Learn Hardcore Greek: Το βράδυ προτιμώ ελαφρύ φαγητό, για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα. - In the evening I prefer light food so that I sleep better.

It refers to that general time of day, not to a specific evening. In English we usually drop “the” and say in the evening, but in Greek the definite article το is normal with times of day:
Το πρωί (in the morning), το μεσημέρι (at noon), το βράδυ (in the evening).

Why is there a definite article in Το βράδυ? Could I just say Βράδυ προτιμώ…?

The article το is natural and almost always used with these general time expressions:

Το βράδυ προτιμώ… = “In the evenings I prefer…”
Βράδυ προτιμώ… without το sounds incomplete or poetic/marked.

So for everyday speech you should keep the article: Το βράδυ…

How should I translate the whole sentence naturally into English?

A natural translation would be:

“In the evening I prefer light food so that I sleep better.”
or
“In the evenings I prefer to eat light food so I sleep better.”

Greek is slightly more compact; English tends to add “to eat” in the second version.

What does προτιμώ mean exactly, and how is it used?

Προτιμώ means “I prefer”.

It comes from the verb προτιμάω / προτιμώ = “to prefer”.
It’s conjugated like other verbs ending in -ώ (type: αγαπώ, τηλεφωνώ).

Basic present forms:

(εγώ) προτιμώ – I prefer
(εσύ) προτιμάς – you prefer
(αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) προτιμά – he/she/it prefers
(εμείς) προτιμάμε / προτιμούμε – we prefer
(εσείς) προτιμάτε – you (pl./pol.) prefer
(αυτοί/ες/α) προτιμούν(ε) – they prefer

Here it expresses a habitual preference: what you generally choose in the evenings.

What is the difference between προτιμώ and μου αρέσει περισσότερο?

Both can translate as “I prefer”, but:

Προτιμώ ελαφρύ φαγητό.
= I prefer light food. (more direct, standard way to say “I prefer”)
Μου αρέσει περισσότερο το ελαφρύ φαγητό.
= I like light food more (literally: “Light food pleases me more”).

Προτιμώ is shorter and more straightforward. Μου αρέσει περισσότερο focuses more on liking rather than choosing, though in many contexts they overlap.

Why is there no subject pronoun εγώ? How do we know it means “I prefer”?

Greek usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows who the subject is.

Προτιμώ can only be “I prefer” (from the form).
If you really want to emphasize I, you can say Εγώ προτιμώ…, but normally it’s not needed.

Is the present tense προτιμώ here like English “I prefer” or “I am preferring”?

It corresponds to English “I prefer” (simple present).

In Greek, the present tense typically covers:

general habits and preferences (like English simple present),
and ongoing actions (like English continuous), depending on context.

Here, with Το βράδυ, it’s clearly a habitual statement: “In the evenings, I (generally) prefer light food.”

What does ελαφρύ φαγητό mean exactly? Is it “a little food” or “light food”?

Ελαφρύ φαγητό means “light food”, i.e. food that is:

not heavy,
easy to digest,
not very fatty or rich.

It does not mean “a small amount of food”.
For “a small amount” you’d use something like λίγο φαγητό (“a little food”).

So:

ελαφρύ φαγητό = light, not heavy food
λίγο φαγητό = a small quantity of food

Why is the adjective ελαφρύ in this form? What is its basic form and gender?

The basic adjective is:

ελαφρύς, ελαφριά, ελαφρύ = light (not heavy)

It changes to match the noun’s gender, number, and case.

φαγητό is neuter singular, so the adjective also takes the neuter singular form:
- ελαφρύ φαγητό (light food)

Other examples:

ελαφρύ παιδί (light child, in weight) – neuter
ελαφριά τσάντα (light bag) – feminine
ελαφρύς ύπνος (light sleep) – masculine

Why is there no article in ελαφρύ φαγητό? Could I say το ελαφρύ φαγητό?

