Learn Hardcore Greek: Στη μέση της ταινίας πατάω το κουμπί της παύσης, γιατί πάω να φτιάξω λίγο ποπκόρν. - In the middle of the movie I press the pause button because I’m going to make some popcorn.

σε + τη (την) = στη(ν)
So σε τη μέση → στη μέση = in the middle.
μέση literally means middle (also waist in other contexts), so στη μέση is the normal everyday way to say in the middle (spatially or temporally).
της ταινίας is genitive, meaning of the movie / of the film.

So Στη μέση της ταινίας literally means In the middle of the movie.

You could say στο μέσο της ταινίας (at the middle point of the movie), but:

μέση is much more common in everyday speech.
μέσο sounds more bookish/technical.

Στην ταινία would just mean in the movie, not specifically in the middle of it.

Why is the verb in the present tense (πατάω) when in English we would often say I pressed or I pause?

Greek often uses the present tense for:

General, habitual actions
- Στη μέση της ταινίας πατάω το κουμπί της παύσης…
  = In the middle of the movie, I press the pause button…
  This can describe what you typically do whenever this situation happens.
Vivid narration / storytelling (the “historic present”)
- You can use present to make a story feel more immediate:
  So I’m watching this movie, and in the middle I press pause…

In context, πατάω here naturally reads as:

a habitual action (what I usually do), or
a vivid description of a specific instance.

If you wanted a specific past event in Greek, you’d say:

Στη μέση της ταινίας πάτησα το κουμπί της παύσης…
(In the middle of the movie I pressed the pause button…)

What is the difference between πατάω and πατώ?

Πατάω and πατώ are two forms of the same verb.

πατάω is the more common colloquial / modern form.
πατώ is a bit more formal / old-fashioned in many contexts.

Both mean things like:

to press (a button, a key)
to step on (something)

So in this sentence:

πατάω το κουμπί = I press the button
πατώ το κουμπί would be understood the same, just sounding slightly more formal or written.

Why is it το κουμπί της παύσης and not just το κουμπί παύσης or το κουμπί παύση?

In Greek, "X of Y" is very often expressed using the definite article + noun in the genitive:

το κουμπί της παύσης
- το κουμπί = the button (neuter nominative/accusative)
- της παύσης = of the pause (feminine genitive)

This is the most natural way to say "the pause button".

το κουμπί παύσης is possible but sounds more technical (like a label on a machine, or technical writing).
το κουμπί παύση is wrong in standard Greek, because παύση hasn’t been put into the correct genitive form and there’s no article.

So:

Normal, everyday: το κουμπί της παύσης
More technical/label-like: το κουμπί παύσης

What’s the nuance of παύση here? Could you also say διάλειμμα?

παύση = pause (an interruption, stopping something briefly)
- παύση μουσικής = music pause
- παύση βίντεο = video pause
διάλειμμα = break (a short rest period, interval)
- διάλειμμα στο σχολείο = school break
- διάλειμμα στη δουλειά = break at work

For a player or remote control, the standard term is παύση. So κουμπί της παύσης matches exactly the Pause button.

Saying κουμπί του διαλείμματος would sound wrong: διάλειμμα is for a break people take, not for the technical pause function of a device.

What’s the difference between γιατί and επειδή in this sentence?

Here we have:

…πατάω το κουμπί της παύσης, γιατί πάω να φτιάξω λίγο ποπκόρν.
= …I press the pause button, because I’m going to make some popcorn.

Both γιατί and επειδή can mean because. The differences:

γιατί is more common in everyday speech and also means why (depending on context and intonation).
- Γιατί δεν ήρθες; = Why didn’t you come?
- Δεν ήρθα γιατί ήμουν άρρωστος. = I didn’t come because I was sick.
επειδή only means because, never why. It’s often a bit more explicit or formal, and used when you want to clearly mark the cause.

In this sentence, γιατί is very natural and conversational. You could also say:

…πατάω το κουμπί της παύσης, επειδή πάω να φτιάξω λίγο ποπκόρν.

It’s correct, just slightly more careful / explicit.

How does πάω να φτιάξω work grammatically, and how is it different from θα φτιάξω?

