Learn Hardcore Greek: Μετά την παύση συνεχίζω από εκεί που σταμάτησα, για να μην χάσω τη συνέχεια της ιστορίας. - After the pause I continue from where I stopped so that I don’t miss the rest of the story.

Μετά (after) is a preposition that is normally followed by a noun in the accusative:
- μετά την παύση = after the pause
- μετά το μάθημα = after the lesson
- μετά τη δουλειά = after work

Leaving out the article (μετά παύση) sounds ungrammatical or extremely telegraphic (like a headline). So you almost always include the article: μετά την παύση.

What is the difference between παύση, διάλειμμα, and στάση? Could I say μετά το διάλειμμα instead?

All three mean some kind of break or pause, but they’re used differently:

παύση = pause, stoppage
- Often in more formal or technical contexts: a pause in speech, a pause in music, a work stoppage.
- Very suitable here for “pause” in telling a story or listening to something.
διάλειμμα = break, recess, intermission
- Used for school/work breaks, TV ad breaks, interval in a performance.
- Μετά το διάλειμμα is perfectly natural Greek, but it sounds a bit more like “after the break” (e.g. school break, TV break).
στάση = stop, stopping point
- Commonly: a bus stop (στάση λεωφορείου), a stopping point on a journey.
- Also abstract “pause”, but less usual for this sentence.

So yes, μετά το διάλειμμα would be fine if you mean a more general “break”; μετά την παύση focuses more on the act of pausing itself.

Why is it την παύση but τη συνέχεια (without the final -ν)?

This is about the optional -ν at the end of the feminine article την / τη (and also μιαν / μια, αυτήν / αυτή, etc.).

Standard rule (in careful writing):

Keep the final -ν (write την) before:
- vowels (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω)
- and these consonants: κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ
Otherwise, you can drop it: τη.

In the sentence:

την παύση → π is in the list (π), so we keep ν: την.
τη συνέχεια → σ is not in that list, so it becomes τη.

In everyday informal writing people don’t always follow the rule strictly, but this sentence follows the “school grammar” rule.

Why is συνεχίζω in the present tense when in English we might say “I will continue”?

Modern Greek often uses the present simple for near-future or habitual actions when English would use will or going to:

Μετά την παύση συνεχίζω…
Literally: “After the pause I continue…”
Meaning in natural English: “After the pause I (will) continue…”

The present here expresses something like a routine or a firmly planned action:

Κάθε μέρα σχολάω και μετά τρώω.
Every day I get off work and then I eat.

If you wanted to stress the futurity more strongly, you could say:

Μετά την παύση θα συνεχίσω… = I will continue after the pause.

But in this context, συνεχίζω is perfectly natural and common.

What is the function of από in από εκεί που σταμάτησα? Could I say just εκεί που σταμάτησα?

εκεί που σταμάτησα = “where I stopped / at the point where I stopped”.
από εκεί που σταμάτησα literally = “from there where I stopped”.

The από emphasizes that you resume from that point onward, not just refer to the location/time:

συνεχίζω εκεί που σταμάτησα: I continue at the point where I stopped.
συνεχίζω από εκεί που σταμάτησα: I pick up from where I left off.

Both forms are grammatical and very common. With από, the idea of “resuming from that point” is a bit clearer, which fits this sentence well.

Why is it σταμάτησα and not σταματούσα?

Greek distinguishes between:

Aorist (single, completed event):
- σταμάτησα = I stopped (once, completed).
Imperfect (ongoing, repeated, or background action in the past):
- σταματούσα = I was stopping / I used to stop.

In από εκεί που σταμάτησα, you refer to a specific completed point in time, the exact moment you stopped. So the aorist σταμάτησα is the natural choice.

Using σταματούσα here would be ungrammatical in standard Greek, because it doesn’t fit the idea of “that specific point where I left off.”

What does για να mean in για να μην χάσω? Is it like “in order to”?

