Breakdown of Το βράδυ τακτοποιώ τα βιβλία μου στο ράφι, ώστε να τα βρίσκω εύκολα το πρωί.
Questions & Answers about Το βράδυ τακτοποιώ τα βιβλία μου στο ράφι, ώστε να τα βρίσκω εύκολα το πρωί.
In Greek, time expressions are very often used without a preposition, just with the definite article + noun:
- Το βράδυ = in the evening / at night
- Το πρωί = in the morning
- Το απόγευμα = in the afternoon
Grammatically, this is the accusative of time, which in Modern Greek often looks the same as the nominative for neuter nouns (like βράδυ).
So you do not say στο βράδυ in this meaning; you simply say το βράδυ to mean “in the evening” in a general, habitual sense.
Τακτοποιώ means “to tidy (up), arrange, put in order.” In this sentence:
- τακτοποιώ τα βιβλία μου = I tidy / arrange my books
It is in the present tense because Greek uses the present tense both for:
Habits / routines
- Το βράδυ τακτοποιώ τα βιβλία μου = In the evening I tidy my books (as a regular action).
Actions happening now
- Τώρα τακτοποιώ τα βιβλία μου = I’m tidying my books now.
Here it describes a habitual action, something the speaker does regularly every evening.
In Greek, when you say “my X, his Y, our Z”, you normally use the definite article:
- το βιβλίο μου = my book
- τα βιβλία μου = my books
- το σπίτι σου = your house
- η μάνα του = his mother
So τα βιβλία μου is the natural, default way to say “my books.”
You can drop the article (βιβλία μου) in some contexts, but it sounds more marked and is much less common. It might sound a bit more like “books of mine” or appear in certain fixed phrases or more poetic style.
In normal everyday speech here, you want τα βιβλία μου.
Στο is a contraction of:
- σε (in, at, on)
- το (the, neuter singular)
So:
- σε + το ράφι → στο ράφι = on the shelf / on the bookcase shelf
Greek very often contracts σε + definite article:
- σε + το → στο
- σε + τα → στα
- σε + την → στη(ν)
- σε + τους → στους, etc.
So στο ράφι literally means “on the shelf.”
Ώστε να introduces a result or purpose clause. In this sentence:
- ώστε να τα βρίσκω εύκολα το πρωί
= so that I (can) find them easily in the morning.
Nuances:
ώστε να
- Often means “so that / with the result that”.
- Can express real result (with the result that…) or intentional purpose (so that I can…).
- Sounds a bit more formal or careful than για να in many contexts.
για να
- Primarily means “in order to / to” (purpose).
- More neutral and very common in everyday speech.
Here you could also say:
- … στο ράφι, για να τα βρίσκω εύκολα το πρωί.
That would be perfectly natural Greek, just a bit more neutral/colloquial. Ώστε να puts a slight emphasis on the desired result.
This is about aspect in the subjunctive.
- βρίσκω = imperfective aspect → ongoing, repeated, or general action
- βρω (from βρίσκω) = aorist aspect → single, completed action
In ώστε να τα βρίσκω εύκολα το πρωί:
- να τα βρίσκω = “so that I (can) find them easily (whenever I look for them, every morning).”
It suggests a general, repeated ability or ongoing ease in finding them.
If you said:
- ώστε να τα βρω εύκολα το πρωί
this would sound more like “so that I (will) find them easily in the morning on that specific occasion.” It focuses on one specific act of finding.
Because the sentence talks about a habit (tidying every evening, finding them easily in the morning), the imperfective βρίσκω is the natural choice.
Τα is a direct object pronoun (clitic) in the neuter plural, meaning “them.”
Here, it refers back to:
- τα βιβλία μου → my books
- So τα = “them” (the books).
In Greek, these weak object pronouns usually:
- Come before a finite verb in simple tenses and in να-clauses:
- τα βρίσκω = I find them
- να τα βρίσκω = (so that I) find them
- Or attach to the end of some non-finite forms (e.g. imperatives, gerunds), which is not the case here.
So ώστε να τα βρίσκω is the standard word order:
να + [pronoun] + [verb] = να τα βρίσκω.
No, that would be incorrect, because:
Τα here is a pronoun, not an article.
- τα βιβλία = the books (article τα)
- τα βρίσκω = I find them (pronoun τα)
The pronoun τα must stay right before the verb in this να-clause:
- ώστε να τα βρίσκω ✓
- ώστε να βρίσκω τα ✗ (ungrammatical)
You could change other parts slightly, for example:
- … ώστε το πρωί να τα βρίσκω εύκολα.
(…so that in the morning I find them easily.)
But the να + τα + βρίσκω order stays the same.
Yes, εύκολα functions as an adverb here: it tells us how the books are found:
- τα βρίσκω εύκολα = I find them easily.
Formally, εύκολα is the neuter plural of the adjective εύκολος (easy), but Greek often uses the neuter plural form of adjectives as adverbs:
- καλός → καλά (well)
- γρήγορος → γρήγορα (quickly)
- εύκολος → εύκολα (easily)
As an adverb, εύκολα:
- Does not agree with any noun.
- Stays the same regardless of number/gender:
- Τον βρίσκω εύκολα. = I find him easily.
- Τους βρίσκω εύκολα. = I find them easily.
Greek is a pro‑drop language: the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person and number.
- τακτοποιώ = 1st person singular → I tidy
- βρίσκω = 1st person singular → I find
So Greek normally says:
- Τακτοποιώ τα βιβλία μου = I tidy my books (no εγώ needed)
You can say Εγώ το βράδυ τακτοποιώ τα βιβλία μου if you want to emphasize I, as in “I am the one who tidies my books in the evening,” but in neutral statements it’s more natural to leave the pronoun out.