Learn Hardcore Greek: Σήμερα νιώθω πολλή ένταση στη δουλειά και το βράδυ θέλω μόνο να χαλαρώσω στο σαλόνι. - Today I feel a lot of tension at work and in the evening I just want to relax in the living room.

νιώθω is slightly more common and a bit more colloquial in everyday speech.
αισθάνομαι can sound a little more formal or “careful”, but it’s also normal in daily use.

In this sentence, you can absolutely say:

Σήμερα αισθάνομαι πολλή ένταση στη δουλειά…

Both are correct. In practice:

Feelings, emotions, physical sensations:
- Νιώθω κούραση. / Αισθάνομαι κούραση. = I feel tiredness.
- Νιώθω χαρά. / Αισθάνομαι χαρά. = I feel joy.

So yes, αισθάνομαι works here, but νιώθω is a very natural everyday choice.

Why is εγώ (I) not written? How do we know it means “I feel a lot of tension”?

In Greek, subject pronouns (εγώ, εσύ, αυτός, etc.) are usually dropped, because the verb ending already shows the subject.

νιώθω ends in -ω, which is the 1st person singular ending: “I feel”.
If it were “you feel” (singular), it would be νιώθεις.
“He/she/it feels” would be νιώθει.

You can include εγώ for emphasis:

Εγώ σήμερα νιώθω πολλή ένταση… = I today feel a lot of tension… (contrast or emphasis)

But in neutral sentences, Greek normally just uses the verb form:

Νιώθω κρύο. = I feel cold.
Θέλω καφέ. = I want coffee.

So we know it’s “I” from the verb ending, not from a separate pronoun.

Why is it στη δουλειά and not σε τη δουλειά? What happened to σε and τη?

Greek often contracts the preposition σε (“in, at, to”) with the definite article that follows.

σε + τη(ν) → στη(ν)
σε + το → στο
σε + τον → στον
σε + τις → στις
σε + τους → στους

So:

σε τη δουλειά → στη δουλειά (at work)
σε το σαλόνι → στο σαλόνι (in the living room)

You almost always use the contracted form in normal speech and writing. Saying σε τη δουλειά is technically understandable but sounds incorrect/unnatural.

Sometimes I see στην δουλειά with an -ν at the end. Why is it στη δουλειά here without the ν?

The -ν on την/στην/σαν/μην is often dropped before certain consonants in modern Greek, especially in informal writing.

General idea (simplified):

Before vowels and some consonants (κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ), many people keep the ν:
- στην καρέκλα (on the chair)
Before other consonants, many people drop it:
- στη δουλειά

So both:

στη δουλειά
στην δουλειά

are seen. In careful, more traditional writing people tend to keep the ν more often; in everyday modern usage, dropping it before δ (as in δουλειά) is very common.

In pronunciation, στη δουλειά and στην δουλειά sound almost the same.

Why do we say στη δουλειά for “at work”? Could we also say στην εργασία?

Δουλειά and εργασία are close in meaning but differ in register:

δουλειά = work, job – very everyday, informal, the normal word.
εργασία = work, task, job – more formal, often used in official contexts (contracts, homework, scientific “work”).

In real conversation, people almost always say:

Στη δουλειά = at work
Έχω πολλή δουλειά. = I have a lot of work.

You can say:

Στην εργασία μου = at my work/job

but it sounds more formal, bureaucratic, or “careful Greek”. For this sentence, στη δουλειά is exactly the natural choice.

Why is it το βράδυ (“the evening”) and not just βράδυ? In English we don’t use “the” there.

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, especially with times of day.

Very common patterns:

το πρωί = in the morning
το μεσημέρι = at noon
το απόγευμα = in the afternoon
το βράδυ = in the evening / at night

So:

Σήμερα νιώθω πολλή ένταση στη δουλειά και το βράδυ θέλω…
Literally: “Today I feel a lot of tension at work and the evening I want…”

But in natural English we say “and in the evening I want…”, without feeling the article as strongly. In Greek, leaving the article out here (βράδυ θέλω…) would sound abrupt and not idiomatic.

Why is θέλω followed by να χαλαρώσω? What is this να doing there?

In Greek, many verbs that are followed by another verb use the particle να before the second verb. This second verb is in what’s often called the “subjunctive” form.

θέλω να χαλαρώσω = I want to relax
θέλω να κοιμηθώ = I want to sleep
μπορώ να φύγω; = Can I leave?
πρέπει να διαβάσω = I must study

So να here is roughly equivalent to the English “to” when introducing another verb after certain verbs like θέλω (want), μπορώ (can), πρέπει (must), ελπίζω (hope), σκέφτομαι (I’m thinking of ~).

