Breakdown of Το σαββατοκύριακο θέλω όχι μόνο να ξεκουραστώ αλλά και να περάσω χρόνο με την οικογένειά μου.
Questions & Answers about Το σαββατοκύριακο θέλω όχι μόνο να ξεκουραστώ αλλά και να περάσω χρόνο με την οικογένειά μου.
In Greek, time expressions are very often used with the definite article, even when English would not use one.
- Το σαββατοκύριακο here means “this weekend / the weekend (that’s coming)”.
- Greek tends to use the definite article with:
- days of the week: Τη Δευτέρα θα δουλέψω. = “On Monday I’ll work.”
- parts of the day: Το βράδυ θα βγούμε. = “In the evening we’ll go out.”
- time periods like holidays: Τα Χριστούγεννα, το καλοκαίρι, etc.
If you say just Σαββατοκύριακο θέλω…, it’s understandable, but it sounds a bit abrupt or headline‑like; putting το in front is the normal, natural way in everyday speech.
If you wanted to talk about weekends in general, you would normally use the plural with article:
- Τα σαββατοκύριακα θέλω να ξεκουράζομαι. = “At/On weekends I want to rest.”
σαββατοκύριακο is a compound noun:
- Σάββατο = Saturday
- Κυριακή = Sunday
- σαββατοκύριακο = “weekend” (literally “Saturday–Sunday”)
Some key points:
- Gender: neuter
- Singular: το σαββατοκύριακο
- Plural: τα σαββατοκύριακα
Examples:
- Αυτό το σαββατοκύριακο θα μείνω σπίτι. = This weekend I’ll stay home.
- Τα σαββατοκύριακα βγαίνω με φίλους. = On weekends I go out with friends.
It is normally written with a lowercase initial: σαββατοκύριακο, unless it starts a sentence.
In Greek, the present tense is very often used to refer to future plans or intentions, especially when there is a time expression that makes the future meaning clear.
- Το σαββατοκύριακο θέλω να ξεκουραστώ.
Literally: “The weekend I want to rest.”
Meaning: “This weekend I want to rest.”
The time phrase Το σαββατοκύριακο tells us we’re talking about the future, so θέλω can stay in the present.
Using θα θέλω here (future of θέλω) would sound strange in most contexts, more like “I will be wanting / I will want (habitually)” instead of a simple, concrete plan for the coming weekend.
Modern Greek does not have an infinitive like English “to rest / to spend”.
Instead, it uses να + subjunctive to express what English usually expresses with “to + verb” or sometimes “that + verb”.
- θέλω να ξεκουραστώ ≈ “I want to rest.”
- θέλω να περάσω χρόνο ≈ “I want to spend time.”
So in this sentence:
- να introduces the subjunctive form of the verb.
- Verbs that express desire, plan, intention, necessity, etc. (θέλω, πρέπει, μπορώ, σκέφτομαι, αποφασίζω, etc.) are very often followed by να + verb.
You can think of να here as the Greek “marker” for a subordinate verb, especially after verbs like θέλω.
Both ξεκουραστώ and περάσω are aorist subjunctive, 1st person singular.
ξεκουραστώ
- from the verb ξεκουράζομαι (to rest, to relax)
- aorist subjunctive, middle/passive form: να ξεκουραστώ
περάσω
- from the verb περνάω / περνώ (to pass, spend (time))
- aorist subjunctive, active form: να περάσω
Why aorist here?
The aorist in the subjunctive normally presents the action as a whole, a completed event, without focusing on its duration or repetition. In context:
- να ξεκουραστώ: “to get some rest / to have rested” (see resting as one completed goal over the weekend).
- να περάσω χρόνο: “to spend (some) time” (again, as a whole event).
You could use the present subjunctive (e.g. να ξεκουράζομαι, να περνάω) but that would emphasize an ongoing, repeated or habitual action. For a single upcoming weekend, speakers naturally choose the aorist subjunctive most of the time.
Both relate to the verb ξεκουράζομαι (“I rest / I relax”) but they differ in aspect:
να ξεκουραστώ – aorist subjunctive
- Focus on the result / completion: “to get (some) rest,” “to be rested.”
- Used for one overall goal or event.
να ξεκουράζομαι – present subjunctive
- Focus on the ongoing process or habit: “to be resting,” “to keep resting,” “to rest regularly.”
Compare:
Το σαββατοκύριακο θέλω να ξεκουραστώ.
I want to get some rest this weekend (one event, as a whole).Τα σαββατοκύριακα θέλω να ξεκουράζομαι περισσότερο.
On weekends I want to rest more (as a habit, repeatedly).
So in your sentence about one specific weekend, να ξεκουραστώ is the natural choice.
όχι μόνο … αλλά και … means “not only … but also …”.
In your sentence:
- όχι μόνο να ξεκουραστώ = not only to rest
- αλλά και να περάσω χρόνο με την οικογένειά μου = but also to spend time with my family
General pattern:
- όχι μόνο goes right before the first element you’re emphasizing.
- αλλά και goes right before the second element.
Examples:
Θέλω όχι μόνο να διαβάσω, αλλά και να γράψω.
I want not only to read, but also to write.Είναι όχι μόνο έξυπνη, αλλά και εργατική.
She is not only smart, but also hardworking.
You can put όχι μόνο and αλλά και in front of verbs, adjectives, nouns, or whole phrases, depending on what you want to emphasize.
Yes, you can remove that structure. The simpler version would be:
- Το σαββατοκύριακο θέλω να ξεκουραστώ και να περάσω χρόνο με την οικογένειά μου.
