Learn Hardcore Greek: Δεν έχω να κατεβάσω άλλο βίντεο σήμερα, γιατί η συνδρομή μου στην πλατφόρμα έχει όριο. - I have no more videos to download today, because my subscription on the platform has a limit.

The English translation looks like “I don’t have to download another video today.” But in English that means “I’m not obliged to.” Does Δεν έχω να κατεβάσω άλλο βίντεο also mean “I’m not obliged to download another video”?

No. This is a classic “false friend” between English and Greek.

Δεν έχω να κατεβάσω άλλο βίντεο literally means something like:
- “I don’t have (any more) to download another video”, i.e. I’ve run out of downloads / I don’t have any more available downloads.
It expresses lack of resource or possibility, not lack of obligation.

If you wanted to say “I don’t have to download another video” (no obligation) in Greek, you would usually say something like:

Δεν χρειάζεται να κατεβάσω άλλο βίντεο.
(It isn’t necessary that I download another video.)

What exactly does the structure “δεν έχω να + verb” mean, and how is it used in general?

The pattern δεν έχω να + [subjunctive verb] often means:

“I don’t have any [X] left in order to do Y / I lack what is needed to do Y.”

In this sentence:

δεν έχω να κατεβάσω ≈ I don’t have [the right / the allowance / the capacity] to download (any more).

Other examples:

Δεν έχω να σου δώσω λεφτά.
I don’t have (any) money to give you (I’m out of money).
Δεν έχω να φορέσω τίποτα.
I don’t have anything to wear.

So:

έχω να + verb can mean I have (something) in order to do X.
δεν έχω να + verb = I lack what I need in order to do X (no money, credits, time, etc.).

It is not about obligation; it’s about availability / resources.

Why is it κατεβάσω and not κατεβάζω after να?

Greek doesn’t have an infinitive; it uses να + verb instead, and the verb appears in either perfective or imperfective aspect.

κατεβάσω is the perfective subjunctive (focus on a single, complete action: “to (fully) download (once)”).
κατεβάζω is the imperfective (focus on ongoing or repeated action: “to be downloading / to download habitually”).

In this sentence:

Δεν έχω να κατεβάσω άλλο βίντεο σήμερα…
The speaker is talking about doing one more complete download today. A single, bounded action → perfective (κατεβάσω) is natural.

If you used να κατεβάζω here, it would sound strange or would suggest a different nuance (ongoing/repeated activity) that doesn’t fit the context of a daily limit.

Could I say Δεν μπορώ να κατεβάσω άλλο βίντεο σήμερα instead? What’s the difference?

You can say:

Δεν μπορώ να κατεβάσω άλλο βίντεο σήμερα.

This is perfectly correct and common. The nuance:

Δεν έχω να κατεβάσω… subtly emphasizes “I don’t have (downloads/credits/rights) left”.
Δεν μπορώ να κατεβάσω… emphasizes “I’m not able to / I can’t”, without specifying whether it’s a technical issue, lack of permission, or a limit.

Given the second part of the sentence (η συνδρομή μου … έχει όριο), both are ok, but:

Δεν έχω να κατεβάσω matches very naturally with “my subscription has a limit” (I’ve used up what I had).
Δεν μπορώ να κατεβάσω is a bit more general: maybe the platform is down, maybe I’m out of downloads, etc.

Why is άλλο placed before βίντεο? Could I say βίντεο άλλο?

The normal word order is:

άλλο βίντεο = another video / any more video.

Placing άλλο before the noun is standard for adjectives like άλλος:

άλλο βιβλίο – another book
άλλο παιδί – another child

You can technically move άλλο after the noun (βίντεο άλλο), but:

It sounds marked or poetic in this context.
It could suggest a nuance like “a video that is different (from the one we said)” rather than simply “one more video”.

For everyday speech, especially with countable, additional items, use άλλο + noun:

άλλο βίντεο, άλλη μπύρα, άλλο εισιτήριο.

Why is it η συνδρομή μου and not μου η συνδρομή, and why does μου come after the noun?

In modern Greek, possessive pronouns like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους usually come after the noun:

η συνδρομή μου – my subscription
το σπίτι μου – my house
το παιδί του – his child

The pattern is: [article] + [noun] + [possessive clitic].

Putting μου before the noun (μου η συνδρομή) sounds either:

very emphatic / contrastive (e.g. “*my subscription (as opposed to someone else’s)…”*), or
archaic / very formal in many contexts.