The structure is:

θέλω (I want) + να
- χαλαρώσω (I relax – subjunctive form)

Why is it να χαλαρώσω (aorist) and not να χαλαρώνω (present)? What’s the difference?

This is about aspect (how the action is viewed), not about tense or time.

χαλαρώνω = I relax (imperfective aspect, ongoing/habitual)
χαλαρώσω = relax (aorist aspect, single/complete event)

With θέλω να…, the aorist form is usually used when you mean “to relax (at some point, get relaxed)” as a goal or result:

Θέλω να χαλαρώσω.
I want to (be able to) relax, to get to a relaxed state.

If you said:

Θέλω να χαλαρώνω.

it would sound more like “I want to be relaxing (as an ongoing activity / in general)”, or even like “I wish my general state/occupation was relaxing”. It’s possible but much less natural in this sentence about tonight’s plan.

So in this context (tonight, one event), the aorist χαλαρώσω is the normal choice.

Why is μόνο placed before να χαλαρώσω and not after it, like θέλω να χαλαρώσω μόνο?

Μόνο usually goes before the word or phrase it limits.

Here, it limits the verb phrase “to relax in the living room” – that is the only thing you want to do.

θέλω μόνο να χαλαρώσω στο σαλόνι
= I only want to relax in the living room.
(I don’t want to do anything else.)

If you say:

θέλω να χαλαρώσω μόνο στο σαλόνι

now μόνο directly limits στο σαλόνι:

I want to relax only in the living room (not elsewhere: not in the bedroom, not outside).

Both are grammatically correct, but:

The original sentence focuses on only wanting one activity.
The second focuses on only one place for that activity.

So the position of μόνο changes the emphasis.

Why στο σαλόνι? Is this again a contraction like στη δουλειά?

Yes. It’s the same pattern with σε + article:

σε + το → στο

So:

στο σαλόνι = in the living room / on the couch area
στο σπίτι = at home / in the house
στο γραφείο = at the office / at the desk

The underlying words are σε (in/at/to) + το (the – neuter singular). But they are almost always written and said as στο. Writing σε το σαλόνι would sound wrong in normal Greek.

What exactly does σαλόνι mean? Is it always “living room”?

Σαλόνι usually means “living room / lounge” – the main sitting room in a house or apartment.

Depending on context, it can also mean:

A more formal sitting room / salon.
In shops: a big showroom (e.g. έπιπλα σαλονιού = living-room furniture).

In everyday home context, though:

στο σαλόνι = in the living room (where the couch, TV, etc. are).

So in this sentence it’s the regular “living room”.

Why is the verb νιώθω in the present tense if the whole day “today” is involved? Would Greek ever use a different tense here?

Using the present (νιώθω) here is perfectly natural because it describes your current state today:

Σήμερα νιώθω πολλή ένταση… = Today I feel a lot of tension…

If you wanted to talk about a completed past day, you might use the past tense:

Σήμερα ένιωσα πολλή ένταση στη δουλειά.
= Today I felt a lot of tension at work.
(Looking back at the day.)

But as long as you’re in the day and talking about your ongoing feeling, present tense is the normal choice.

Greek present covers “right now” but very often also “today, these days, lately”, depending on the context, just like English present can (“This week I feel very stressed”).

Could I say Έχω πολλή ένταση στη δουλειά instead of νιώθω πολλή ένταση στη δουλειά?

Yes, you can, but there’s a nuance difference:

Νιώθω πολλή ένταση = I feel a lot of tension (focus on your subjective experience).
Έχω πολλή ένταση στη δουλειά = I have a lot of tension / there is a lot of tension at work (more like an objective situation).

Both are understandable and can be used, sometimes even interchangeably. In a sentence about your personal state and how your day feels, νιώθω is slightly more direct and emotional.

Could I use the word στρες instead of ένταση to say “stress”?

Yes, στρες is very common in modern Greek and comes straight from English “stress”.

Differences:

ένταση = tension, intensity
- Can be emotional tension, nervous tension, tension in a room or situation, also physical (muscle tension).
στρες = stress (psychological/mental stress, pressure)

In your sentence, you could say:

Σήμερα νιώθω πολύ στρες στη δουλειά…
(here you’d use πολύ because στρες behaves like a neuter, indeclinable loanword)

Both work; ένταση sounds slightly more general (“tension”), στρες is specifically “stress” in the modern sense.