Learn Hardcore Greek: Σήμερα έχω να δω μόνο ένα επεισόδιο από τη σειρά που μου άρεσε χτες. - Today I only have to watch one episode of the series that I liked yesterday.

Σήμερα έχω να δω μόνο ένα επεισόδιο…
- Most naturally means: “Today I only have one episode to watch…”
  (i.e. that’s what’s on my “to‑do list” or that’s all that remains for me to watch).

Main uses of έχω να + subjunctive:

Task / things-you-have-to-do sense (as here):
- Έχω να κάνω πολλά πράγματα σήμερα.
  = I have a lot of things to do today.
Time-since-I-last-did-something sense (different use, not here):
- Έχω να σε δω μήνες.
  = I haven’t seen you for months.

So in this sentence it’s not about “it’s been a long time”, but about a task or plan: there is only one episode on today’s agenda.

Compared to:

πρέπει να δω = I must / I have to watch (stronger, explicit obligation).
θα δω = I will watch / I’m going to watch (just future, not “on my list” in the same way).

Here έχω να δω suggests: “on today’s schedule I have only one episode to watch.”

Why is it δω and not βλέπω or δώ?

The verb here is βλέπω (to see/watch).

Greek has two basic stems for this verb:

βλέπω → present (I see / I am watching)
δώ / δω → aorist (one‑time, whole action)

In the subjunctive, after να, we use these stems:

να βλέπω = to be seeing / to be watching (ongoing, repeated)
να δω = to see / to watch (one complete act)

In έχω να δω the meaning is “to watch (one episode, as a whole action)”, so the aorist subjunctive is used:

να δω (aorist subjunctive, 1st person singular)

Orthographically, it is written δω (with one ω), not δώ with an accent, because:

να δω is one word group: να carries no stress, δω keeps its normal stress on the single syllable, so no acute accent is written (monosyllables normally don’t show it).

So:

να δω = grammatically correct form after να.
Using να βλέπω here would sound like “I have to be watching (in general)”.
δώ with accent is just a spelling mistake in this context.

Why is μόνο placed before ένα επεισόδιο? Could it go in other positions, and would that change the meaning?

Μόνο means only and usually comes right before the word or phrase it limits, just like English:

μόνο ένα επεισόδιο = only one episode.

In your sentence:

Σήμερα έχω να δω μόνο ένα επεισόδιο…
- Focus: the number one is small. I have only one.

Other possible positions and nuances:

Σήμερα μόνο έχω να δω ένα επεισόδιο…
Sounds like: “It’s only today that I have one episode to watch” (emphasis on “today”, a bit unusual in everyday speech here).
Μόνο σήμερα έχω να δω ένα επεισόδιο…
= Only today I have one episode to watch (on other days it’s different).
Σήμερα έχω μόνο να δω ένα επεισόδιο…
This is possible, but now μόνο limits the whole “να δω ένα επεισόδιο” chunk, more like:
“Today all I have to do is watch one episode” (nothing else to do).

The version in your sentence (μόνο ένα επεισόδιο) is the most natural way to stress that the quantity is just one episode.

Why is it από τη σειρά and not της σειράς? What’s the difference?

Both από τη σειρά and της σειράς can be translated “of/from the series”, but they have different flavors:

από τη σειρά (literally “from the series”)
- More concrete / partitive: one item taken from inside a set.
- μόνο ένα επεισόδιο από τη σειρά
  = only one episode from the series (out of many episodes).
της σειράς (literally “of the series”)
- More possessive or descriptive, like English “the show’s episode” or “an episode of the show”.
- ένα επεισόδιο της σειράς is fine Greek and would also mean an episode of the series.

In everyday speech, when you’re talking about one item among several (one episode among many), από is very common and sounds natural:

Θέλω ένα επεισόδιο από τη δεύτερη σεζόν.
= I want one episode from the second season.

So in this sentence από τη σειρά nicely emphasizes that this episode is one part of that series.

Why is it τη σειρά and not την σειρά?

The full accusative feminine article is την (for singular):

την σειρά = the series (object).

However, in everyday spoken and written Greek, when την comes before a word starting with a consonant, it often loses the final -ν:

την → τη
την σειρά → τη σειρά

This is a very common, standard phenomenon:

την πόρτα → τη πόρτα (the door)
την μέρα → τη μέρα (the day)

We keep the -ν when the next word begins with:

a vowel (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω),
or certain consonant clusters like μπ, ντ, γκ, ξ, ψ, and sometimes κ, π, τ for clarity.

So you might see both τη σειρά and την σειρά in writing.
In informal modern Greek, τη σειρά (without -ν) before σ is very normal.

How do I know σειρά is feminine, and what does it literally mean here?

The noun σειρά is feminine:

η σειρά (the series / the row / the turn)
της σειράς
τη σειρά

How you know it’s feminine:

Article: here you see τη, which is the feminine accusative form of η.
Typical ending: many feminine nouns end in -α (η μέρα, η πόρτα, η σειρά).

