Προσπαθώ να έχω ρεαλιστικούς στόχους για τα ελληνικά μου.

I try to have realistic goals for my Greek.

Breakdown of Προσπαθώ να έχω ρεαλιστικούς στόχους για τα ελληνικά μου.

• έχω: to have
• να: to
• μου: my
• για: for
• προσπαθώ: to try
• ο στόχος: the goal
• τα ελληνικά: the Greek language
• ρεαλιστικός: realistic

Questions & Answers about Προσπαθώ να έχω ρεαλιστικούς στόχους για τα ελληνικά μου.

What is the role of να in this sentence?

Να introduces a verb in the subjunctive and is very often used after verbs of desire, effort, intention, etc., like προσπαθώ (I try).

• Προσπαθώ να έχω… literally: I try that I have…
• In natural English: I try to have…

So here να works a bit like English “to” before a verb, but grammatically it marks the subjunctive mood in Greek.

Is έχω here subjunctive or just the normal present tense? How can I tell?

Grammatically, έχω here is present subjunctive because it comes after να:

• έχω (I have) – it is both the present indicative form and the present subjunctive form.
• In many verbs, the present indicative and present subjunctive look identical; the difference is shown by what comes before them:
  • Έχω στόχους. → present indicative, “I have goals.”
  • Να έχω στόχους. → present subjunctive, “(for me) to have goals.”

So you recognize it as subjunctive because of the particle να, not because of a different verb form.

Why do we say προσπαθώ να έχω στόχους and not something like προσπαθώ να κάνω στόχους (literally “make goals”)?

Greek and English use different collocations:

• In English you might set / make / have goals.
• In Greek, the natural collocation is έχω στόχους – literally “I have goals.”

Some common, natural options in Greek:

• έχω στόχους – I have goals.
• βάζω στόχους – I set goals.
• θέτω στόχους – I set goals (more formal).

Κάνω στόχους is not idiomatic in this sense, so προσπαθώ να έχω ρεαλιστικούς στόχους is the natural phrasing.

What is happening grammatically in ρεαλιστικούς στόχους?

Στόχος is a masculine noun:

• Singular: ο στόχος (the goal)
• Plural: οι στόχοι (the goals)
• Accusative plural: τους στόχους

In the sentence, στόχους is:

• Masculine
• Plural
• Accusative case, because it is the direct object of έχω (I have what? → goals).

Ρεαλιστικούς is the adjective ρεαλιστικός (realistic) and it must agree with στόχους in:

• Gender: masculine
• Number: plural
• Case: accusative

So we get ρεαλιστικούς στόχους = “realistic goals,” with full adjective–noun agreement.

Why are we using the plural στόχους instead of the singular στόχο?

Both are possible, but the nuance is slightly different:

• ρεαλιστικό στόχο (singular)
  
  • “a realistic goal” – suggests one overall goal.
• ρεαλιστικούς στόχους (plural)
  
  • “realistic goals” – suggests multiple specific goals: maybe speaking, listening, vocabulary, grammar, etc.

In real-life talk about language learning, speakers often think in terms of several goals, so the plural ρεαλιστικούς στόχους is very natural.

Why do we say για τα ελληνικά μου? What does για do here?

Για is a preposition meaning for / about / regarding, depending on context.

Here, για τα ελληνικά μου means:

• “for my Greek (language)”
  → “goals for my Greek”

Structure:

• για
  • accusative = typical way to say “for X”.
• τα ελληνικά: “the Greek (language)”
• μου: “my”

So:

• για τα ελληνικά μου = “for my Greek (language)”
  → realistic goals for my Greek.

Why is ελληνικά in the plural (τα ελληνικά) instead of singular?

In Greek, names of languages are usually neuter plural nouns:

• τα ελληνικά – Greek
• τα αγγλικά – English
• τα γαλλικά – French
• τα ισπανικά – Spanish

So τα ελληνικά literally looks like “the Greek things,” but in practice it simply means “the Greek language.” That’s why you see:

• Μαθαίνω ελληνικά. – I’m learning Greek.
• Μιλάω καλά ελληνικά. – I speak Greek well.
• Έχω στόχους για τα ελληνικά μου. – I have goals for my Greek.

Why is μου placed after ελληνικά (τα ελληνικά μου) instead of before, like in English “my Greek”?

Greek weak possessive pronouns (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) normally come after the noun:

• το βιβλίο μου – my book
• ο φίλος σου – your friend
• τα ελληνικά μου – my Greek (language)

So the normal pattern is:

• article + noun + possessive pronoun

Putting μου before the noun (μου τα ελληνικά) is not standard; it only appears in very special emphatic or poetic contexts. For regular speech, always say τα ελληνικά μου.

Could I change the word order, like Προσπαθώ να έχω για τα ελληνικά μου ρεαλιστικούς στόχους? Is that still correct?

Yes, Greek word order is relatively flexible, and your version:

• Προσπαθώ να έχω για τα ελληνικά μου ρεαλιστικούς στόχους.

is grammatically correct and understandable.

However, the original:

• Προσπαθώ να έχω ρεαλιστικούς στόχους για τα ελληνικά μου.

sounds more natural and neutral. Putting ρεαλιστικούς στόχους right after έχω keeps the verb and its object close together, which is the usual and most comfortable order in this kind of sentence.

How would I pronounce the whole sentence correctly?

Approximate pronunciation (using stressed syllables in CAPS):

• Προσπαθώ → pros-pa-THÓ
• να → na
• έχω → É-ho (the χ is a throaty “h”, like German Bach)
• ρεαλιστικούς → re-a-lis-ti-KÚS
• στόχους → STÓ-hous
• για → ya
• τα → ta
• ελληνικά → e-li-ni-KÁ
• μου → mou (like “moo”)

Together, roughly:

• pros-pa-THÓ na É-ho re-a-lis-ti-KÚS STÓ-hous ya ta e-li-ni-KÁ mou

Stress is important in Greek, so pay special attention to:

• προσπαθώ
• ελληνικά
• ρεαλιστικούς
• στόχους