Learn Hardcore Greek: Κάθε βράδυ λέω ότι πάω να κοιμηθώ νωρίς, αλλά τελικά μένω μέχρι αργά για να δω «ακόμα ένα» επεισόδιο. - Every night I say that I’m going to sleep early, but in the end I stay up late to watch “one more” episode.

το βράδυ on its own means “in the evening / at night” (a general time of day), but κάθε βράδυ is specifically habitual: it tells us this happens every night as a routine.

Why is λέω in the present tense? In English we might say “I say” or “I keep saying” or “I always say”.

In Greek, the present tense is used both for:

simple present: I say
present continuous / habitual: I keep saying / I always say

So λέω here expresses a habitual action: something the speaker regularly does.

The sentence is like:

Κάθε βράδυ λέω...
→ Every night I (always) say...

You don’t need a special continuous form in Greek; λέω covers all of these English nuances by context.

What is the function of ότι in λέω ότι πάω να κοιμηθώ νωρίς? Is it like “that” in English?

Yes. ότι here is a complementizer, just like English “that” in phrases like:

“I say that I’m going to bed early.”

So:

λέω ότι πάω να κοιμηθώ νωρίς
= “I say that I’m going to go to sleep early.”

A few extra points:

In spoken Greek, ότι is often dropped, just like “that” in English:
- Λέω (ότι) πάω να κοιμηθώ νωρίς.
Don’t confuse ότι (that) with ό,τι (whatever, anything that).
In this sentence, it’s definitely ότι = “that”.

Why do we say πάω να κοιμηθώ instead of just κοιμάμαι or θα κοιμηθώ?

The structure πάω να + verb (subjunctive) is extremely common and has a few nuances:

πάω να κοιμηθώ
literally: “I go to sleep (I’m going to sleep).”
In context: “I’m going to go to bed / I’m going to sleep.”

Possible alternatives and their feel:

κοιμάμαι νωρίς
- “I sleep early” / “I go to bed early (as a general habit).”
- More about regular habit, not about what I’m about to do right now.
θα κοιμηθώ νωρίς
- “I will sleep early / I will go to bed early (tonight).”
- More straightforward future; like a simple plan or prediction.
πάω να κοιμηθώ νωρίς
- Very natural in speech to express immediate intention / what I’m just about to do.
- Similar to English “I’m going to go to sleep (now).”

So here, πάω να κοιμηθώ matches that casual “I’m going to bed now” kind of statement you say every night.

Why is κοιμηθώ and not κοιμάμαι after να?

After να, Greek normally uses the subjunctive.
κοιμηθώ is the aorist (perfective) subjunctive of κοιμάμαι.

Compare:

κοιμάμαι – present, imperfective: “I’m sleeping / I sleep.”
να κοιμηθώ – aorist subjunctive, perfective: “(so that) I sleep / go to sleep (once, as a single event).”

In this sentence the speaker is talking about one act of going to sleep (each night), not a continuous process, so the aorist subjunctive (κοιμηθώ) is the natural choice after να.

Structure:

πάω να + (aorist subjunctive)
- πάω να φάω = I’m going to eat
- πάω να διαβάσω = I’m going to study
- πάω να κοιμηθώ = I’m going to sleep

What’s the nuance of νωρίς here? Is it just “early”?

Yes, νωρίς means “early”, in the sense of earlier than usual / earlier than expected in time.

Πήγα στη δουλειά νωρίς. – I went to work early.
Θέλω να κοιμηθώ νωρίς. – I want to go to bed early.

There isn’t really a different common word you’d use here; νωρίς is the standard temporal adverb “early.”

What does τελικά add? How is it different from words like στο τέλος or επιτέλους?

τελικά here means “in the end / eventually / after all” and introduces the actual outcome, often contrasting with a plan or expectation.

… λέω ότι πάω να κοιμηθώ νωρίς, αλλά τελικά μένω μέχρι αργά…
→ “I say I’ll go to bed early, but in the end I stay up late…”

Compare:

τελικά – “in the end / after all” (contrast between plan and outcome)
στο τέλος – literally “at the end”; more literal/temporal, can be used but is less idiomatic here.
επιτέλους – “finally / at last (thank God!)”; expresses relief or impatience, not appropriate here.

So τελικά is perfect for the idea: what I actually end up doing, despite what I say.

