Breakdown of Δεν μου αρέσουν τα πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα, προτιμώ κάτι πιο στενό.
Questions & Answers about Δεν μου αρέσουν τα πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα, προτιμώ κάτι πιο στενό.
Μου is the unstressed (clitic) form of εμένα (to me).
The Greek verb αρέσω literally means to be pleasing. So:
- Μου αρέσουν τα ρούχα = The clothes are pleasing to me → I like the clothes.
Because μου is an unstressed pronoun, it normally goes before the verb:
- Μου αρέσουν (to-me are-pleasing)
- With negation: Δεν μου αρέσουν (not to-me are-pleasing) → I don’t like.
Putting μου after the verb (αρέσουν μου) is wrong in modern standard Greek.
The verb αρέσουν agrees with the thing that is liked, not with the person:
- Τα πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα = they (plural)
- So the verb must be plural: αρέσουν.
Compare:
- Μου αρέσει το ρούχο. – I like the (single) piece of clothing.
- Μου αρέσουν τα ρούχα. – I like the clothes.
Because in Greek αρέσω doesn’t work like English to like.
- Αρέσω σε κάποιον = to be liked by someone (literally: I please someone).
- Αρέσω στα παιδιά. = The children like me.
In your sentence, the clothes are what please or don’t please someone:
- Δεν μου αρέσουν τα πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα.
Literally: The very baggy clothes are not pleasing to me → I don’t like very baggy clothes.
So you must use the structure [indirect object] + αρέσει/αρέσουν + [thing liked], not αρέσω + object.
Greek often uses the definite article (ο, η, το, οι, τα) with nouns in a general or generic sense where English uses no article.
- Δεν μου αρέσουν τα πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα.
→ I don’t like very baggy clothes (in general).
Using τα ρούχα here doesn’t mean those specific clothes; it can mean clothes of that type in general.
Leaving the article out (Δεν μου αρέσουν πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα) is also possible, but tends to sound a bit more like “I don’t like (any) very baggy clothes” in a more indefinite sense. Both are grammatically correct; the version with τα is very natural here.
The adjective here is φαρδύς, φαρδιά, φαρδύ (wide, baggy).
Its forms are:
- Masculine: φαρδύς (sg.), φαρδείς (pl.)
- Feminine: φαρδιά (sg.), φαρδιές (pl.)
- Neuter: φαρδύ (sg.), φαρδιά (pl.)
So φαρδιά can be either:
- feminine singular, or
- neuter plural.
Since ρούχα is neuter plural, φαρδιά here is neuter plural agreeing with ρούχα:
- τα (neut. pl.) πολύ φαρδιά (neut. pl.) ρούχα (neut. pl.)
The fact it ends in -ά doesn’t always mean feminine; it depends on the adjective’s pattern.
In πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα, πολύ is an adverb meaning very and it modifies the adjective:
- πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα = very baggy clothes.
As an adverb, πολύ is invariable (it doesn’t change form):
- πολύ φαρδύ, πολύ φαρδιά, πολύ στενό, πολύ ωραία etc.
Πολλά, on the other hand, is an adjective (neuter plural of πολύς, πολλή, πολύ) and means many / a lot of:
- πολλά ρούχα = many clothes.
So:
- πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα = very baggy clothes (degree of bagginess)
- πολλά ρούχα = many clothes (quantity)
Κάτι is a neuter singular pronoun meaning something.
Adjectives in Greek must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun or pronoun they describe. So the adjective after κάτι must also be neuter singular:
- κάτι καλό – something good
- κάτι ενδιαφέρον – something interesting
- κάτι πιο στενό – something tighter.
Στενά would be neuter plural, which would not agree with κάτι. The focus here is not on “tighter clothes” as a plural noun phrase but on “something (in general) that is tighter.”
The first part talks about clothes in general:
- τα πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα – (very) baggy clothes (plural).
The second part shifts to an indefinite “something”:
- προτιμώ κάτι πιο στενό – I prefer something tighter.
Grammatically, κάτι is neuter singular, so στενό must also be neuter singular. You’re not explicitly saying “tighter clothes” there; you’re saying “something tighter” (which could be a tighter outfit, garment, style, etc.).
You could also say:
- …προτιμώ πιο στενά ρούχα. – I prefer tighter clothes.
Here both στενά and ρούχα are neuter plural.
Πιο is the usual word for more when forming a comparative:
- στενό – tight
- πιο στενό – tighter / more tight.
So κάτι πιο στενό = something tighter (compared to what was mentioned before).
Πολύ στενό uses πολύ as an adverb meaning very:
- πολύ στενό – very tight.
So:
- πιο στενό → comparative: tighter (than something else)
- πολύ στενό → degree: very tight (no explicit comparison, just strong).
In standard modern Greek:
- The negation δεν (or δε before consonants) comes right before the verb.
- Unstressed pronouns like μου, σου, του normally come before the verb, but after δεν.
So the normal order is:
- Δεν μου αρέσουν… – I don’t like…
(not Μου δεν αρέσουν…, which sounds wrong.)
The typical pattern is:
Δεν + (clitic pronouns) + verb
Δεν μου αρέσουν…
Δεν του είπε…
Δεν το είδα…
Yes, you can, and it’s very natural:
Δεν μου αρέσουν τα πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα, προτιμώ κάτι πιο στενό.
– Two clauses linked just by a comma; the contrast is understood from the meaning.Δεν μου αρέσουν τα πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα, αλλά προτιμώ κάτι πιο στενό.
– Explicit contrast with αλλά (but).Δεν μου αρέσουν τα πολύ φαρδιά ρούχα και προτιμώ κάτι πιο στενό.
– Uses και (and), but the overall idea is still contrastive from context.
Αλλά makes the contrast (I don’t like X, but I prefer Y) very clear and is often a good choice in careful or written Greek.