Learn Hardcore Greek: Χωρίς ειδοποίηση ξέχασα τον νέο κωδικό και δεν είχα πρόσβαση στο μάθημα. - Without a notification I forgot the new password and didn’t have access to the course.

In this sentence it describes the circumstances: there was no prior notification/reminder, and in that situation the speaker forgot the new password and then lacked access to the course.

Is «χωρίς ειδοποίηση» a fixed expression, or could I also say something else like “without warning”?

You can say χωρίς ειδοποίηση, but the more standard idiomatic equivalent of “without warning” is:

χωρίς προειδοποίηση = without (prior) warning

So:

χωρίς ειδοποίηση → without notification (no email/app/system notice)
χωρίς προειδοποίηση → without warning (no advance warning something bad would happen)

Both are grammatical; the nuance depends on whether you mean a literal notification or a more general “warning.”

What tense is «ξέχασα», and why is that form used?

ξέχασα is the aorist (simple past) of the verb ξεχνάω / ξεχνώ = “to forget.”

ξεχνάω / ξεχνώ (present) → I forget / I am forgetting
ξέχασα (aorist past) → I forgot (one completed event in the past)

It is used here because forgetting the password is seen as a single, completed event at a specific time in the past.

By contrast, ξεχνούσα (imperfect) would suggest a repeated or ongoing action in the past (e.g. “I kept forgetting” / “I used to forget”), which is not the meaning here.

Why is it «τον νέο κωδικό» and not something like «το νέο κωδικό»?

Because κωδικός is a masculine noun, and in the sentence it’s the direct object, so it must be in the accusative masculine singular:

Nominative: ο κωδικός (the password / the code)
Accusative: τον κωδικό (the password as an object)

So you need:

τον (masculine accusative article)
νέο (masculine accusative adjective)
κωδικό (masculine accusative noun)

Putting it together:

τον νέο κωδικό = the new password (object of “I forgot”)

«το νέο κωδικό» is wrong because το is the neuter article, and it does not agree in gender with κωδικό.

Why is the adjective «νέο» used with a masculine noun? Isn’t «νέο» neuter?

This is a common confusion. For the adjective νέος (new, young), the forms are:

Masculine: νέος (nom.), νέου (gen.), νέο (acc.)
Neuter: νέο (nom. & acc.)

So νέο can be either:

masculine accusative singular, or
neuter nominative/accusative singular.

In τον νέο κωδικό:

κωδικό is masculine accusative
therefore νέο here is also masculine accusative, agreeing with it.

So it’s not neuter in this sentence; it just happens to look the same as the neuter form.

Could I say «τον καινούριο κωδικό» instead of «τον νέο κωδικό»? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both:

τον νέο κωδικό
τον καινούριο κωδικό (also spelled καινούργιο)

They are both correct and very natural. The nuance:

νέος = new, young, recent; slightly more neutral or sometimes a bit more formal.
καινούριος / καινούργιος = (brand) new, newly acquired; feels a bit more colloquial and concrete (“a new one as opposed to the old one”).

For “new password,” both are fine, and the difference is subtle. You will hear καινούριος κωδικός very often in everyday speech.

Why is it «δεν είχα πρόσβαση» and not just «δεν έχω πρόσβαση»?

δεν έχω πρόσβαση = I do not have access (now / generally).
δεν είχα πρόσβαση = I did not have access (at that time in the past).

The whole sentence is describing a past situation: you forgot the password and, as a result, you didn’t have access to the course then. So the verb έχω (“to have”) is put in the past (είχα = I had).

The pattern is:

έχω πρόσβαση σε … = I have access to …
είχα πρόσβαση σε … = I had access to …

What does «πρόσβαση» mean exactly, and what preposition does it take?

πρόσβαση means access (the ability or right to enter/use something).

The usual pattern is:

έχω πρόσβαση σε + accusative = I have access to …

Examples:

Έχω πρόσβαση στο μάθημα. = I have access to the course.
Δεν έχω πρόσβαση στο διαδίκτυο. = I don’t have access to the internet.
Έχεις πρόσβαση στα αρχεία; = Do you have access to the files?

In the sentence:

δεν είχα πρόσβαση στο μάθημα = I did not have access to the course.
Here σε
- το μάθημα contracts to στο μάθημα.

What exactly is «στο» in «στο μάθημα»?

στο is a contraction of:

σε (preposition: to, at, in, into, on, etc.)
το (neuter singular article: the)

So:

σε + το μάθημα → στο μάθημα = to the / in the / for the class/course

Greek almost always contracts σε + article in normal speech and writing:

σε + τον → στον
σε + την → στη(ν)
σε + το → στο

So στο μάθημα is the normal form; σε το μάθημα sounds wrong.

Can the word order in this sentence change? For example, where can I put «χωρίς ειδοποίηση»?

Greek word order is fairly flexible. For example, you could say:

Χωρίς ειδοποίηση, ξέχασα τον νέο κωδικό και δεν είχα πρόσβαση στο μάθημα.
– Adverbial phrase at the beginning (as in the original). Very natural.
Ξέχασα τον νέο κωδικό και, χωρίς ειδοποίηση, δεν είχα πρόσβαση στο μάθημα.
– Here χωρίς ειδοποίηση is linked more strongly to the second clause (“I had no access without any notification”).
Ξέχασα τον νέο κωδικό χωρίς ειδοποίηση και δεν είχα πρόσβαση στο μάθημα.
– Grammatically OK, but a bit less clear what exactly “without notification” modifies.

In writing, many people would add a comma after the opening phrase:

Χωρίς ειδοποίηση, ξέχασα…

You generally avoid splitting τον νέο κωδικό with χωρίς ειδοποίηση in the middle; keeping the object together is more natural.

Does «το μάθημα» mean one specific lesson, or can it also mean a whole course?

μάθημα can mean both, depending on context:

a single class/lesson
- Έχω μάθημα στις 6. = I have class at 6.
a subject or course
- το μάθημα των ελληνικών = the Greek class / Greek course
- Δεν είχα πρόσβαση στο μάθημα. (in an online platform context) → usually interpreted as “I didn’t have access to the course.”

So in this sentence, especially with an online learning context, το μάθημα naturally reads as “the course” rather than just one meeting.

How does negation work here? Why is «δεν» placed before «είχα»?

In Greek, the basic rule for negating verbs in the indicative is:

Put δεν directly before the conjugated verb.

Here:

είχα = I had
δεν είχα = I did not have

So:

Δεν είχα πρόσβαση στο μάθημα. = I did not have access to the course.

A couple of extra points:

In informal speech, δεν is often pronounced δε before a consonant, but in writing δεν is standard.
Greek has two main negation words: δεν (for the indicative) and μη(ν) (for imperatives, subjunctive, certain other structures). This sentence uses a straightforward indicative, so δεν is required.

Is «κωδικός» definitely the normal word for “password”? Are there any other options?

Yes, κωδικός is the most common modern word for password or code in digital contexts:

κωδικός πρόσβασης = access code / password
κωδικός PIN = PIN code

You may also see:

συνθηματικό (older or more formal word for “password/passphrase”)

But in everyday speech and on most websites, people say simply:

ο κωδικός = the password

So τον νέο κωδικό is exactly what you’d expect someone to say about “the new password.”