Η φίλη μου σπουδάζει ψυχολογία και θέλει να γίνει ψυχολόγος στην Ελλάδα.

My friend is studying psychology and wants to become a psychologist in Greece.

Breakdown of Η φίλη μου σπουδάζει ψυχολογία και θέλει να γίνει ψυχολόγος στην Ελλάδα.

• θέλω: to want
• και: and
• να: to
• η φίλη: the female friend
• μου: my
• σε: in
• η Ελλάδα: Greece
• γίνομαι: to become
• σπουδάζω: to study
• η ψυχολογία: the psychology
• ο ψυχολόγος: the psychologist

Questions & Answers about Η φίλη μου σπουδάζει ψυχολογία και θέλει να γίνει ψυχολόγος στην Ελλάδα.

What does Η in Η φίλη μου tell us?

Η is the definite article “the” in Greek.

• It shows:
  • gender: feminine
  • number: singular
  • case: nominative (used for the subject of the sentence)

So Η φίλη μου literally is “the friend of‑mine”, but it’s translated as “my (female) friend” in English.

Why is it φίλη and not φίλος for “friend”?

Greek usually marks the gender of the noun:

• ο φίλος = (male) friend
• η φίλη = (female) friend

In this sentence the friend is female, so we use η φίλη.
If the friend were male, the sentence would start: Ο φίλος μου σπουδάζει…

Why is μου after the noun (η φίλη μου) and not before, like in English (“my friend”)?

Greek uses clitic possessive pronouns (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) that normally come after the noun:

• η φίλη μου = my friend
• το σπίτι μου = my house

You can put the possessive before the noun only if you use a special emphatic form, for example:

• η δική μου φίλη = my friend (as opposed to someone else’s)

But the neutral, everyday way is: noun + μου → η φίλη μου.

Why is there no word for “she” in the sentence?

Greek usually drops subject pronouns (like “I, you, she”) because the verb ending shows who the subject is.

• σπουδάζει = “he/she/it studies / is studying”

From the context (η φίλη μου is clearly feminine), we know it’s “she”.
You could add αυτή (“she”) for emphasis:
Αυτή, η φίλη μου, σπουδάζει ψυχολογία…, but it’s not needed.

What exactly does σπουδάζει mean? Is it “studies” or “is studying”?

Greek doesn’t distinguish between simple present and present continuous the way English does.
The present tense σπουδάζει can mean both:

• “she studies psychology” (general fact)
• “she is studying psychology” (current activity / course of study)

Which one you choose in English depends on the context. Here, talking about university studies, both are natural; many people prefer “is studying psychology.”

What is the difference between σπουδάζω and διαβάζω for “to study”?

• σπουδάζω = to study at a college/university, to be doing a degree/major

  • σπουδάζει ψυχολογία = she is doing a degree in psychology

• διαβάζω = to read / to study in the sense of doing homework, revising, reading a text

  • διαβάζει για τις εξετάσεις = she’s studying for the exams
  • διαβάζει ένα βιβλίο = she’s reading a book

In this sentence, σπουδάζει is correct because it refers to her field of academic study.

Why is it ψυχολογία in one place and ψυχολόγος in another? What’s the difference in meaning?

They are related but not the same:

• η ψυχολογία = psychology (the science / field of study)

  • σπουδάζει ψυχολογία = she studies psychology

• ο/η ψυχολόγος = psychologist (the person / profession)

  • θέλει να γίνει ψυχολόγος = she wants to become a psychologist

The suffixes are typical:

• ‑λογία → the field (βιολογία, γεωλογία, θεολογία, ψυχολογία…)
• ‑λόγος → the specialist (βιολόγος, γεωλόγος, θεολόγος, ψυχολόγος…)

How do you pronounce ψυχολογία and ψυχολόγος?

Approximate pronunciation in IPA:

• ψυχολογία → [psi.xo.loˈʝi.a]

  • ψ = /ps/ (like “ps” in “lapse”)
  • χ before ο = , like the “ch” in German Bach
  • γ before ι = [ʝ], a soft “y‑like” sound
  • Stress on -γία: ψυχολογία

• ψυχολόγος → [psi.xoˈlo.ɣos]

  • γ before ο = [ɣ], a voiced version of
  • Stress on -λό-: ψυχολόγος

So you hear a stress shift:

• ψυχολογία → psy-cho-lo-GÍ-a
• ψυχολόγος → psy-cho-LÓ-gos

What is the structure θέλει να γίνει? Why do we need να and γίνει?