πάω να φτιάξω is literally:

πάω = I go / I am going
να φτιάξω = (so that I) make / do (aorist subjunctive of φτιάχνω)

In modern Greek, πάω να + subjunctive often means:

I’m going to (go and) do X now / in a moment
I’m off to do X / I’m heading to do X

So:

πάω να φτιάξω λίγο ποπκόρν
≈ I’m going to make some popcorn (now / just about to).

θα φτιάξω is the simple future tense: I will make.

Nuance:

πάω να φτιάξω
- very immediate, like you’re standing up right now to do it.
- has a feeling of movement + intention.
θα φτιάξω
- a neutral future: sometime later, or just “I’ll do it”, without that sense of “I’m literally going now”.

In this sentence, πάω να φτιάξω matches English “I’m going to make…” very well.

Why is it λίγο ποπκόρν without an article? Could you also say λίγο το ποπκόρν or λίγο ποπκόρνι?

λίγο here means a little / some.
ποπκόρν is an indeclinable neuter loanword (from English popcorn).

In Greek, uncountable / mass nouns often appear without an article when you mean “some (amount of)”:

Θέλω λίγο νερό. = I want some water.
Θα φάω λίγο ψωμί. = I’ll eat some bread.
Θα φτιάξω λίγο ποπκόρν. = I’ll make some popcorn.

So λίγο ποπκόρν is the natural way to say some popcorn.

λίγο το ποπκόρν would be odd; with το you’re referring to specific popcorn already known (and “λίγο το ποπκόρν” still sounds off).
ποπκόρνι is not a Greek word; the standard form is (το) ποπκόρν, same in all cases.

You can say with an article when you talk about it more generally:

Μου αρέσει το ποπκόρν. = I like popcorn.

But when you mean “some popcorn” to eat/make, you normally don’t use the article.

Why is it Στη μέση and not Στην μέση in writing?

Spoken Greek contracts σε + τη(ν) into στη(ν):

σε + τη / την → στη / στην

The final -ν of την is kept or dropped depending on the next sound.
Standard modern rule (for writing):

Keep -ν before:
- vowels (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω)
- and before the consonants κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, γκ, μπ, ντ, τσ, τζ.
Drop -ν before most other consonants.

Since μέση starts with μ, you drop the ν:

στη μέση (not στην μέση).

So the correct spelling is Στη μέση της ταινίας.

Can the word order change? For example, is Πατάω το κουμπί της παύσης στη μέση της ταινίας also correct?

Yes, Greek has relatively flexible word order, and all of these are grammatically correct:

Στη μέση της ταινίας πατάω το κουμπί της παύσης…
Πατάω το κουμπί της παύσης στη μέση της ταινίας…
Πατάω στη μέση της ταινίας το κουμπί της παύσης…

The differences are mostly in emphasis and flow:

Starting with Στη μέση της ταινίας sets time/setting first, like English “In the middle of the movie, I press…”.
Putting στη μέση της ταινίας later is more like “I press the pause button in the middle of the movie”, where the action is foregrounded.

All these would be understood the same in everyday conversation. The given version is very natural because Greek often starts clauses with time / place expressions for context.

What’s the aspect difference between φτιάχνω and φτιάξω in πάω να φτιάξω?

Greek verbs have two basic aspects:

Imperfective (ongoing / repeated): φτιάχνω = I make / I am making, I fix / I am fixing
Aorist (perfective) (single, complete event): φτιάξω (subjunctive), έφτιαξα (indicative past)

In πάω να φτιάξω, we use the aorist subjunctive φτιάξω, not φτιάχνω.

πάω να φτιάξω focuses on the whole action as a single event: “I’m going to (go and) make it (once).”
If you said πάω να φτιάχνω, it would sound wrong here; imperfective after να would suggest something ongoing/repeated, which doesn’t fit.

So:

να φτιάξω = to make (once, complete the action)
να φτιάχνω = to be making / to keep making (used in other contexts, e.g. “I like to be making X”)

In this sentence, the one-off, complete action (make some popcorn now) is what we want, so φτιάξω is the correct choice.