So in neutral, everyday speech, you should say:

η συνδρομή μου (not μου η συνδρομή).

Why does Greek say η συνδρομή μου with a definite article (η) even though in English we just say “my subscription” without “the”?

Greek almost always uses the definite article with possessed nouns:

το σπίτι μου – literally “the house my” = my house
η μητέρα σου – your mother
ο φίλος μας – our friend
η συνδρομή μου – my subscription

In Greek:

Possession is usually expressed by article + noun + possessive clitic.
Leaving out the article (∅ συνδρομή μου) is generally ungrammatical or sounds wrong.

So even though English doesn’t say “the my subscription”, Greek grammar requires the article in this structure.

What is στην exactly? Why not just σε την πλατφόρμα?

στην is a contraction of:

σε + την = στην

This is very regular and happens all the time in Greek:

σε τον → στον (e.g. στον δρόμο)
σε την → στην (e.g. στην πλατφόρμα)
σε το → στο (e.g. στο σπίτι)
σε τις → στις (e.g. στις πόλεις)

So:

στην πλατφόρμα literally = “in/on the platform”.

Writing σε την πλατφόρμα is technically understandable, but in normal Greek it’s always στην πλατφόρμα in both speech and writing.

Why is it η συνδρομή μου στην πλατφόρμα and not something like στη πλατφόρμα without the final -ν?

You’ll see both στην and στη in real Greek, but there are rules/preferences about the final -ν:

The final -ν in words like την, στην is often dropped before most consonants:
- στη σχολή, στη χώρα
It’s kept:
- before vowels
- before κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, γκ, μπ, ντ, τσ, τζ
- often in formal or careful speech regardless.

πλατφόρμα starts with π, so:

στην πλατφόρμα is the standard form (with -ν kept).
στη πλατφόρμα would be considered colloquial or non-standard in careful writing.

So in your sentence, στην πλατφόρμα is the correct standard spelling.

What does έχει όριο mean exactly? Why not έχει ένα όριο or something with a plural like “limits”?

όριο = limit, boundary.

έχει όριο literally: “it has limit”. In natural English, that’s “it has a limit / there is a limit (to it)”.

Greek often omits “ένα” when talking about something that is intrinsic or expected:

Η ζωή έχει νόημα. – Life has meaning.
Η υπομονή μου έχει όρια. – My patience has limits.
Η συνδρομή μου έχει όριο. – My subscription has a limit.

You can say:

έχει ένα όριο
but it sounds slightly more specific or emphatic, like “it has one specific limit”.

In general, έχει όριο is the natural way to say “it is limited / there is a limit” in this context.

Is γιατί always “because”? I also know it as “why”. How does it work here?

γιατί can mean both:

“why” – as a question word
- Γιατί δεν κατεβάζεις άλλο βίντεο;
  Why aren’t you downloading another video?
“because” – as a conjunction introducing a reason
- Δεν κατεβάζω άλλο βίντεο, γιατί η συνδρομή μου έχει όριο.
  I’m not downloading another video, because my subscription has a limit.

In your sentence, γιατί is not a question word. It’s introducing the reason:

… γιατί η συνδρομή μου στην πλατφόρμα έχει όριο.
… because my subscription on the platform has a limit.

You can tell from:

the comma before it,
and the fact that the whole sentence is not a question (no question mark).

Why is it βίντεο with no plural ending here? Is it singular or plural?

βίντεο is one of those Greek words (usually borrowed) that:

stay the same in the singular and plural.

So:

ένα βίντεο – one video
δύο βίντεο – two videos
πολλά βίντεο – many videos

In Δεν έχω να κατεβάσω άλλο βίντεο, the context makes it singular:

άλλο βίντεο = another video / one more video.

If you wanted to emphasize plural, you would change the determiner:

άλλα βίντεο – other videos / more videos (plural sense)

How do you pronounce some of the trickier words here, like κατεβάσω, συνδρομή, and όριο?

Approximate pronunciations using English-like sounds:

κατεβάσω → ka-te-VA-so
- stress on -βά-
- κα as in “cut” (but shorter), τε like “te” in “ten”, σω like “so”.
συνδρομή → seen-dro-MEE
- stress on -μή
- συν like “seen”, δρο like “dro” in “drop” (without the final p).
όριο → O-ree-o
- stress on ό- (first syllable)
- ό like “o” in “hot” but shorter, ρι like “ree”, ο like a short “o” again.

Stress marks (΄) are very important in Greek; they tell you which syllable is stressed, and wrong stress can make words hard to understand.