Greek does not have an infinitive (“to become”), so it uses να + subjunctive instead.

• θέλει = “she wants” (3rd person singular of θέλω)
• να γίνει = “to become” (subjunctive of γίνομαι)

So:

• θέλει να γίνει ψυχολόγος
  = literally “she wants that she become psychologist”
  = “she wants to become a psychologist”

This θέλω + να + (subjunctive) pattern is very common:

• θέλω να φάω = I want to eat
• θέλουν να φύγουν = they want to leave

Why is it να γίνει and not να γίνεται?

Both forms come from γίνομαι (“to become / to be / to happen”), but they have different aspects:

• να γίνει → aorist subjunctive: one‑time change / result

  • θέλει να γίνει ψυχολόγος = she wants to become a psychologist (reach that state)

• να γίνεται → present subjunctive: ongoing / repeated action

  • would suggest something like “to be becoming / to keep being done,”
    which doesn’t fit the idea of simply achieving the profession.

For “to become X” as a life goal, Greek normally uses να γίνει.

Is ψυχολόγος masculine or feminine here? The ending ‑ος looks masculine.

Nouns in ‑ος can be masculine or feminine, and some are common gender, used for both men and women. ψυχολόγος is one of these.

• ο ψυχολόγος = the (male) psychologist
• η ψυχολόγος = the (female) psychologist

In our sentence there is no article after γίνει:

• να γίνει ψυχολόγος = to become (a) psychologist

Because the subject is η φίλη μου (female), we automatically understand “female psychologist,” even though ψυχολόγος itself looks masculine in form.

Why is it στην Ελλάδα and not just σε Ελλάδα?

Two things happen here:

1. σε + την → στην

   • σε = in / at / to
   • την = the (feminine accusative singular)
   • Combined, they contract to στην.

2. Greek often uses the article with country names:

   • η Ελλάδα = Greece
   • στην Ελλάδα = in Greece / to Greece

So στην Ελλάδα literally is “in the Greece,” but in English we just say “in Greece.”

Why is Ελλάδα capitalized and why does it take the article η?

• It’s capitalized because it’s a proper noun (the name of a country).

• In Greek, many proper names (countries, cities, people) often appear with the definite article:

  • η Ελλάδα = Greece
  • η Γαλλία = France
  • ο Κώστας = Kostas
  • η Μαρία = Maria

The article again shows gender, number, case.
Ελλάδα is a feminine noun, so we use η in the nominative: η Ελλάδα.

Why is the preposition σε (in στην Ελλάδα) followed by the accusative case instead of the dative?

Modern Greek no longer has a living dative case; it mainly uses:

• nominative for subjects
• genitive for possession, some prepositions
• accusative after most prepositions, including σε

So:

• σε + accusative is the normal pattern:
  • σε μένα = to/at me
  • σε εσένα = to/at you
  • στην Ελλάδα = in/to Greece

Historically, some of these uses come from the old dative, but in modern usage you just learn: σε → takes accusative.

Can we change the word order, for example put θέλει before σπουδάζει?

Yes, Greek word order is fairly flexible. You could say, for example:

• Η φίλη μου θέλει να γίνει ψυχολόγος και σπουδάζει ψυχολογία.
• Η φίλη μου, που σπουδάζει ψυχολογία, θέλει να γίνει ψυχολόγος στην Ελλάδα.

The basic information doesn’t change, but:

• The first version emphasizes her wish/goal first.
• The original version presents her current studies first, then the goal.

Greek uses word order to highlight or de‑emphasize parts of the sentence, but all these versions are grammatically correct.

Why do some words have an accent mark, like φίλη, σπουδάζει, θέλει, Ελλάδα?

Modern Greek uses a single accent mark (´) to show which syllable is stressed in a word:

• φίλη → stress on φί‑
• σπουδάζει → stress on ‑δά‑
• θέλει → stress on θέ‑
• Ελλάδα → stress on ‑λά‑

The accent is part of the spelling and is important because stress can:

• distinguish between different words (e.g. πότε “when” vs ποτέ “never”),
• affect the rhythm and pronunciation of the sentence.

So when you learn new Greek words, learn them with the accent position.