Breakdown of Αυτή τη βδομάδα δεν έχω μάθημα ελληνικών.
Questions & Answers about Αυτή τη βδομάδα δεν έχω μάθημα ελληνικών.
Word‑by‑word:
Αυτή – “this”
- Demonstrative (like “this/that”)
- Feminine singular, here functioning as “this” modifying “week”
τη – “the”
- Definite article, feminine singular accusative
- Goes with βδομάδα (“the week”)
βδομάδα – “week”
- Noun, feminine singular, accusative
- The time expression “this week”
δεν – “not” / “do not”
- Negation particle used with indicative verbs
έχω – “I have”
- Verb, 1st person singular, present indicative (no subject pronoun needed)
μάθημα – “lesson, class”
- Noun, neuter singular, accusative
- Direct object of “I have”
ελληνικών – literally “of Greek”
- Genitive plural of ελληνικά (“Greek” as a language)
- Functions like “of Greek (language)” → “Greek class”
Greek often uses the accusative case without a preposition to express time (“this week”, “on Sunday”, etc.):
- Αυτή τη βδομάδα = “this week” (as a time expression)
- Την Κυριακή = “on Sunday”
- Κάθε μέρα = “every day”
So:
- Αυτή (accusative, from nominative “αυτή” / “αυτήν”)
- τη βδομάδα (accusative “the week”)
Together they form a standard temporal phrase.
Forms like:
- αυτή η βδομάδα – would be “this week” as a subject (nominative), e.g. Αυτή η βδομάδα είναι δύσκολη = “This week is difficult.” That’s a different structure.
- σε αυτή τη βδομάδα – grammatically possible but odd; you don’t usually say “in this week” in Greek in this context. The simple accusative is the natural choice.
Greek demonstratives agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify.
- βδομάδα (“week”) is feminine singular.
- So “this week” must also be feminine singular:
- Masculine: αυτός
- Feminine: αυτή
- Neuter: αυτό
Therefore:
- αυτή η βδομάδα (this week – nominative)
- αυτή(ν) τη βδομάδα (this week – accusative, as in our sentence)
Using αυτό or αυτός would break gender agreement and be ungrammatical here.
Greek uses two main negative particles:
- δεν – used with the indicative (normal statements and questions about reality)
- e.g. Δεν έχω μάθημα = I don’t have class.
- μη(ν) – used with:
- the subjunctive (with να/ας),
- the imperative,
- and some fixed expressions.
Examples:
- Να μην έρθεις. = Don’t come. (subjunctive)
- Μην μιλάς! = Don’t talk! (imperative)
In Δεν έχω μάθημα ελληνικών, the verb έχω is in the present indicative, so δεν is the correct negative.
Greek is a “pro‑drop” language: the subject pronoun is usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.
- έχω ends in ‑ω, which marks 1st person singular (“I have”).
- So Δεν έχω μάθημα ελληνικών already means “I don’t have Greek class”.
You can add εγώ for emphasis:
- Εγώ αυτή τη βδομάδα δεν έχω μάθημα ελληνικών.
= I this week don’t have Greek class (contrastive: maybe others do).
In neutral statements, you simply leave εγώ out.
Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things:
Δεν έχω μάθημα ελληνικών.
– Natural way to say “I don’t have (any) Greek class.”
– μάθημα without an article often behaves like English “class” in I have class / I don’t have class.Δεν έχω το μάθημα ελληνικών.
– More like “I don’t have the Greek lesson (today / now).”
– Refers to one specific lesson that both speakers know about.
So in the sense of your weekly schedule (“This week I don’t have Greek class”), the article‑less μάθημα ελληνικών is the most natural.
ελληνικών is the genitive plural of ελληνικά:
- ελληνικά – neuter plural, used as a noun meaning “Greek (language)”
(literally “Greek things” → “Greek [language]”) - ελληνικών – genitive plural: “of Greek (language)”
In μάθημα ελληνικών:
- literally: “lesson of Greek (language)”
- functionally: “Greek lesson / Greek class”
Other options and nuances:
Έχω ελληνικά.
– Literally: “I have Greek.”
– Very common, informal, means “I have Greek class.”Έχω μάθημα στα ελληνικά.
– Literally: “I have a lesson in Greek.”
– Focus is on the language of instruction, not the subject itself.
So μάθημα ελληνικών is “a class whose subject is the Greek language.”
Yes, word order in Greek is relatively flexible, and both are correct:
Αυτή τη βδομάδα δεν έχω μάθημα ελληνικών.
– Time phrase first, slightly highlighting “this week”:
– “As for this week, I don’t have Greek class.”Δεν έχω μάθημα ελληνικών αυτή τη βδομάδα.
– Very natural, close to English word order:
– “I don’t have Greek class this week.”
The difference is mostly one of emphasis / focus, not grammar. Both are normal everyday Greek.
Both βδομάδα and εβδομάδα refer to “week”, but:
- βδομάδα – the common spoken and modern spelling.
- εβδομάδα – more formal / older spelling; you’ll still see it in writing.
Pronunciation is the same: [vðoˈmaða].
So:
- Αυτή τη βδομάδα – very normal in everyday language.
- Αυτή την εβδομάδα – also correct, looks a bit more formal or “spelled out.”
In careful, fully spelled forms:
- Accusative feminine of αυτή is αυτήν.
- Accusative feminine article is την.
However, in modern everyday Greek, the final ‑ν is often dropped unless the next word starts with a vowel or certain consonants.
So you will see/hear:
- Αυτή(ν) τη βδομάδα – both Αυτή τη βδομάδα and Αυτήν τη βδομάδα are acceptable.
- τη(ν) βδομάδα – τη βδομάδα is very common.
In writing, many people just use:
- Αυτή τη βδομάδα
- τη βδομάδα
This matches the sentence you’re studying and is fully standard in modern usage.
A fairly standard pronunciation (in IPA) is:
- [afˈti ti vðoˈmaða ðen ˈexo ˈmaθima eliniˈkon]
In words:
- Αυτή – af‑TEE
- τη – tee
- βδομάδα – vtho‑MA‑tha (the βδ is like a quick “vð”)
- δεν – then (like English “then” but with a softer th)
- έχω – E‑kho (kh as in German “Bach”)
- μάθημα – MA‑thi‑ma (th as in English “think”)
- ελληνικών – e‑li‑ni‑KON (stress on the last syllable)
Natural rhythm groups it roughly as:
- Αυτή τη βδομάδα / δεν έχω / μάθημα ελληνικών.