Breakdown of Στη φωτογραφία φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος, αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος.
Questions & Answers about Στη φωτογραφία φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος, αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος.
Στη is a contraction of σε + τη(ν):
- σε = in / at / on
- τη(ν) = the (feminine singular accusative)
So σε τη φωτογραφία → στη φωτογραφία = “in the photo” (literally “in the the-photo”).
In Greek, σε + definite article is almost always contracted:
- σε + τον → στον
- σε + τη(ν) → στη(ν)
- σε + το → στο
So στη φωτογραφία is the normal, natural form; σε τη φωτογραφία is grammatically wrong in modern Greek.
Both στη φωτογραφία and στην φωτογραφία are possible; the difference is just the optional final -ν on τη(ν).
In modern standard Greek, the -ν of την is usually kept:
- before vowels
- before the consonants π, τ, κ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ
Otherwise it is often dropped in speech and informal writing.
Since φ is not in that special list of consonants, dropping the -ν is common:
- στη φωτογραφία (neutral, common)
- στην Ελλάδα (kept before vowel)
- στην τσάντα (kept before τσ)
So your sentence uses the more everyday spelling στη φωτογραφία, but στην φωτογραφία would not be considered wrong.
Φαίνομαι literally means “I appear / I seem / I look” (in terms of how something looks from the outside).
- Στη φωτογραφία φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος
= “In the photo I look / seem very happy.”
If you said:
- Στη φωτογραφία είμαι πολύ χαρούμενος
that would be closer to “In the photo I am very happy,” which sounds more like you’re stating your actual emotional state at that moment, not just the appearance.
Using φαίνομαι underlines the contrast:
- On the outside (in the photo): you look happy.
- In reality (at that time): you were tired.
So φαίνομαι is chosen exactly to express “I only look happy.”
Φαίνομαι is the “middle/passive” form of the verb φαίνω (to show), but here it’s not really passive in the English sense; it’s just how Greek expresses “I appear / I seem”.
- φαίνω = I show (something) – rarely used in everyday speech
- φαίνομαι = I show myself / I appear / I seem / I look
This -μαι ending is very common with verbs that talk about how someone feels, behaves, or appears:
- λέγομαι = I am called
- κάθομαι = I sit
- νιώθω (active form) but αισθάνομαι (middle form) = I feel
So here φαίνομαι is best understood as a verb whose basic meaning is simply “I look / seem,” not as a literal passive like “I am shown.”
The tenses match two different time frames:
- φαίνομαι (present): how you appear now, when someone looks at the photo.
- ήμουν (past): how you actually felt back then, when the photo was taken.
So the idea is:
- Right now, in this photo, I look very happy (φαίνομαι – present),
- but at that time I was tired (ήμουν – past).
You could also say Στη φωτογραφία φαινόμουν πολύ χαρούμενος, αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος, putting φαινόμουν (imperfect) in the past too. That would sound more like you’re telling a story set completely in the past. The original version emphasizes your present observation of the photo.
Ήμουν is the 1st person singular imperfect of είμαι (“to be”):
- είμαι = I am
- ήμουν = I was
Ήμουνα is an alternative colloquial form of ήμουν. It’s very common in speech and informal writing and is not “wrong,” just a bit more casual:
- αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος – neutral, slightly more standard
- αλλά ήμουνα κουρασμένος – a bit more conversational
In this sentence, ήμουν is the default choice.
Greek adjectives agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun or pronoun they describe. Here they describe the subject (I), which is not written but understood from the verb endings.
The forms you see are:
- χαρούμενος = happy (masculine, singular, nominative)
- κουρασμένος = tired (masculine, singular, nominative)
So the sentence assumes the speaker is grammatically masculine (e.g. a man saying this).
If a woman were speaking, she would normally say:
- Στη φωτογραφία φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενη, αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένη.
Forms:
- masculine: χαρούμενος, κουρασμένος
- feminine: χαρούμενη, κουρασμένη
- neuter: χαρούμενο, κουρασμένο
Πολύ is an adverb meaning “very” in this context (it can also mean “much / a lot”):
- πολύ χαρούμενος = very happy
The normal placement is:
- φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος (adverb before the adjective)
Putting πολύ after the adjective, as in φαίνομαι χαρούμενος πολύ, can sound odd or at least marked; it can work in some special emphatic or poetic contexts, but it is not the neutral, everyday order here.
You can intensify it further:
- πάρα πολύ χαρούμενος = very, very happy
- τόσο πολύ χαρούμενος = so very happy
Greek is a “pro‑drop” language: subject pronouns like εγώ (I), εσύ (you), αυτός (he) are usually left out when the verb ending already shows the person and number.
- φαίνομαι = I look / I seem
- ήμουν = I was
Because these verb forms clearly show “I,” adding εγώ is not necessary. You would include εγώ mainly for emphasis or contrast:
- Στη φωτογραφία εγώ φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος, αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος.
= I (as opposed to someone else) look very happy, but I was tired.
The word order is not fixed; your alternative is grammatically correct:
- Στη φωτογραφία φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος, αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος.
- Φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος στη φωτογραφία, αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος.
Both are fine. The difference is emphasis:
- Starting with Στη φωτογραφία highlights the context (“In the photo…”).
- Starting with Φαίνομαι highlights the state/appearance (“I look very happy…”).
Greek allows fairly flexible word order, especially for information structure and emphasis, as long as agreement and basic relationships stay clear.
The comma before αλλά works much like in English before “but”: it separates two clauses:
- Στη φωτογραφία φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος,
- αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος.
In Greek, using a comma before αλλά linking two full clauses is normal and recommended.
You can replace αλλά with other contrast words:
- …φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος, όμως ήμουν κουρασμένος.
- …φαίνομαι πολύ χαρούμενος, μα ήμουν κουρασμένος.
Nuance:
- αλλά – neutral “but”
- όμως – “however / yet,” sometimes a bit more emphatic or contrastive
- μα – colloquial / slightly more emotional “but”
All three are acceptable in this sentence.
Ήμουν κουρασμένος describes a state in the past: “I was (in a condition of being) tired.”
Κουράστηκα is an aorist verb form meaning “I got tired / I became tired”, focusing on the event / change, not the state:
- κουράστηκα = I got tired (at some point)
- ήμουν κουρασμένος = I was tired (for some period)
In this sentence you want to contrast:
- appearance in the photo (happy state seen)
- real internal state at that time (tired)
So the state verb ήμουν κουρασμένος fits better than the event κουράστηκα.
Yes, you could say:
- Στη φωτογραφία δείχνω πολύ χαρούμενος, αλλά ήμουν κουρασμένος.
Δείχνω here is very close in meaning to φαίνομαι and is also used for “I look / I seem” in everyday speech.
Nuance:
- φαίνομαι – slightly more neutral for “I appear / I seem.”
- δείχνω – feels a bit more colloquial/physical: “I show / I come across / I look.”
In this context they’re both acceptable; φαίνομαι may sound a bit more standard/neutral, δείχνω a bit more conversational, but the difference is small.
Stress (accent) marks show which syllable is emphasized:
- Στη φωτογραφία → sti fo‑to‑gra‑FÍ‑a
- φαίνομαι → FÉ‑no‑me
- πολύ → po‑LÍ
- χαρούμενος → ha‑RÚ‑me‑nos
- αλλά → a‑LÁ
- ήμουν → Í‑mun
- κουρασμένος → ku‑ras‑MÉ‑nos
Each word has one stressed syllable, marked by the accent. Getting the stress right is important in Greek, because it can distinguish words or make you sound much more natural.