Yes. για να introduces a purpose clause (what you want to achieve or avoid):

για να χάσω / για να μην χάσω = in order (not) to lose
Διαβάζω για να περάσω τις εξετάσεις.
I study (in order) to pass the exams.
Το κάνω για να σε βοηθήσω.
I do it in order to help you.

Modern Greek doesn’t use an infinitive like English to lose / to help; instead it uses να + (subjunctive). Here:

να χάσω = subjunctive form of χάνω (I lose)
για να μην χάσω = so that I don’t lose / in order not to lose

So για να corresponds roughly to “so that / in order to / to” + verb.

Why is the negative μην and not δεν in για να μην χάσω?

Greek uses two main negatives:

δεν: used with indicative verbs (normal statements about reality, present/past/future):
- Δεν χάνω τη συνέχεια. = I don’t lose the continuity.
- Δεν έχασα τη συνέχεια. = I did not lose the continuity.
μη / μην: used mainly with:
- the subjunctive (να-clauses):
  - να μην χάσω
- imperatives (commands):
  - Μην μιλάς! = Don’t talk!
- various set expressions.

Since για να μην χάσω is a να-clause (subjunctive), it must take μην, not δεν.

Why χάσω and not χάνω in να μην χάσω τη συνέχεια?

Both forms come from the verb χάνω (to lose):

χάνω = present tense, imperfective (ongoing / habitual):
- να μη χάνω = (so that) I don’t keep losing / I’m not losing (repeated or continuous).
χάσω = aorist subjunctive, perfective (single, whole event):
- να μην χάσω = (so that) I don’t lose (it, once, at that moment).

In this sentence we mean “so that I don’t lose the continuity (at that point)”, a single outcome, so the aorist subjunctive χάσω is the natural choice.

If you said για να μη χάνω τη συνέχεια, it would imply something more like “so that I don’t keep losing the thread all the time.”

What does συνέχεια mean here? I’ve seen συνέχεια used as “all the time” too.

συνέχεια has several related meanings:

continuation / continuity / sequence
- η συνέχεια της ιστορίας = the continuation/continuity of the story
- τηλεοπτική σειρά με συνέχεια = TV series with a continuing plot
next part / sequel
- Η συνέχεια στο επόμενο επεισόδιο. = The continuation in the next episode.
As an adverb: συνέχεια = continuously, all the time
- Μιλάει συνέχεια. = He/she talks all the time.
- Σε σκέφτομαι συνέχεια. = I think of you constantly.

In τη συνέχεια της ιστορίας, it clearly has meaning (1): the thread / continuity of the story.

Why is της ιστορίας in the genitive case?

The genitive της ιστορίας expresses possession / “of”:

η συνέχεια της ιστορίας = the continuation of the story.

Greek uses the genitive for many relationships that English expresses with of or with ’s:

το τέλος της ταινίας = the end of the movie
ο τίτλος του βιβλίου = the title of the book
η αρχή της ιστορίας = the beginning of the story

Here συνέχεια is a noun, and της ιστορίας tells us “the continuity of what?” → of the story. That’s why it must be genitive.

Is the word order fixed, or could I say the sentence in another way?

Greek word order is fairly flexible. Variants are possible, for example:

Συνεχίζω από εκεί που σταμάτησα μετά την παύση, για να μην χάσω τη συνέχεια της ιστορίας.
Μετά την παύση, από εκεί που σταμάτησα συνεχίζω, για να μην χάσω τη συνέχεια της ιστορίας.

The original:

Μετά την παύση συνεχίζω από εκεί που σταμάτησα, για να μην χάσω τη συνέχεια της ιστορίας.

is natural and clear. Moving parts around usually just changes emphasis or style, not the basic meaning, as long as you keep the groups together:

μετά την παύση (time phrase)
συνεχίζω από εκεί που σταμάτησα (main clause)
για να μην χάσω τη συνέχεια της ιστορίας (purpose clause).