Learn Hardcore Greek: Μακάρι να μπορούσες κι εσύ να ήσουν εδώ τώρα μαζί μου στην Ελλάδα. - I wish you could also be here now with me in Greece.

In the sentence Μακάρι να μπορούσες κι εσύ να ήσουν εδώ τώρα μαζί μου στην Ελλάδα, what exactly does μακάρι mean? Is it like hopefully or I wish?

Μακάρι expresses a strong wish, often about something that is not true or not very likely.
In English it usually corresponds to:

I wish…
If only…

So the sentence starts with something like “I wish / If only you could…”, not with the weaker “hopefully”.
It’s quite common and neutral in modern Greek, used both in speech and writing.

Why is να μπορούσες in the past tense (imperfect) if the wish is about now?

Greek often uses a past tense with να to express unreal or unlikely wishes about the present, similar to English using the past in I wish you *were here*.

Μπορείς = you can (real, present ability)
Να μπορείς = (subjunctive) that you can / for you to be able
Να μπορούσες = that you could (but in fact you can’t → unreal / hypothetical)

So μακάρι να μπορούσες means “I wish you could (but you actually can’t)”.

What is the difference between να μπορείς and να μπορούσες here?

Μακάρι να μπορείς να είσαι εδώ would sound like a wish about something still quite possible or open: I hope you manage / I hope it’s possible for you to be here.
Μακάρι να μπορούσες να είσουν εδώ clearly implies that, in reality, you can’t be here; it’s a counterfactual wish.

So να μπορούσες is stronger and more clearly unreal than να μπορείς.

Why is there a second να before ήσουν? Could we say Μακάρι να μπορούσες κι εσύ ήσουν εδώ… without it?

Each verb that depends on this kind of construction normally needs its own να:

να μπορούσες (for μπορώ)
να ήσουν (for είμαι)

So Μακάρι να μπορούσες κι εσύ να ήσουν εδώ… is the natural form.
Μακάρι να μπορούσες κι εσύ ήσουν εδώ… (without the second να) is ungrammatical in standard Greek.

Why do we use να ήσουν instead of να είσαι?

The choice is parallel to να μπορούσες:

να είσαι (present) would be more open / possible: for you to be (here).
να ήσουν (imperfect with να) is used for an unreal wish about the present, like English I wish you *were here*.

So μακάρι να ήσουν εδώ τώρα = “I wish you were here now (but you aren’t)”.

Is να ήσουν a kind of subjunctive in Greek?

Modern Greek doesn’t label tenses exactly like English, but να + past tense (like να ήσουν, να μπορούσες) often functions similarly to an unreal subjunctive / conditional.
It combines:

να = the typical marker used with many subordinate / dependent verbs
imperfect = past form used here to signal unreality / counterfactuality

So while grammar books may call it different things, you can think of να ήσουν as “(if only) you were” in wish-clauses.

What is the role of κι εσύ? Why do we need εσύ if the verb already shows the subject?

In Greek the subject pronoun is often dropped, so adding εσύ gives extra emphasis:

να μπορούσες = that you could (subject “you” understood)
να μπορούσες κι εσύ = that you too could / you yourself could

Here κι εσύ highlights you as an additional person, suggesting that someone else is already there (for example, I am here, maybe others too) and the speaker wishes you also were present.

Why is it κι εσύ and not και εσύ?

Κι is simply a variant of και, used mainly:

before a vowel sound (like εσύ) for easier, smoother pronunciation
in fast, natural speech

So:

και εσύ and κι εσύ mean the same: “you too / and you”.
In this sentence κι εσύ just sounds more natural and fluent than και εσύ.

Could the order be Μακάρι κι εσύ να μπορούσες να ήσουν εδώ…? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say Μακάρι κι εσύ να μπορούσες να ήσουν εδώ τώρα μαζί μου στην Ελλάδα.
The basic meaning is the same, but the emphasis shifts slightly:

Μακάρι να μπορούσες κι εσύ… focuses first on the possibility (να μπορούσες), then adds you too.
Μακάρι κι εσύ να μπορούσες… puts more emphasis on you, contrasting you with others: You too, I wish you could…

Both are grammatical and natural; it’s a nuance of focus.

Is εδώ τώρα just “here now”? Why do we need both words?

Yes, εδώ = here and τώρα = now. Together εδώ τώρα reinforce the immediacy:

εδώ = in this place
τώρα = at this moment

So εδώ τώρα feels like “right here, right now”.
You could say just εδώ or just τώρα, but using both makes the wish more vivid and emotional.

Could I also say Μακάρι να μπορούσες να ήσουν εδώ μαζί μου τώρα στην Ελλάδα? Does the position of τώρα and μαζί μου matter?

Yes, Greek word order is relatively flexible, and Μακάρι να μπορούσες να ήσουν εδώ μαζί μου τώρα στην Ελλάδα is also correct and natural.

εδώ τώρα μαζί μου vs εδώ μαζί μου τώρα are both fine; they change only the slight rhythm and focus.
All of these variations still mean “I wish you could be here with me now in Greece.”

Is μαζί μου στην Ελλάδα one unit like “with me in Greece”, or is στην Ελλάδα separate?

Semantically, it’s “here now, with me, in Greece” – all describing the desired situation.
Structurally:

μαζί μου = with me
στην Ελλάδα = in Greece

Greek often strings such phrases one after another without prepositions repeating, so εδώ τώρα μαζί μου στην Ελλάδα is naturally understood as “here now, with me, in Greece”, not as two unrelated locations.

Could this be said to more than one person? How would it change?

Yes. For plural “you”, you would change the verb forms and the pronoun:

Μακάρι να μπορούσατε κι εσείς να ήσασταν εδώ τώρα μαζί μου στην Ελλάδα.

Changes:

μπορούσες → μπορούσατε (2nd person plural)
εσύ → εσείς
ήσουν → ήσασταν (2nd person plural)

The meaning remains: “I wish you (all) could be here now with me in Greece.”