Breakdown of Κρατάω την ηχογράφηση του μαθήματος στο κινητό, ώστε να την ακούω στο λεωφορείο.
Questions & Answers about Κρατάω την ηχογράφηση του μαθήματος στο κινητό, ώστε να την ακούω στο λεωφορείο.
Both κρατάω and έχω can relate to “having” something, but they are not the same:
έχω = I have / I possess (neutral possession)
- Έχω την ηχογράφηση στο κινητό. = I have the recording on my phone.
κρατάω = I hold / I keep / I retain
It implies a choice to keep something, not just that it exists there.
In Κρατάω την ηχογράφηση του μαθήματος στο κινητό, the speaker is stressing that they keep or store the recording on the phone, often with the idea of “on purpose, for later use,” rather than just “it happens to be there.”
If you said Έχω την ηχογράφηση στο κινητό, it would still be correct, just a bit more neutral and less “intentional-sounding.”
Formally, κρατάω is the present tense, imperfective aspect of the verb κρατάω / κρατώ.
- Tense: present
- Aspect: imperfective = ongoing, repeated, or general state
In English, this can map to either:
- I keep the recording… (habitual/general)
- I am keeping the recording… (ongoing)
Greek present imperfective covers both meanings; context decides whether it feels more like “I keep” or “I am keeping.” Here, it describes a general practice: I (generally) keep the recording on my phone so I can listen to it on the bus.
Greek uses the definite article much more than English, especially:
- for specific, identifiable things
- for objects that are already known in the context
την ηχογράφηση = the recording (a particular one, the recording of this lesson).
μια ηχογράφηση = a recording (some recording, not specified).
In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific recording: την ηχογράφηση του μαθήματος (the recording of the lesson), not about any random recording. That’s why the definite article την is used.
Leaving the article off entirely (ηχογράφηση alone) would sound fragmentary here; Greek almost always needs an article in such noun phrases unless it’s a special case (titles, some generic uses, etc.).
Both are possible in Greek but mean slightly different things:
ηχογράφηση του μαθήματος
Literally: the recording of the lesson- Genitive του μαθήματος directly links the two nouns: the lesson itself is what has been recorded.
- Very natural when you mean “this is the lesson, but in recorded form.”
ηχογράφηση για το μάθημα
Literally: a recording for the lesson- Suggests a recording made for the purposes of the lesson (like an audio exercise), not necessarily a recording of the lesson itself.
In your sentence, the idea is “the recording of the lesson that took place,” so του μαθήματος is the most natural choice.
στο κινητό comes from σε + το κινητό = στο κινητό.
- κινητό is short for κινητό τηλέφωνο = mobile phone / cell phone.
- In everyday Greek, people almost always just say το κινητό, and everyone understands it as “my phone / the mobile.”
So:
- στο κινητό = on the phone / on my phone (context usually makes it clear it’s the speaker’s own phone).
You could say στο κινητό τηλέφωνο, but it would sound more formal or unnecessarily long in normal conversation.
την here is a clitic object pronoun (feminine, accusative, singular) replacing την ηχογράφηση:
- ώστε να την ακούω = so that I (can) listen to it
(την = it, referring to the recording)
In standard Greek word order, these short object pronouns usually go before the verb in such cases:
- την ακούω, τον βλέπω, το διαβάζω, etc.
After να, θα, μη(ν), ας, etc., the clitic still comes before the verb:
- να την ακούω
- θα την ακούσω
- μην την ξεχάσεις
Putting it after (ώστε να ακούω την) is ungrammatical in standard modern Greek.
No, if you drop την, the sentence’s meaning really changes.
ώστε να την ακούω στο λεωφορείο
= so that I listen to it on the bus
(where την clearly refers to την ηχογράφηση)ώστε να ακούω στο λεωφορείο
= so that I listen on the bus (to what? music? people? nothing specified)
Greek does not usually allow you to omit a direct object that carries important meaning unless it is genuinely obvious and generic (e.g. ακούω = I’m listening in the sense “I’m paying attention”). Here, you want to refer back specifically to the recording, so the pronoun την is needed.
