Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά κάθε βράδυ.

I read more and more Greek every evening.

Breakdown of Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά κάθε βράδυ.

• ελληνικά: in Greek
• διαβάζω: to read
• κάθε βράδυ: every evening
• περισσότερος: more
• όλο και: more and more

Questions & Answers about Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά κάθε βράδυ.

Why does Διαβάζω translate as both “I read” and “I’m reading” in English?

Modern Greek doesn’t distinguish between simple present and present continuous the way English does.

The verb form διαβάζω (1st person singular present) can mean:

• I read Greek every night. (habit)
• I am reading Greek (right now / these days). (ongoing action)

Context usually tells you which meaning is intended.

If someone wants to make the “right now” meaning very explicit, they might add:

• Τώρα διαβάζω ελληνικά. – I’m reading Greek now.
• Αυτή την περίοδο διαβάζω ελληνικά. – I’m reading/studying Greek these days.

But grammatically, the same form διαβάζω covers both English “I read” and “I’m reading.”

What exactly does όλο και περισσότερο mean, and why are there two words όλο and και?

The phrase όλο και + comparative is a fixed expression meaning “more and more …” or “increasingly …”.

• περισσότερο = “more” (comparative form of πολύ = “much/a lot”)
• όλο και περισσότερο = “more and more” / “increasingly”

So:

• Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά
  = I read more and more Greek / I read increasingly more Greek.

Literally, όλο comes from “whole/entirely” and και is “and”, but here they don’t translate word‑for‑word; together they just signal a gradual increase:

• όλο και καλύτερα – better and better
• όλο και πιο δύσκολα – more and more difficult(ly)

What is περισσότερο grammatically? Is it an adjective or an adverb here?

In this sentence, περισσότερο functions as an adverb meaning “more” (to a greater extent).

• Base word: πολύ – much, a lot
• Comparative:
  
  • περισσότερος, -η, -ο (adjective – “more” + noun)
  • περισσότερο (adverb – “more” modifying a verb/adjective/adverb)

Here it modifies διαβάζω (I read), so it is an adverb:

• Διαβάζω περισσότερο. – I read more.
• Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο. – I read more and more.

If it were an adjective, it would agree with a noun:

• περισσότερα βιβλία – more books
• περισσότερες μέρες – more days

But in Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά, it’s not describing a noun; it’s describing how much you read. So it stays in the adverb form περισσότερο, without gender/number/case changes.

Why is ελληνικά in the plural, and what exactly does it mean here?

ελληνικά here is neuter plural, but in everyday Greek it functions as an adverbial form meaning “Greek (language)”.

• ελληνικά (lowercase, no article) after a verb like μιλάω, γράφω, διαβάζω, καταλαβαίνω usually means “(in) Greek”.

Examples:

• Μιλάω ελληνικά. – I speak Greek.
• Γράφω ελληνικά. – I write in Greek.
• Διαβάζω ελληνικά. – I read Greek (texts).

Historically and grammatically, this comes from the neuter plural adjective ελληνικός used substantively, but in modern usage, you can just think of ελληνικά as “Greek (as a language)” in this position.

Note: If you write τα Ελληνικά with a capital and an article, it often means “Greek (as a school subject)”:

• Σπουδάζω τα Ελληνικά. – I study Greek (as a subject).

Why is there no article before ελληνικά? Why not τα ελληνικά here?

When talking about languages after verbs like speak, read, write, know, Greek usually does not use an article.

Compare:

• Μαθαίνω ελληνικά. – I’m learning Greek.
• Ξέρω αγγλικά. – I know English.
• Διαβάζω γερμανικά. – I read German.

So:

• Διαβάζω ελληνικά κάθε βράδυ. – I read Greek every evening.

If you say τα ελληνικά, the meaning tends to shift toward “the Greek language as a subject” or something more specific/definite, often in school or academic contexts:

• Κάνω λάθη στα ελληνικά. – I make mistakes in Greek.
• Διδάσκω τα ελληνικά. – I teach (the) Greek (language).

In your sentence, we’re describing a habitual activity with the language, so the bare ελληνικά (no article) is the most natural.

Why don’t we have the pronoun εγώ in the sentence? How do we know it means “I”?

Greek is a “pro‑drop” language: subject pronouns are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

• Διαβάζω – I read (1st person singular)
• διαβάζεις – you read (2nd singular)
• διαβάζει – he/she/it reads (3rd singular)
• διαβάζουμε – we read, etc.

So:

• Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά κάθε βράδυ.
  = Εγώ διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά κάθε βράδυ.

εγώ appears only if you want to emphasize the subject:

• Εγώ διαβάζω ελληνικά, όχι αυτός. – I am the one who reads Greek, not him.

Can we change the word order, for example put κάθε βράδυ at the beginning or move ελληνικά earlier?

Yes. Greek word order is fairly flexible, and different orders give slightly different emphasis, not a different basic meaning.

