Learn Hardcore Greek: Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει καλύτερα κρέας, αλλά εγώ προτιμώ απλά λαχανικά. - My mom cooks meat better, but I prefer simple vegetables.

Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει καλύτερα κρέας, αλλά εγώ προτιμώ απλά λαχανικά.

My mom cooks meat better, but I prefer simple vegetables.

Breakdown of Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει καλύτερα κρέας, αλλά εγώ προτιμώ απλά λαχανικά.

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Questions & Answers about Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει καλύτερα κρέας, αλλά εγώ προτιμώ απλά λαχανικά.

What is the difference between μαμά and μητέρα, and which one should I use?

Both μαμά and μητέρα mean mother, but they differ in tone and formality.

μαμά = mum / mom
- Informal, affectionate, used in everyday family speech.
- Very common when speaking about or to your own mother.
μητέρα = mother
- More formal, a bit distant or official.
- Used in more formal contexts, official documents, or when you want to sound more serious.

In normal conversation about your own mother, Η μαμά μου is the most natural choice.

Why is there a definite article (Η) before μαμά μου? We don’t say “The my mom” in English.

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, especially with people and family members.

Η μαμά μου literally is “the mom my”, but it just means “my mom”.
In Greek, when you talk about specific people (your mother, your friend, etc.), you almost always use the definite article.

So:

Η μαμά μου = my mom (natural and normal)
Μαμά μου without the article would usually be vocative, as in calling her:
- Μαμά μου! = Mum! (addressing her directly)

As a subject of the sentence, Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει… is the standard form.

How does μου express “my”? Why does it come after the noun?

In Greek, possession is usually shown with a clitic pronoun like μου (my), σου (your), του (his/its), etc. These go after the noun, not before it.

η μαμά μου = the mom my → my mom
το σπίτι μου = the house my → my house

Key points:

μου never changes form (there is no “μας / μοι / μυν” type variation).
It is unstressed in normal speech and “leans” on the noun for its stress (that’s what clitic means).
You don’t need an extra word like of: you don’t say η μαμά από μένα, just η μαμά μου.

So μου always follows the noun and means my or of me.

What tense are μαγειρεύει and προτιμώ, and what kind of meaning do they give here?

Both μαγειρεύει and προτιμώ are in the present simple tense (ενεστώτας) in Greek.

(αυτός/αυτή) μαγειρεύει = he/she cooks / is cooking
(εγώ) προτιμώ = I prefer

In Greek, the present tense is used for:

Habitual/general actions
- Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει καλύτερα κρέας
  = My mom cooks meat better (in general).
Actions happening right now
- Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει τώρα
  = My mom is cooking now.

Greek doesn’t have a separate present continuous form like English; context tells you whether it’s general or “right now”. In this sentence, it’s clearly about general preference and ability.

Why is it καλύτερα and not καλύτερη or πιο καλό? What exactly is καλύτερα?

καλύτερα is the comparative form of the adverb καλά (well).

καλά = well
καλύτερα = better (in the sense of more well)

In the sentence:

μαγειρεύει καλύτερα κρέας = she cooks meat better (she cooks it more well).

Compare:

καλός / καλή / καλό (adjective) = good
- καλύτερος / -η / -ο (comparative adjective) = better
καλά (adverb) = well
- καλύτερα (comparative adverb) = better

So:

Μαγειρεύει καλό κρέας. → She cooks good meat. (adjective)
Μαγειρεύει καλά. → She cooks well. (adverb)
Μαγειρεύει καλύτερα. → She cooks better. (comparative adverb)

πιο καλά (more well) is also used in everyday speech and is basically equivalent to καλύτερα.

Why is there no article before κρέας here? Could I say το κρέας instead?

κρέας is a mass noun (like meat, water, sugar in English). When we speak about meat in general, Greek often omits the article:

Τρώω κρέας. = I eat meat. (in general)
Μαγειρεύει καλύτερα κρέας. = She cooks meat better (than other things / in general).

If you say το κρέας, you are making it more specific:

Μαγειρεύει καλύτερα το κρέας.
This can sound like “she cooks the meat better (than someone else / than something else),” or “when it comes to meat, she’s better.”

Both are grammatically correct; the article-less κρέας sounds more like a general statement about meat as a type of food.

Is the word order μαγειρεύει καλύτερα κρέας natural? Could I move κρέας or καλύτερα somewhere else?