Both ώστε να and για να can introduce a purpose clause (in order to), but there are some nuances:
για να
- Very common, neutral, used all the time in speech.
- Clear purpose: in order to.
- Κρατάω την ηχογράφηση στο κινητό, για να την ακούω στο λεωφορείο.
ώστε να
- Slightly more formal or “written” in tone in everyday speech.
- Can express:
- purpose (so that / in order to), or
- result (so that, with the result that).
- Here, it is clearly purpose.
In your sentence, you could swap ώστε να with για να without changing the practical meaning:
- … ώστε να την ακούω στο λεωφορείο.
- … για να την ακούω στο λεωφορείο.
ώστε να might feel a little more “structured” or “careful,” but both are correct.
After ώστε να, the verb is in the subjunctive, and in Greek there are two main subjunctive aspects:
- Imperfective subjunctive: same form as the present (να ακούω)
- Ongoing, repeated, or habitual action.
- Aorist subjunctive: να ακούσω
- Single, completed action, “one whole event.”
Compare:
Κρατάω την ηχογράφηση στο κινητό, ώστε να την ακούω στο λεωφορείο.
= I keep it there so that I (can) listen to it habitually / whenever I’m on the bus.Κρατάω την ηχογράφηση στο κινητό, ώστε να την ακούσω στο λεωφορείο.
= I keep it there so that I can listen to it (once) on the bus (one specific occasion).
Because the idea is a repeated habit (every time I’m on the bus), the imperfective form να την ακούω is the natural choice.
Greek object pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.
- η ηχογράφηση is feminine singular:
- Article: η / την
- So the pronoun must also be feminine singular: την.
Structure:
- την ηχογράφηση (feminine, singular, accusative)
- ώστε να την ακούω (same την, agreeing with ηχογράφηση)
If the noun were neuter, you’d use το:
- το μάθημα → το ακούω (I listen to it) If it were masculine:
- ο δίσκος → τον ακούω (I listen to it/him)
So την here tells you the missing noun is feminine (ηχογράφηση, μουσική, κλπ.), and Greek grammar requires this agreement.
στο λεωφορείο = σε + το λεωφορείο → on the bus.
Greek typically uses the article here, even when you mean buses in general as a mode of transport.
- Στο λεωφορείο διαβάζω.
= On the bus I read. (i.e. whenever I’m on a bus)
It does not necessarily mean one specific bus. Context decides:
- If you’re talking about a particular trip: “on the bus (I’m taking right now)”
- If it’s habitual: “on the bus (whenever I ride the bus)”
Greek doesn’t have a direct equivalent of the English “by bus” (without article) as a simple prepositional form; usually you’d say something like:
- Πηγαίνω με το λεωφορείο. = I go by bus.
Note it also uses το λεωφορείο with an article in that structure.
Greek word order is relatively flexible, but there are strong preferences:
Default here:
- ώστε να την ακούω στο λεωφορείο
Breaking it down:
- ώστε να (conjunction + particle)
- την (clitic pronoun)
- ακούω (verb)
- στο λεωφορείο (prepositional phrase)
Clitic pronouns like την almost always appear before the verb in this kind of clause, and adverbials like στο λεωφορείο often go after the verb.
You could also say:
- ώστε να ακούω την ηχογράφηση στο λεωφορείο.
(repeating the full noun instead of pronoun)
But something like:
- ✗ ώστε να ακούω την στο λεωφορείο
- ✗ ώστε να ακούω στο λεωφορείο την
is ungrammatical or sounds very wrong. The clitic την must stay attached before the verb, not floating at the end.
ηχογράφηση is stressed on the third syllable from the end:
- η – χο – γρά – φη – ση
- Pronunciation (approximate): i-cho-GHRA-fi-si
Details:
- η → /i/ (like ee in see)
- χ before ο → a guttural sound, like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch.
- γρά: the stress is here; γρ like gr in great but with a softer g.
- φ → /f/
- ση → /si/
So you get: i-cho-GHRA-fi-si, with the main emphasis on GHRA.