Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο.

Breakdown of Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο.

μου
my
η εταιρεία
the company
ο μισθός
the salary
αυξάνω
to increase
κάθε χρόνο
every year
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Questions & Answers about Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο.

Why is it τον μισθό and not το μισθό?

In Greek, articles agree in gender, number, and case with the noun.

  • μισθός (salary) is masculine, singular, and here it is the direct object of the verb (accusative case).
  • The masculine singular accusative article is τον, not το.

So:

  • ο μισθός = the salary (subject, nominative)
  • τον μισθό = the salary (object, accusative)

το is neuter; it would be used with neuter nouns like το βιβλίο (the book), not with μισθός.

What tense is αυξάνει, and how does it compare to English tenses?

αυξάνει is the present tense, active voice, 3rd person singular of the verb αυξάνω (to increase).

Greek present tense covers both:

  • English present simple: The company increases my salary every year.
  • English present continuous: The company is increasing my salary.

In this sentence, because of κάθε χρόνο (every year), the meaning is clearly habitual, so it matches English present simple:
The company increases my salary every year.

Could I also use this sentence to mean “The company is increasing my salary right now”?

By itself, Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου is more naturally understood as a general or repeated action.

To make it clearly about something happening right now, you would usually add a time expression like τώρα (now):

  • Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τώρα τον μισθό μου.
  • Τώρα η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου.

Context often does the job in Greek, but if you want to emphasize the “right now” meaning, adding τώρα is the safest.

Why is the possessive μου after the noun (τον μισθό μου) and not before it like in English?

In Greek, unstressed possessive pronouns (my, your, his, etc.) normally come after the noun:

  • το σπίτι μου = my house
  • η δουλειά σου = your job
  • τον μισθό μου = my salary

Putting μου before the noun (μου μισθό) is wrong in this structure.

There is another way to say my, using δικός μου etc., which can come before or after, but it is a bit different in meaning and emphasis:

  • ο δικός μου μισθός = my salary (as opposed to someone else’s)

In this sentence, the normal, neutral option is τον μισθό μου.

What exactly does μου mean here? Is it a pronoun or an article?

μου here is an unstressed possessive pronoun, meaning my.

  • It shows possession: the salary that belongs to me.
  • It does not change for gender, case, or number of the thing possessed. It is always μου (my), even with different nouns:
    • ο φίλος μου = my friend (masc.)
    • η φίλη μου = my (female) friend
    • το βιβλίο μου = my book

It is not an article. The article is ο/η/το etc.; μου is a clitic pronoun attached to the noun.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Κάθε χρόνο η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου?

Yes. Greek word order is fairly flexible. All of these are grammatical and natural:

  • Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο.
  • Κάθε χρόνο η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου.
  • Η εταιρεία κάθε χρόνο αυξάνει τον μισθό μου.

They all mean the same thing.
Putting κάθε χρόνο at the beginning often emphasizes the frequency a bit more: Every year, the company increases my salary.

Can μου move in the sentence, like Η εταιρεία μου αυξάνει τον μισθό κάθε χρόνο?

Yes, that is also correct:

  • Η εταιρεία μου αυξάνει τον μισθό κάθε χρόνο.

Here μου is attached to the verb instead of the noun. It still means my, but grammatically it is acting like an indirect object (increases the salary to me).

Meaning-wise, both are fine:

  • Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο.
  • Η εταιρεία μου αυξάνει τον μισθό κάθε χρόνο.

The first one sounds a bit more neutral and very common. The second slightly highlights the person (me) as the beneficiary.

Why does εταιρεία use the article η?

εταιρεία (company) is a feminine noun in Greek.

  • Feminine singular nominative article = η
  • So: η εταιρεία = the company

If you change the case or number, the article changes accordingly:

  • της εταιρείας = of the company (genitive singular)
  • την εταιρεία = the company (accusative singular)
  • οι εταιρείες = the companies (nominative plural)
Why do we even need the article η and τον? In English we can just say “My company increases my salary every year” without the.

Greek uses definite articles much more often than English.

In this sentence:

  • Η εταιρεία = the company (a specific one, usually your employer)
  • τον μισθό μου = the salary (my salary, specific)

Even if English does not use the, Greek will usually use the definite article when talking about specific, known things (my company, my salary). Leaving out the article here would sound unnatural or wrong:

  • Εταιρεία αυξάνει μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο (ungrammatical)
  • Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο.
What case is τον μισθό μου, and why?

τον μισθό μου is in the accusative case.

  • The accusative is used for the direct object of a verb (the thing directly affected by the action).
  • The verb αυξάνει (increases) acts on τον μισθό μου (my salary), so that phrase must be accusative.

Compare:

  • Ο μισθός μου αυξάνεται κάθε χρόνο.
    • Ο μισθός μου is now the subject (nominative): My salary increases every year.
  • Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο.
    • Η εταιρεία = subject (nominative)
    • τον μισθό μου = direct object (accusative)
Why is it κάθε χρόνο and not κάθε χρονιά? Is there a difference?

Both κάθε χρόνο and κάθε χρονιά can mean every year, but:

  • κάθε χρόνο (using χρόνο) is the more neutral and common form.
  • κάθε χρονιά can be a bit more colloquial or may emphasize the idea of each separate year as a period of life.

In this sentence, κάθε χρόνο is the standard and most natural choice:

  • Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο.
What is the difference between αυξάνει and a verb like ανεβάζει here?

Both verbs can be used for raising something, but:

  • αυξάνει comes from αυξάνω = to increase (more neutral/formal, often used for salaries, prices, rates).
  • ανεβάζει comes from ανεβάζω = to raise, to lift, to take up (a bit more physical or informal in many contexts).

You might hear:

  • Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο. (very natural)
  • Η εταιρεία ανεβάζει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο. (understandable, a bit more colloquial)

For salaries, αυξάνει is the standard verb.

How do you pronounce αυξάνει and why is it spelled with αυ?

αυξάνει is pronounced roughly as: [af-KSA-nee].

  • αυ in front of a consonant like ξ is pronounced [af].
  • The stress is on the -ξά- syllable: αυξάνει.

So you get: af-KSA-nee.

The spelling αυ is historical; in modern Greek, αυ is pronounced:

  • [av] before voiced consonants (β, γ, δ, ζ, λ, μ, ν, ρ) and vowels
  • [af] before voiceless consonants (π, τ, κ, φ, θ, χ, σ, ξ, ψ)
Could I say the same thing in the passive voice, like “My salary increases every year”?

Yes. A common passive version is:

  • Ο μισθός μου αυξάνεται κάθε χρόνο.

Here:

  • Ο μισθός μου = my salary (subject, nominative)
  • αυξάνεται = is increased / increases (present passive)

Meaning is very close to the original sentence, but:

  • Η εταιρεία αυξάνει τον μισθό μου κάθε χρόνο.
    • Emphasizes who does it (the company).
  • Ο μισθός μου αυξάνεται κάθε χρόνο.
    • Emphasizes what happens to the salary.