Learn Hardcore Greek: Τον χειμώνα φοράω κασκόλ και γάντια όταν φυσάει. - In winter I wear a scarf and gloves when it’s windy.

Ο χειμώνας is the subject form (nominative: “the winter”).
In this sentence, Τον χειμώνα is in the accusative, used as a time expression meaning “in/during (the) winter”.

Greek often uses the accusative case without a preposition to express “when” something happens:

Τον χειμώνα – in (the) winter
Το καλοκαίρι – in (the) summer
Κάθε μέρα – every day
Τη Δευτέρα – on Monday

So Τον χειμώνα φοράω… literally is “The winter I wear…”, but idiomatically means “In winter I wear…”.

Could I say Το χειμώνα or just Χειμώνα instead of Τον χειμώνα?

The standard form is Τον χειμώνα (masculine accusative: ο χειμώνας → τον χειμώνα).

In everyday speech you will also hear:

Το χειμώνα – very common colloquially, though less “textbook-correct”
Χειμώνα φοράω κασκόλ… – possible, but sounds more colloquial/elliptical

For learners, it’s safest to use Τον χειμώνα; it’s always correct and sounds natural in both spoken and written Greek.

Why don’t we say στον χειμώνα for “in winter”?

Greek normally uses the bare accusative for seasons, days, and periods of time to mean “in / during”:

Τον χειμώνα = in winter
Την άνοιξη = in spring
Το βράδυ = in the evening
Τη Δευτέρα = on Monday

Στον χειμώνα would sound strange, as if winter were a physical place you go “into”. So you don’t need a preposition here; the case alone carries the meaning of “during that time”.

What is the difference between φοράω and φορώ?

They are two forms of the same verb, meaning “to wear” (or sometimes “to put on”):

φοράω – more colloquial, very common in everyday speech
φορώ – slightly more formal/literary, also completely correct

Conjugation (present tense, one common pattern):

εγώ φοράω / φορώ – I wear
εσύ φοράς – you wear
αυτός/αυτή/αυτό φοράει / φορεί – he/she/it wears

In your sentence, φοράω is just the casual, spoken form:
Τον χειμώνα φοράω κασκόλ και γάντια…

In English I’d say “I wear / I am wearing”. What does φοράω correspond to exactly?

Greek present φοράω covers both:

I wear (habitually)
I am wearing (right now)

In this sentence, context (mention of winter) makes it habitual:

Τον χειμώνα φοράω κασκόλ…
→ “In winter I wear a scarf…”

If you wanted to be very explicitly habitual, you could add συνήθως (“usually”):
Τον χειμώνα συνήθως φοράω κασκόλ και γάντια.

Why is there no article before κασκόλ and γάντια?

Greek often omits the article when talking about things in general, especially in habitual statements:

Φοράω κασκόλ και γάντια. – I wear scarf(s) and gloves (generally, when needed)
Τρώω φρούτα. – I eat fruit.
Πίνω καφέ. – I drink coffee.

If you add an article, you make it more specific:

φοράω ένα κασκόλ – I wear a (one specific) scarf
φοράω τα γάντια μου – I wear my gloves

Here, the speaker is talking generally about what they wear in winter, so no article is natural.

Is κασκόλ singular or plural? How do I say “scarves”?

Το κασκόλ is a neuter indeclinable noun borrowed from French. That means:

Singular: το κασκόλ – the scarf
Plural: τα κασκόλ – the scarves

The form κασκόλ does not change in the plural; only the article shows number:

φοράω κασκόλ – I wear a scarf / I wear scarves (context decides)
φοράω ένα κασκόλ – clearly one scarf
φοράω δύο κασκόλ – two scarves

In your sentence, κασκόλ is understood as one scarf, but the form alone doesn’t show that; context does.

What is the gender and plural of γάντια?

The basic noun is:

το γάντι – the glove (neuter singular)

The plural is:

τα γάντια – the gloves

So:

Φοράω γάντια. – I wear gloves.
Φοράω τα γάντια μου. – I wear my gloves.

What exactly does όταν mean here? Is it like “if” or “when”?

όταν means “when” (whenever) and introduces a time clause:

όταν φυσάει – when it’s windy / whenever it’s windy

Compare:

όταν = when(ever)
- Όταν φυσάει, φοράω κασκόλ. – When it’s windy, I wear a scarf.
αν = if
- Αν φυσάει, θα φορέσω κασκόλ. – If it’s windy, I will wear a scarf.

So here όταν φυσάει is about what happens whenever it’s windy (a repeated situation).

What is φυσάει exactly? Why does it end in -ει when there is no subject like “it”?

φυσάει is the 3rd person singular of the verb φυσάω / φυσώ = “to blow” (about wind, air).
It literally means “(it) blows”.

In Greek, you often don’t say “it” for weather:

Φυσάει. – It’s windy / The wind is blowing.
Βρέχει. – It’s raining.
Χιονίζει. – It’s snowing.

The ending -ει shows 3rd person singular, so the subject “it” is just understood, not spoken.

Sometimes I see φυσά instead of φυσάει. Are they different?

Both are forms of the same verb:

φυσάει – more complete form
φυσά – shorter colloquial form

They mean the same thing: “(it) blows / it’s windy”.

In your sentence, you could hear:

…όταν φυσάει. – a bit more formal/complete
…όταν φυσά. – slightly more casual

Both are widely used and understood.

Can I change the word order, e.g. say Όταν φυσάει, τον χειμώνα φοράω κασκόλ και γάντια?

Yes. Greek word order is relatively flexible. These are all natural:

Τον χειμώνα φοράω κασκόλ και γάντια όταν φυσάει.
Τον χειμώνα, όταν φυσάει, φοράω κασκόλ και γάντια.
Όταν φυσάει, τον χειμώνα φοράω κασκόλ και γάντια.

The meaning stays the same; you’re just changing the emphasis slightly (for example, starting with Όταν φυσάει emphasizes the condition “when it’s windy”).

Any tips on pronouncing tricky parts like χ, αι, and the vowels in this sentence?

Key points:

χ in χειμώνα – a voiceless sound, like a rough h in “huge” for English speakers, but further back in the throat: [hi-] roughly “hee”.
ει in χειμώνα, αι in φυσάει – both pronounced [i] (like “ee” in “see”).
ω vs ο – in modern Greek, both are pronounced [o] (like “o” in “not”), so χειμώνα is [çiˈmona].
φυσάει is commonly pronounced [fiˈsa.i] or in fast speech closer to [fiˈsa].

So roughly:

Τον χειμώνα → ton hi-MO-na
φοράω → fo-RA-o (often sounds like fo-RA-o / fo-RA)
κασκόλ → kas-KOL
γάντια → GAN-dya
όταν φυσάει → O-tan fi-SA-i (or fi-SA in fast speech)