is the expected form.