Learn Hardcore Greek: Πιστεύω ότι μια φιλία κρατάει πολλά χρόνια όταν υπάρχει σεβασμός, συμβιβασμός και αληθινή στήριξη. - I believe that a friendship lasts many years when there is respect, compromise and genuine support.

ότι is slightly more neutral/formal and is very common in writing.
πως often feels a bit more colloquial/natural in speech, though it’s also used in writing.

In this sentence, using πως instead of ότι is completely correct and natural: > Πιστεύω πως μια φιλία κρατάει πολλά χρόνια όταν υπάρχει σεβασμός…

You cannot omit ότι/πως here in careful standard Greek;
✗ Πιστεύω μια φιλία κρατάει… sounds wrong/foreign.

Why is it «μια φιλία» and not «η φιλία» if we’re talking about friendship in general?

Greek has some flexibility with articles when talking about general concepts.

μια φιλία = a (particular) friendship, any one friendship, a typical friendship.
η φιλία = (the concept of) friendship, friendship as a general idea or category.

In practice, both can be used for generic statements, but the nuance shifts:

Πιστεύω ότι μια φιλία κρατάει πολλά χρόνια…
= “I believe a friendship lasts many years…”
(thinking of a typical friendship between two people)
Πιστεύω ότι η φιλία κρατάει πολλά χρόνια…
= “I believe friendship lasts many years…”
(a bit more abstract, about friendship in general)

The version with μια φιλία sounds a bit more concrete and personal, like “a friendship between two people I have in mind, or a typical one.”

What does «κρατάει» literally mean, and why is it used for “lasts”?

The verb is κρατάω / κρατώ:

basic meaning: to hold, to keep
- Κρατάω ένα βιβλίο. = I’m holding a book.
extended meaning: to last, to continue for a certain time
- Η ταινία κρατάει δύο ώρες. = The movie lasts two hours.

So in: > μια φιλία κρατάει πολλά χρόνια

the idea is: “a friendship holds/continues for many years” → “lasts many years”.

κρατάει is the 3rd person singular, present tense:

εγώ κρατάω / κρατώ – I hold / last
εσύ κρατάς – you hold / last
αυτός/αυτή/αυτό κρατάει / κρατά – he/she/it holds / lasts

Both κρατάει and κρατά are correct; κρατάει is more colloquial, κρατά a bit more “tidy”/bookish.

Could I say «για πολλά χρόνια» instead of «πολλά χρόνια»? What’s the difference?

Both are possible, with a small nuance:

κρατάει πολλά χρόνια
= “lasts many years”
(simple statement of a long duration)
κρατάει για πολλά χρόνια
= “lasts for many years”
(often feels a bit more emphatic or explicit about duration)

In everyday speech, πολλά χρόνια without για is completely natural and very common, especially with verbs like κρατάω, διαρκώ, περιμένω etc.

So you can say:

Πιστεύω ότι μια φιλία κρατάει πολλά χρόνια… ✔
Πιστεύω ότι μια φιλία κρατάει για πολλά χρόνια… ✔ (slightly more “spelled out”)

Why is there no comma before «όταν» in this sentence?

The sentence is:

Πιστεύω ότι μια φιλία κρατάει πολλά χρόνια όταν υπάρχει σεβασμός…

In Greek punctuation:

When the subordinate clause (introduced by όταν) comes after the main clause, you usually do not put a comma:
- Θα έρθω όταν σχολάσω. ✔
- Πιστεύω ότι θα πάνε όλα καλά όταν υπάρχει καλή οργάνωση. ✔
When the όταν-clause comes first, you do use a comma:
- Όταν σχολάσω, θα έρθω. ✔
- Όταν υπάρχει σεβασμός, μια φιλία κρατάει πολλά χρόνια. ✔

So in your sentence, no comma before όταν is the standard choice.

What is the exact function of «όταν» here? Is it “when” or “if”?

Όταν primarily means “when” in a time sense:

…κρατάει πολλά χρόνια όταν υπάρχει σεβασμός…
“…lasts many years when there is respect…”

However, in Greek (as in English), these “when-clauses” can sometimes have a conditional flavor, close to “if/whenever”:

“A friendship lasts many years when there is respect”
≈ “…if/whenever there is respect.”

So grammatically it’s a temporal clause (“at the times when there is respect”), but semantically it also implies a condition for lasting friendship.

