Στο μάθημα ελληνικών δυσκολεύομαι όταν είμαι κουρασμένος.

to be

Breakdown of Στο μάθημα ελληνικών δυσκολεύομαι όταν είμαι κουρασμένος.

• σε: in
• όταν: when
• κουρασμένος: tired

Questions & Answers about Στο μάθημα ελληνικών δυσκολεύομαι όταν είμαι κουρασμένος.

What does δυσκολεύομαι mean exactly, and why does it end in -ομαι?

Δυσκολεύομαι is a verb meaning “I have difficulty / I struggle / I find it hard.”

• The ending -ομαι shows that this is a middle/passive form in Modern Greek.
• Many common verbs in Greek only appear in this -ομαι form and are called “deponent” (they have passive/middle endings but active meaning).

Roughly:

• δυσκολεύω = I make something difficult (transitive: I cause difficulty to someone/something)
• δυσκολεύομαι = I have difficulty / I find it difficult (intransitive, about myself)

In everyday speech you will almost always see δυσκολεύομαι used to mean:

• δυσκολεύομαι στο μάθημα ελληνικών = I struggle in Greek class
• δυσκολεύομαι να μιλήσω ελληνικά = I find it hard to speak Greek

Where is the word “I” in this sentence? Why isn’t it written?

Greek normally omits subject pronouns (like “I”, “you”, “he”, etc.) because the verb ending already shows the subject.

• δυσκολεύομαι is 1st person singular → it already means “I struggle / I have difficulty.”

• So εγώ δυσκολεύομαι is grammatically fine, but in neutral sentences εγώ is usually left out unless you want to emphasize it:

  • Εγώ δυσκολεύομαι στο μάθημα ελληνικών.
    = I (as opposed to others) struggle in Greek class.

In your sentence, the subject “I” is contained in the verb form δυσκολεύομαι.

What is the role of στο in ? Why not just ?