This means:
- “This weekend I want to rest and spend time with my family.”
The difference:
- With όχι μόνο ... αλλά και you highlight the contrast and the addition:
- “I want not just to rest, but also to spend time with my family.”
- With a simple και, you are just listing two things you want to do, without that explicit contrast or emphasis.
Both are correct; the version with όχι μόνο ... αλλά και is just a bit more emphatic and stylistically marked.
In your sentence we have:
- … θέλω όχι μόνο να ξεκουραστώ αλλά και να περάσω χρόνο …
Here, να is repeated before each verb. This is:
- very common
- clear and natural
In everyday speech you will also hear people drop the second να, especially in faster, more casual speech:
- … θέλω όχι μόνο να ξεκουραστώ αλλά και περάσω χρόνο …
However:
- In careful or written Greek, it is usually better style to keep the second να, especially when the two verbs are separated by other words (like αλλά και) and not right next to each other.
- Keeping both να’s makes the sentence easier to process for learners and sounds fully standard.
χρόνος = “time” (also “year” in some uses, but here it’s “time”).
In your sentence we have χρόνο (accusative singular, without article):
- να περάσω χρόνο με την οικογένειά μου
literally: “to pass time with my family”
meaning: “to spend time with my family.”
Greek often drops the article when a noun is used in a more indefinite / quantity-like sense:
- Να πιω νερό. = to drink (some) water.
- Να διαβάσω βιβλία. = to read (some) books.
Here, χρόνο is like “some time / time in general,” not a specific block of time that’s been defined.
If you say:
- να περάσω τον χρόνο μου με την οικογένειά μου,
this has a slightly different nuance:
- more like “to spend my time with my family” (focusing on my time as a whole resource).
- It’s still correct; it just highlights the possessive μου and treats “the time” as more specific.
Yes, περνάω (or περνώ) χρόνο με κάποιον is a very common way to say “to spend time with someone”.
- περνάω = I pass / I spend (time)
- χρόνο = time
- με = with
- κάποιον = someone
Examples:
Μου αρέσει να περνάω χρόνο με την οικογένειά μου.
I like spending time with my family.Περνάμε πολύ καλά όταν περνάμε χρόνο μαζί.
We have a great time when we spend time together.
Other possible expressions:
- να αφιερώσω χρόνο στην οικογένειά μου
to devote time to my family (more formal).
But in everyday speech, περνάω χρόνο με … is the go‑to phrase.
In Greek, when you combine a noun with a possessive pronoun like μου, you almost always keep the definite article:
- η οικογένεια = (the) family
- η οικογένειά μου = my family
- με την οικογένειά μου = with my family
So the pattern is:
- η/ο/το + noun + μου / σου / του / της / μας / σας / τους
You don’t say:
- με οικογένειά μου (this sounds wrong)
You need:
- με την οικογένειά μου
Also, because of the preposition με, the noun phrase is in the accusative:
- η οικογένεια (nominative) → την οικογένειά μου (accusative, with article + possessive).
The base word is οικογένεια = “family”.
- On its own, it’s stressed as οικογένεια (stress on γέ).
When we add an enclitic pronoun like μου right after it (η οικογένεια + μου), the stress shifts:
- η οικογένειά μου
- την οικογένειά μου
So we write the accent on the last syllable -ά: οικογένειά.
This happens with many words when they are followed by short unstressed pronouns:
- η θάλασσα → η θάλασσά μου
- ο άνθρωπος → ο άνθρωπός μου
Pronunciation (rough guide with stress in CAPS):
- οικογένεια: ee-ko-YE-nia
- οικογένειά μου: ee-ko-ye-ni-A mu (stress on the final -ά)
So in your sentence:
- με την οικογένειά μου ≈ “me tin ikoyeniÁ mu” (with my family).
την οικογένειά μου is:
- Accusative singular, feminine.
Breakdown:
- την – feminine, singular, accusative article
- οικογένειά – noun οικογένεια in accusative
- μου – enclitic possessive pronoun “my”
We use the accusative because:
- It follows the preposition με:
- με ποιον; με την οικογένειά μου. = with whom? with my family.
- Prepositions in Greek virtually always require the accusative case.
So the whole phrase με την οικογένειά μου is “with my family,” correctly formed with preposition + article + noun + possessive.
Yes, Greek word order is relatively flexible. Both are correct:
- Το σαββατοκύριακο θέλω όχι μόνο να ξεκουραστώ αλλά και να περάσω χρόνο με την οικογένειά μου.
- Θέλω το σαββατοκύριακο όχι μόνο να ξεκουραστώ αλλά και να περάσω χρόνο με την οικογένειά μου.
The difference is mostly emphasis:
- Version 1 (original) puts emphasis first on “this weekend” as the topic.
- Version 2 emphasizes “I want” a bit more, then specifies when.
Greek often puts time expressions either at the start or right after the verb, depending on what the speaker wants to highlight. All of these are acceptable:
- Το σαββατοκύριακο θέλω…
- Θέλω το σαββατοκύριακο…
The rest of the sentence generally stays in the same order for clarity.
In standard modern Greek punctuation, no comma is needed inside this sentence:
- Το σαββατοκύριακο θέλω όχι μόνο να ξεκουραστώ αλλά και να περάσω χρόνο με την οικογένειά μου.
You might see a comma added in very careful or didactic writing before αλλά:
- … να ξεκουραστώ, αλλά και να περάσω …
but it is not required, and many writers omit it here. The basic version without commas is fully correct and natural.