Why is «υπάρχει» used instead of «είναι»? Could I say «όταν είναι σεβασμός»?

The verb υπάρχω means “to exist / there to be”, like English “there is / there are”.

υπάρχει σεβασμός = “there is respect / respect exists”
υπάρχει πρόβλημα = “there is a problem”

είμαι is the simple “to be” verb (am/is/are) used to link a subject with a complement:

Αυτό είναι καλό. = This is good.
Η Μαρία είναι δασκάλα. = Maria is a teacher.

In this structure you must use υπάρχει: > …όταν υπάρχει σεβασμός, συμβιβασμός και αληθινή στήριξη.

Saying ✗ όταν είναι σεβασμός is ungrammatical. You could rephrase with είναι only if you changed the structure a lot, e.g.:

…όταν ο σεβασμός είναι αμοιβαίος
(“when respect is mutual”)

Why do the nouns «σεβασμός», «συμβιβασμός», «στήριξη» have no article (ο / η / ένα)? Aren’t Greek nouns supposed to have articles?

Greek often drops the article with abstract, uncountable, or “mass” nouns when speaking generally:

Σε μια σχέση χρειάζεται εμπιστοσύνη.
(“In a relationship, you need trust.”)
Θέλω υπομονή. = I need patience.

In your sentence:

…όταν υπάρχει σεβασμός, συμβιβασμός και αληθινή στήριξη.

we’re talking about respect, compromise, and true support in general, not about:

ο σεβασμός = the specific respect
ένας συμβιβασμός = a specific compromise, etc.

Adding an article would change the meaning or sound odd:

✗ όταν υπάρχει ένας σεβασμός… (sounds like one specific act of respect)
✗ όταν υπάρχει η στήριξη… (points to some previously mentioned support)

So, no article here is natural and idiomatic.

What’s the difference between «αληθινή στήριξη» and «πραγματική στήριξη»?

Both αληθινή and πραγματική translate roughly as “real / true”, but there’s a slight nuance:

αληθινή
– closer to “genuine, sincere, truthful”
– emphasizes authenticity (not fake, not pretense)
πραγματική
– closer to “real, actual, in reality”
– contrasts with something theoretical or only in words

So:

αληθινή στήριξη = genuine support, from the heart
πραγματική στήριξη = real, concrete support, not just talk

Both would be acceptable in this sentence; αληθινή στήριξη slightly highlights the sincerity of the support.

Is the word order “σεβασμός, συμβιβασμός και αληθινή στήριξη” fixed? Could I put the adjective in another place, like «στήριξη αληθινή»?

The usual, neutral place for an adjective in Greek is before the noun:

αληθινή στήριξη = true support
μεγάλη φιλία = big/great friendship

You can put the adjective after the noun (στήριξη αληθινή), but then it often sounds:

more stylistic / poetic, or
slightly emphatic

For example:

Θέλω στήριξη αληθινή, όχι λόγια.
(“I want support that is truly real, not just words.”)

In your sentence, the most natural, standard word order is exactly what you see: > …σεβασμός, συμβιβασμός και αληθινή στήριξη.

How would I say “can last / may last” instead of just “lasts”?

Greek often uses the simple present to express a general truth or possibility, so:

Μια φιλία κρατάει πολλά χρόνια…

can already imply “can/may last many years” in a general, proverbial way.

If you want to explicitly show possibility/ability, common options are:

μπορεί να
- subjunctive:
- Μια φιλία μπορεί να κρατήσει πολλά χρόνια…
  = “A friendship can last many years…”
είναι δυνατόν να
- subjunctive:
- Μια φιλία είναι δυνατόν να κρατήσει πολλά χρόνια…
  = “It is possible for a friendship to last many years…”

But in gnomic, general statements (like your sentence), the plain present (κρατάει) is completely natural and preferred.

How is «φιλία» pronounced and divided into syllables?

Φιλία is spelled: φ – ι – λ – ί – α and is divided into three syllables:

φι-λί-α

Pronunciation in IPA: [fiˈli.a]

Notes:

The accent on ί shows the stress is on the middle syllable: φι-ΛΙ-α.
There is no diaeresis (¨) on the α, because there’s no risk of reading ια as a single sound like ya here; the λ in between makes it clearly λι-α.