Literal meanings of σειρά:

A row/line: μπες στη σειρά = get in line.
A turn: είναι η σειρά σου = it’s your turn.
A series/show: μια τηλεοπτική σειρά = a TV series.

In your sentence, η σειρά clearly means a TV series / show:

από τη σειρά που μου άρεσε χτες
= from the series that I liked yesterday.

What is the role of που in η σειρά που μου άρεσε χτες? Is it like that or which in English?

Yes, που here is a relative pronoun/particle, roughly equivalent to English that / which / who introducing a relative clause.

η σειρά που μου άρεσε χτες
= the series *that I liked yesterday*.

Some points about που:

Invariable: it does not change form for gender, number, or case.
Very common in spoken and informal written Greek for most relative clauses:
- ο άνθρωπος που είδα = the man that I saw.
- το βιβλίο που αγόρασα = the book that I bought.

More formal equivalents would be things like η οποία, το οποίο, etc.:

η σειρά η οποία μου άρεσε χτες
(grammatical but more formal, and a bit stiff in everyday speech).

In normal conversation and most writing, που is absolutely standard and natural.

Why do we say μου άρεσε to mean I liked it? How does this construction work?

Greek uses a different perspective for “liking” than English.

The verb is αρέσω – literally “to be pleasing”. So:

μου άρεσε = it pleased me → I liked it.

Structure:

άρεσε: 3rd person singular (past) of αρέσω
μου: indirect object pronoun = to me

So literally:

η σειρά που μου άρεσε χτες
= the series that was pleasing *to me yesterday*.

Compare:

Μου αρέσει αυτή η σειρά.
= This series pleases me = I like this series.
Μου άρεσε αυτή η σειρά.
= This series pleased me (in the past) = I liked this series.

So when you want to say “I like X” / “I liked X”, you usually use:

Μου αρέσει X. = I like X.
Μου άρεσε X. = I liked X.

Rather than a verb like αγαπάω (to love), which is stronger and used differently.

Why is άρεσε in the third person singular? Shouldn’t it agree with μου (me)?

Άρεσε agrees with the thing that is liked, not with the person who likes it.

Subject (in Greek): the series (η σειρά).
Verb: άρεσε (3rd person singular, past).
Indirect object: μου (to me).

So the underlying structure is:

[Η σειρά] μου άρεσε.
= The series pleased me.

Since η σειρά is 3rd person singular, the verb is also 3rd person singular.

If the subject were plural:

Οι σειρές μου άρεσαν.
= The series (plural) pleased me. = I liked the series.
(Here άρεσαν is 3rd person plural to agree with οι σειρές.)

So μου doesn’t control the verb form; it just marks the experiencer (the person who feels the liking).

Is there any difference between χτες, χθες, and εχθές?

All three mean yesterday.

Differences are mainly spelling/register, not meaning:

χτες: very common, informal / neutral modern spelling.
χθες: more traditional / formal spelling, you’ll see it more in formal writing, news, etc.
εχθές: also correct; a bit more formal or “full” form.

Pronunciation in modern Greek is essentially the same for all: roughly [xtes].

So in your sentence, χτες is perfectly normal and very common in everyday writing and speech:

που μου άρεσε χτες
= that I liked yesterday.

Could the word order be Σήμερα έχω μόνο ένα επεισόδιο να δω από τη σειρά…? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, that word order is possible:

Σήμερα έχω μόνο ένα επεισόδιο να δω από τη σειρά που μου άρεσε χτες.

Subtle differences:

Original:
- Σήμερα έχω να δω μόνο ένα επεισόδιο από τη σειρά…
  Focus: I have to watch only one episode (emphasis on the number of episodes in the “to watch” task).
Alternative:
- Σήμερα έχω μόνο ένα επεισόδιο να δω από τη σειρά…
  Focus: What I have is just one episode to watch (slightly more on “I only have one episode (as a thing)”, not much on the act of watching).

In practice, both sound natural, and many speakers would use them interchangeably here.
The biggest, clearest emphasis remains that it is only one episode.

Could I replace έχω να δω with πρέπει να δω or θα δω? How would that change the meaning?

You can, but the nuance shifts.

πρέπει να δω (I must / I have to watch)
- Σήμερα πρέπει να δω μόνο ένα επεισόδιο…
  → Stronger obligation or necessity (self-imposed or external).
  Like: I must watch only one episode today (maybe because of time, rules, etc.).
θα δω (I will / I’m going to watch)
- Σήμερα θα δω μόνο ένα επεισόδιο…
  → Plain future plan: Today I will only watch one episode.
  No explicit sense of “on my list” or “task”; it’s just what you intend to do.
έχω να δω in your sentence
- Suggests “this is on my list / that’s what’s left for me”.
- Today I only have one episode to watch (as part of what I have to get through).

All three are grammatical; the original highlights the idea of one remaining or scheduled task more than a bare future or a strict must.