How does μένω μέχρι αργά work? Does μένω here mean “live” or “stay”?

μένω has both meanings in Greek, depending on context:

to live / reside
- Μένω στην Αθήνα. – I live in Athens.
to stay / remain
- Μένω σπίτι. – I’m staying at home.

In μένω μέχρι αργά, it clearly means “I stay (up) until late”:

μέχρι = until
αργά = late

So μένω μέχρι αργά ≈ “I stay up late / I stay until late.”

English often adds “up” (“stay up late”), but Greek doesn’t need an extra word; μένω + time adverb covers it.

What does μέχρι αργά mean exactly, and can I also say ως αργά?

μέχρι αργά literally: “until late”.

μέχρι = until / up to
αργά = late (time)

You can also hear ως αργά, which is similar in meaning, but:

μέχρι αργά is more common and neutral.
ως αργά can sound just a bit more formal or literary in some contexts, but it’s not wrong.

In everyday speech, μένω μέχρι αργά is the natural phrase for “I stay up late.”

Why do we have για να δω and not just να δω or an infinitive like in English “to watch”?

Greek doesn’t use an infinitive the way English does; instead, it uses να + subjunctive and often για να + subjunctive for purpose.

για να δω = “(in order) to see/watch”
να δω alone can also be used, but για να makes the purpose very explicit.

The pattern is:

για να + verb (subjunctive) = “in order to do X / to do X (for the purpose of)”
- Πήγα στο σούπερ μάρκετ για να ψωνίσω. – I went to the supermarket to shop.
- Μένω μέχρι αργά για να δω ένα επεισόδιο. – I stay up late to watch an episode.

In this sentence, για να δω clearly expresses why the person stays up: “in order to watch one more episode.”

What’s the difference between ακόμα ένα and άλλο ένα? Could we say άλλο ένα επεισόδιο here?

Both ακόμα ένα and άλλο ένα can be translated as “one more / another”, but there are nuances:

ακόμα ένα
- One more of the same, in addition to previous ones.
- Often emphasizes continuation: you keep adding one more, then one more, etc.
- Very natural in binge-watching contexts:
  - Ας δω ακόμα ένα επεισόδιο. – Let me watch one more episode.
άλλο ένα
- Also “another one / one more”, slightly more neutral, can imply an additional separate unit.
- Often used more generally, not necessarily in the “just one more… just one more…” pattern.

In everyday speech, both can appear here, but:

«ακόμα ένα» επεισόδιο fits the typical pattern of promising “just one more” (and then you repeat the cycle).
It captures that familiar “Netflix trap” feel very well.

Why is «ακόμα ένα» in quotation marks? Is that just punctuation style?

Yes, those are Greek quotation marks (« », called εισαγωγικά), and here they show that:

«ακόμα ένα» is something the speaker is quoting from their own inner speech, or
using ironically / self-consciously, as a sort of cliché excuse.

It’s like writing in English:

I stay up late to watch “just one more” episode.

The quotation marks signal that the phrase “one more” is not entirely serious; it’s a classic line the speaker knows they keep using to justify staying up.

Is the word order «ακόμα ένα» επεισόδιο fixed? Could we say ένα ακόμα επεισόδιο instead?

Both orders are possible, with very similar meaning:

ακόμα ένα επεισόδιο
ένα ακόμα επεισόδιο

In many contexts they’re interchangeable. Slight tendencies:

ακόμα ένα επεισόδιο often feels a bit more ready-made as a phrase (“one more episode!”).
ένα ακόμα επεισόδιο can slightly emphasize the “one more” coming after a series of others.

But practically, both are fine and natural. In this sentence, «ακόμα ένα» επεισόδιο also works well visually as a quoted chunk: «ακόμα ένα» + επεισόδιο.

Does Greek present tense here cover both “I say” and “I keep saying / I always say” like in English?

Yes. Greek present tense is broad and covers:

Simple present: λέω – I say
Present continuous: λέω – I am saying
Habitual: λέω – I (always / usually) say

The habitual sense is made clear by κάθε βράδυ (“every night”), so:

Κάθε βράδυ λέω…
≈ “Every night I say…” / “Every night I keep saying…” / “I always say (every night)…”

You don’t need an extra word to show “keep” or “always” – κάθε βράδυ + present tense is enough to express the habit.