All of these are grammatical:

1. Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά κάθε βράδυ.
   (neutral; light focus on the “more and more Greek” part)

2. Κάθε βράδυ διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά.
   (focus on the time: Every evening I read more and more Greek.)

3. Διαβάζω ελληνικά όλο και περισσότερο κάθε βράδυ.
   (slightly highlighting that it’s Greek in particular that you read more and more)

4. Όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά διαβάζω κάθε βράδυ.
   (strong focus on the “more and more Greek” part; more marked style)

The most natural neutral versions are 1 and 2. As a learner, it’s safest to stick to something like the original or:

• Κάθε βράδυ διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά.

What is the difference between βράδυ and νύχτα? Could we say κάθε νύχτα instead of κάθε βράδυ?

Both refer to the later part of the day, but nuance is different:

• βράδυ – evening / night (from around late afternoon to night)

  • κάθε βράδυ = every evening / every night (in a general, routine sense)

• νύχτα – night (emphasis on darkness, late hours, night‑time)

  • κάθε νύχτα = every night (often feels later, more “middle of the night”)

You can say:

• Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά κάθε νύχτα.

This sounds like you are reading late at night, maybe into the small hours, and emphasizes the night‑time aspect more strongly.

κάθε βράδυ is the default, neutral way to say “every evening/every night” in a routine like this.

Why is it κάθε βράδυ (singular) and not a plural like κάθε βράδια?

With κάθε (“each/every”), Greek uses the singular:

• κάθε μέρα – every day
• κάθε εβδομάδα – every week
• κάθε χρόνο – every year
• κάθε βράδυ – every evening/night

So κάθε + singular noun is the normal pattern.
βράδια is the plural of βράδυ, but κάθε βράδια is not used.

Does διαβάζω here mean just “to read,” or can it also mean “to study” Greek?

διαβάζω in Modern Greek means:

1. to read (a text, book, article, etc.)
2. to study, especially in the sense of doing homework, preparing for exams, learning from books.

So:

• Διαβάζω ελληνικά.
  Can mean:
  • I read Greek (texts).
  • I study Greek (using books, exercises, texts).

Context usually clarifies. In your sentence, with κάθε βράδυ and όλο και περισσότερο, it’s very natural to understand it as “I (study/read) Greek more and more every evening”, i.e., you’re working on the language.

There is also μελετάω / μελετώ, which can mean “study” in a more focused or academic way, but διαβάζω is by far the most common everyday verb.

Could I also say όλο και πιο πολύ ελληνικά instead of όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά?

Yes. όλο και πιο πολύ and όλο και περισσότερο are both natural and very common.

• όλο και περισσότερο – literally “more and more (in quantity/degree)”
• όλο και πιο πολύ – literally “more and more much”

They both mean “more and more” and are essentially interchangeable in casual speech:

• Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά.
• Διαβάζω όλο και πιο πολύ ελληνικά.

If you want to be slightly more “neutral/standard,” όλο και περισσότερο is a tiny bit more formal, but both are correct.

How would I say “I was reading more and more Greek every evening” in Greek (in the past)?

You would use the imperfect tense, which describes habitual or repeated actions in the past:

• Διάβαζα όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά κάθε βράδυ.
  = I was reading more and more Greek every evening.
  = I used to read more and more Greek every evening.

Notes:

• διαβάζω (present) → διάβαζα (imperfect, 1st person singular)
• κάθε βράδυ strongly suggests a repeated/habitual action, which fits the imperfect.
• You would not use the aorist διάβασα here; that’s for single, completed events (e.g. Χτες διάβασα ένα βιβλίο – Yesterday I read a book).

How is Διαβάζω όλο και περισσότερο ελληνικά κάθε βράδυ pronounced, and are there any tricky sounds for English speakers?

Approximate pronunciation (stress in bold):

• Διαβάζω – [δya‑VA‑zo]
  
  • δ = like “th” in “this”
  • γ before ι/ε is a soft sound, somewhat like an English y blended with a light “gh”: dya-
• όλο – [O‑lo] (stress on the first syllable)
• και – usually [ke] (like “ke” in “ketchup”) in this context
• περισσότερο – [pe‑ri‑SO‑te‑ro] (stress on so)
• ελληνικά – [e‑li‑ni‑KA] (stress on ka)
  
  • η and ι both sound like “ee”
• κάθε – [KA‑the] (th like “thin”)
• βράδυ – [VRA‑thi]
  
  • β = like English v
  • δ again like “th” in “this”

Full flow:
δya-VA-zo O-lo ke pe-ri-SO-te-ro e-li-ni-KA KA-the VRA-thi

Tricky bits for English speakers:

• δ and θ: two different “th” sounds (voiced vs voiceless).
• Soft γ before ι/ε in Δια-.
• Always respect the marked stress (accent) on each word; moving it changes the word.