Yes, μαγειρεύει καλύτερα κρέας is acceptable and understandable, but Greek word order is flexible, and some alternatives may sound even more natural depending on emphasis. For example:

Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει το κρέας καλύτερα.
Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει καλύτερα το κρέας.

All of these are possible. The basic pattern is:

[Subject] [Verb] [Adverb] [Object]
or
[Subject] [Verb] [Object] [Adverb]

Moving καλύτερα changes the emphasis slightly, but not the core meaning. In normal conversation, you will often hear μαγειρεύει το κρέας καλύτερα or μαγειρεύει καλύτερα το κρέας.

Why is εγώ explicitly used? Could I just say …αλλά προτιμώ απλά λαχανικά?

In Greek, subject pronouns (εγώ, εσύ, αυτός…) are often dropped because the verb ending already shows the person:

προτιμώ by itself shows 1st person singular = I prefer.

So:

…αλλά προτιμώ απλά λαχανικά. is fully correct.

However, εγώ is used here for emphasis and contrast:

αλλά εγώ προτιμώ… = but *I, on the other hand, prefer…*

It highlights the contrast between Η μαμά μου and εγώ. So εγώ is not grammatically required, but it is stylistically useful to underline “she does X, but I do Y”.

What exactly does απλά mean here? Is it “simply”, “just”, or “simple vegetables”?

απλά comes from the adjective απλός (simple) and is used in two main ways:

As an adverb = simply, just
- Απλά προτιμώ λαχανικά.
  = I simply / just prefer vegetables.
As an adjective in the plural neuter = simple
- απλά λαχανικά could also be understood as simple vegetables (e.g. not fancy, not in a complicated recipe).

In everyday speech, when someone says:

…αλλά εγώ προτιμώ απλά λαχανικά.

it very often means:

but I just prefer vegetables (nothing else / nothing fancy).

Context and intonation decide whether it sounds more like “just” or “simple”, but most learners can safely read it as “just” here.

Note: a more “careful” adverb form is απλώς (simply), but απλά is extremely common in spoken Greek.

Why does λαχανικά also have no article? How is that different from τα λαχανικά?

λαχανικά is a countable plural noun (vegetables), but when we speak about a category in general, Greek can also omit the article, similar to English:

Προτιμώ λαχανικά. = I prefer vegetables (in general).
Μου αρέσουν λαχανικά. = I like vegetables (as a general type of food).

With the article, τα λαχανικά, it can sound more specific or more like “vegetables” as a known set or category:

Προτιμώ τα λαχανικά. can be understood as I prefer vegetables (as a group) as opposed to meat, etc.

In practice, both are common; without the article it feels a bit more indefinite/generic: just vegetables, in general.

What grammatical forms are κρέας and λαχανικά here (case, number, gender)?

Both κρέας and λαχανικά are direct objects, so they are in the accusative case.

κρέας
- Gender: neuter
- Number: singular
- Case: accusative singular
- Dictionary form: το κρέας
λαχανικά
- Gender: neuter
- Number: plural
- Case: accusative plural
- Dictionary form: το λαχανικό (singular), τα λαχανικά (plural)

Neuter singular κρέας and neuter plural λαχανικά both end in -ς or -ά in the accusative, which is typical for neuter nouns.

What does προτιμώ mean exactly, and how is it different from μου αρέσουν τα λαχανικά?

προτιμώ means “I prefer”, i.e. I like X more than Y.

Εγώ προτιμώ απλά λαχανικά.
= I prefer just vegetables. (implies: rather than meat / rather than other things)

μου αρέσουν τα λαχανικά means “I like vegetables” (they are pleasing to me), without necessarily comparing them to something else.

Compare:

Μου αρέσουν τα λαχανικά. = I like vegetables.
Προτιμώ τα λαχανικά. = I prefer vegetables (to something else, usually meat).

In this sentence, προτιμώ is good because it contrasts with the mom’s ability to cook meat well: even though she’s good with meat, I still choose vegetables instead.

Why is the article Η used with μαμά, but there is no article with εγώ? Aren’t they both subjects?

Yes, both Η μαμά μου and εγώ function as subjects, but they are different types of words:

Η μαμά μου is a noun phrase, and nouns in Greek almost always use an article when they are definite (especially people).
εγώ is a personal pronoun, and personal pronouns do not take an article. You never say το εγώ when you just mean “I”.

So:

Η μαμά μου μαγειρεύει… (noun phrase with article)
…αλλά εγώ προτιμώ… (pronoun, no article)

Both are subjects, but only the noun phrase needs the definite article.