Both are possible, but they don’t mean exactly the same:

Προτιμώ ελαφρύ φαγητό.
= I prefer light food in general, as a kind of food.
Προτιμώ το ελαφρύ φαγητό.
= I prefer the light food (as opposed to some other specific food).
Sounds more like you’re choosing between options already known in context.

In this sentence, without the article is better, because we mean “light food” in general.

What does για να mean, and how is it different from just να?

Για να here means “in order to / so that” and introduces a purpose clause:

…προτιμώ ελαφρύ φαγητό, για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα.
= “…I prefer light food so that I sleep better.”

Differences:

να alone often introduces a clause after verbs of wanting, needing, starting, etc.:
Θέλω να κοιμηθώ. – I want to sleep.
για να explicitly expresses purpose or goal:
Τρώω ελαφρά για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα. – I eat lightly in order to sleep better.

Using για να here is the natural choice.

Why is the verb κοιμάμαι and not something like κοιμάω or κοιμίζω?

Κοιμάμαι is the standard verb for “I sleep”.

Greek uses many middle/passive-type verbs for actions you do yourself (often called “deponent” in grammar explanations).

Basic present of κοιμάμαι:

(εγώ) κοιμάμαι – I sleep
(εσύ) κοιμάσαι – you sleep
(αυτός/ή/ό) κοιμάται – he/she/it sleeps
(εμείς) κοιμόμαστε – we sleep
(εσείς) κοιμάστε / κοιμάσθε – you sleep
(αυτοί/ές/ά) κοιμούνται – they sleep

Κοιμίζω means “I make someone sleep / I put someone to sleep”, e.g. Κοιμίζω το παιδί – I put the child to sleep. That would be wrong here.

Why is it για να κοιμάμαι and not για να κοιμηθώ?

Both are correct Greek, but they emphasize different things:

για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα
- uses the present (imperfective): focus on the quality of ongoing sleep in general.
- “so that I sleep better (in general / each night)”.
για να κοιμηθώ καλύτερα
- uses the aorist (perfective) subjunctive: focus more on falling asleep / a single act of sleeping well.
- “so that I sleep better tonight / this time”.

In a general-habit sentence (Το βράδυ…), για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα matches the idea of regular, better sleep over time.

What does καλύτερα mean here, and why not καλύτερο?

Καλύτερα is the adverb meaning “better” (in the sense of “in a better way”).

It comes from καλά (well) → καλύτερα (better / more well).

We use the adverb after verbs:

κοιμάμαι καλύτερα = “I sleep better (i.e. in a better way).”

Καλύτερο is the adjective form (neuter singular), used with nouns:

καλύτερος ύπνος – better sleep (literally “better sleep” as a noun phrase)

So:

να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα – to sleep better (adverb modifying the verb)
να έχω καλύτερο ύπνο – to have better sleep (adjective modifying the noun ύπνο)

Is the comma before για να necessary?

In modern Greek punctuation, a comma here is normal and recommended, because:

It separates the main clause from the purpose clause:
- Το βράδυ προτιμώ ελαφρύ φαγητό,
- για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα.

You will sometimes see it written without a comma in informal texts, but using the comma is the standard and clearer.

Can I change the word order? For example: Προτιμώ το βράδυ ελαφρύ φαγητό?

Yes, Greek word order is fairly flexible. Some natural variants:

Το βράδυ προτιμώ ελαφρύ φαγητό, για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα.
Το βράδυ προτιμώ, για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα, ελαφρύ φαγητό. (more marked/emphatic)
Προτιμώ ελαφρύ φαγητό το βράδυ, για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα.

The original order is very neutral and clear. Moving το βράδυ or ελαφρύ φαγητό slightly just changes emphasis, not the basic meaning.

How would I say “At night I prefer not to eat much, so I sleep better” using the same structure?

You can keep the same pattern:

Το βράδυ προτιμώ να μην τρώω πολύ, για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα.

Breakdown:

Το βράδυ – at night / in the evening
προτιμώ – I prefer
να μην τρώω πολύ – not to eat much (literally: “that I don’t eat much”)
για να κοιμάμαι καλύτερα – so that I sleep better