Στην αγορά σήμερα δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη.

At the market today there is no customer.

Breakdown of Στην αγορά σήμερα δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη.

• έχω: to have
• δεν: not
• σήμερα: today
• σε: at
• ο πελάτης: the customer
• η αγορά: the market
• κανένας: anyone

Questions & Answers about Στην αγορά σήμερα δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη.

What exactly is Στην? Why not just σε την αγορά?

Στην is the contracted form of σε την.

• σε = in / at / to
• την = the (feminine, accusative singular)
• αγορά is feminine, so its article in the accusative is την.

In everyday Greek, σε + την becomes στην in both speech and writing, so:

• σε την αγορά → στην αγορά
  Meaning: in/at the market.

Why is αγορά in this form? What case is it?

αγορά here is in the accusative case, but accusative singular for this noun looks the same as the nominative:

• Nominative: η αγορά (the market – subject)
• Accusative: την αγορά (the market – after a preposition like σε)

The preposition σε in Modern Greek is normally followed by the accusative, so we get:

• σε + την αγορά → στην αγορά

Does Στην αγορά mean “in the market” or “at the market”?

The Greek preposition σε is quite flexible. It can correspond to:

• in (inside a place)
• at (at the location)
• sometimes to (movement towards)

In this sentence, Στην αγορά σήμερα… is best understood as “At the market today…” in natural English, but “In the market today…” is not wrong either. Context usually decides which English preposition fits best.

Why is σήμερα (today) in the middle? Could I move it?

Word order in Greek is flexible, especially for adverbs like σήμερα.

All of these are possible and natural:

• Στην αγορά σήμερα δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη.
• Σήμερα στην αγορά δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη.
• Στην αγορά δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη σήμερα.

The differences are mostly about emphasis and rhythm, not about grammar. For example, starting with Σήμερα… emphasizes today a bit more.

Who is the subject of έχει here? It looks like there isn’t any.

In this sentence έχει is used impersonally, similar to English “there is / there are”.

Literally, δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη is like saying “it doesn’t have any customer” or “there isn’t any customer”.

Greek often uses έχει this way in everyday speech, especially with places:

• Στο μαγαζί δεν έχει κόσμο. – There aren’t any people in the shop.
• Εδώ δεν έχει σήμα. – There is no signal here.

A more literal and formal way would be δεν υπάρχουν πελάτες (there are no customers), but δεν έχει is very common in spoken Greek.

Why do we use δεν and not μην before έχει?

Modern Greek has two main negative particles:

• δεν – used with indicative verbs (normal statements and questions)
• μην – used mainly with the subjunctive (να + verb) and negative commands.

Here, έχει is in the present indicative, so the correct negation is δεν:

• (Αυτό) έχει πελάτες. → (Αυτό) δεν έχει πελάτες.

If it were a negative command, you’d use μην:

• Μην έχεις άγχος. – Don’t be stressed.

What does κανέναν mean here, and why this form?

κανέναν is the masculine accusative singular form of the pronoun κανένας, which means:

• under negation: no, not any
• without negation: some, any (in some contexts)

Basic singular forms:

• Masculine: κανένας (nom.), κανέναν (acc.)
• Feminine: καμία / καμιά (nom./acc.)
• Neuter: κανένα (nom./acc.)

It must agree in gender, number and case with the noun it modifies. πελάτης is masculine, accusative singular (πελάτη), so we use κανέναν:

• κανέναν πελάτη – no customer / not any customer.

Why is it κανέναν πελάτη (singular) when in English we say “no customers” (plural)?

Greek very often uses the singular with κανέναν / καμία / κανένα in negative sentences, even when English would naturally use the plural.

Literally, κανέναν πελάτη is “not even one customer”, but in normal English we usually say “no customers”. So:

• δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη ≈ “there are no customers (at all).”

You can also say:

• δεν έχει πελάτες – it doesn’t have (any) customers,

but δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη sounds a bit stronger/emphatic: not a single customer.

Why is it πελάτη and not πελάτης or πελάτες?

The base form of the word is:

• ο πελάτης – the customer (masculine, nominative singular).

In this sentence, it is the direct object, so it is in the accusative singular:

• Masculine nominative: ο πελάτης
• Masculine accusative: τον πελάτη

Since κανέναν already shows that it’s masculine accusative, the article τον is dropped:

• κανέναν πελάτη – not any customer.

So πελάτη is just the accusative singular form of πελάτης.

Do we need both δεν and κανέναν? Isn’t that a “double negative”?

Yes, Greek requires this kind of “double negation” in many cases. It is not considered incorrect; it is the normal grammar.

The pattern is:

• δεν
  • verb + κανένας / καμία / κανένα
    • noun

Examples:

• Δεν έχω κανένα πρόβλημα. – I don’t have any problem / I have no problem.
• Δεν είδα κανέναν φίλο μου. – I didn’t see any of my friends.

If you remove κανέναν, the sentence is still grammatical (δεν έχει πελάτες), but the meaning becomes a bit less emphatic. With κανέναν, it sounds like not even one.

Could we say δεν έχει πελάτες or δεν υπάρχουν πελάτες instead? Is there a difference?

Yes, both alternatives are possible, with slightly different feel:

1. Στην αγορά σήμερα δεν έχει πελάτες.

   • Very common in speech.
   • Neutral statement: there are no customers.

2. Στην αγορά σήμερα δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη.

   • Slightly stronger: not a single customer.

3. Στην αγορά σήμερα δεν υπάρχουν πελάτες.

   • More formal or “bookish”; explicitly uses υπάρχουν (there exist).
   • Often used in writing, news, or careful speech.

All three can describe the same situation; context and style determine which sounds most natural.

How do you pronounce Στην αγορά σήμερα δεν έχει κανέναν πελάτη?

A rough phonetic guide (in simple Latin letters):

• Στην – steen
• αγορά – a-gho-RA (gh like a soft French/Spanish g)
• σήμερα – SEE-me-ra (stress on σί: ΣΉ-με-ρα)
• δεν – then (like English then, but with softer th)
• έχει – E-chi (Greek χ is like the German ch in Bach)
• κανέναν – ka-NE-nan
• πελάτη – pe-LA-ti

Primary word stresses:

• στην αγορΆ σΉμερα δΕν Έχει κανΈναν πελΆτη

Each word has one stressed syllable; sentence rhythm is quite regular and smooth.