Learn Hardcore Greek: Όποτε έρχεται ο ανιψιός μου, του φτιάχνω τηγανητές πατάτες, αν και δεν είναι πολύ υγιεινές. - Whenever my nephew comes, I make him French fries, even though they are not very healthy.

όποτε = whenever, any time that
It suggests something that can happen on any occasion, in general, often repeatedly.
- Όποτε έρχεται ο ανιψιός μου… = Whenever my nephew comes… (every time he comes, in general)
όταν = when (more neutral; can be for one specific time or in general, depending on context)
- Όταν έρθει ο ανιψιός μου… = When my nephew comes… (could be one particular visit, or general)

In this sentence, όποτε is chosen because the speaker is talking about a habitual action that happens every time he visits, not just one single future visit.

Why is the verb έρχεται in the present tense, when in English we’d probably say “whenever my nephew comes” (which can include the future)?

In Greek, the present tense is regularly used for habits and repeated actions, even if they include the future.

Όποτε έρχεται ο ανιψιός μου, του φτιάχνω…
Literally: Whenever my nephew comes, I make him…
This covers:
- what happens nowadays / usually
- what will continue to happen in the future, as a habit

This is very similar to English present simple for routines:

When he comes, I make him fries.

So έρχεται (present) plus όποτε naturally expresses a habitual, repeated event that can be ongoing into the future.

What does the του in του φτιάχνω mean? Why not just say φτιάχνω τηγανητές πατάτες?

του is a weak object pronoun (a “clitic” pronoun) and here it means “to him / for him”.

του φτιάχνω τηγανητές πατάτες
= I make him fried potatoes / I make fried potatoes for him.

Grammatically:

του = indirect object (to/for him)
τηγανητές πατάτες = direct object (what I make)

You could say:

Φτιάχνω τηγανητές πατάτες στον ανιψιό μου.
(I make fried potatoes for my nephew.)

But once “my nephew” is clear from context (already mentioned earlier in the sentence), Greek very naturally switches to the pronoun:

του φτιάχνω… = I make him…

Also note position: in standard word order, these weak pronouns usually go before the verb in simple present:

του φτιάχνω, του δίνω, του λέω etc.

Could we say φτιάχνω πατάτες τηγανητές instead of φτιάχνω τηγανητές πατάτες? Is there a difference?

Both orders are possible, but in this specific phrase there are some nuances:

τηγανητές πατάτες is the most common fixed phrase for “fried potatoes / fries” (like a chunk).
πατάτες τηγανητές is grammatically correct and understandable, but sounds less “ready‑made” as a set phrase and can feel a bit more descriptive (“potatoes that are fried”) rather than the standard food item.

In everyday Greek, people overwhelmingly say:

τηγανητές πατάτες, not πατάτες τηγανητές.

So the sentence uses the more usual, idiomatic word order.

Why is there no article before τηγανητές πατάτες? Why not του φτιάχνω τις τηγανητές πατάτες?

In Greek, the definite article (ο, η, το, οι, τις, τα) is not always used exactly like English “the”.

Here, no article is used because we’re talking about:

an indefinite / non‑specific quantity of fried potatoes
a general habit (“I make him fried potatoes (as a kind of food), whenever…”)

So:

του φτιάχνω τηγανητές πατάτες ≈ I make him (some) fried potatoes / I make him fries.

Using the definite article here:

του φτιάχνω τις τηγανητές πατάτες
would usually sound like referring to some particular fries already known in the context (e.g. “those fries we mentioned already”), which is not the idea.

For generic, habitual, or “some amount of” food, Greek often omits the article.

Why is there a comma before αν και? Does αν και literally mean “if and”?

αν και is a fixed conjunction meaning “although / even though”, not “if and”.

αν by itself usually means “if”.
και by itself usually means “and”.
But together as αν και, they form one unit: although, even though, though.

About the comma:

In Greek, a comma is normally placed before conjunctions that introduce a subordinate clause like “although”, “because”, “when (whenever)”, etc.
So:
…, αν και δεν είναι πολύ υγιεινές.
= “…, although they are not very healthy.”

This is parallel to English, where you often also put a comma before “although” when it comes in the middle of the sentence.

Why is it δεν είναι πολύ υγιεινές instead of something like είναι όχι πολύ υγιεινές?

Greek negation with verbs is normally done using δεν (or μη(ν) in some other structures), placed before the verb:

είναι υγιεινές = they are healthy
δεν είναι υγιεινές = they are not healthy

To say “not very healthy”, you simply insert πολύ after the verb:

δεν είναι πολύ υγιεινές
= they are not very healthy / they aren’t very healthy.

The pattern is:

δεν + verb + (degree word like πολύ) + adjective

Something like είναι όχι πολύ υγιεινές is technically understandable, but it’s not idiomatic and would sound awkward. The natural way is with δεν before the verb.

How do we know that υγιεινές refers to τηγανητές πατάτες, when πατάτες is not repeated?

Greek shows gender and number agreement in adjectives, so you can often drop the noun and keep the adjective, and listeners still know what you mean.

τηγανητές πατάτες:
- πατάτες = feminine, plural
- τηγανητές = feminine, plural (adjective agreeing with πατάτες)

Later, we have:

(αυτές) δεν είναι πολύ υγιεινές.

Here:

υγιεινές is feminine, plural.
So it agrees in gender and number with the understood subject (οι τηγανητές πατάτες) or (αυτές) “they (fem. pl.)”.

This is why you can omit πατάτες and still say υγιεινές; the adjective’s form tells you it’s referring back to a feminine plural noun, which in this context is clearly τηγανητές πατάτες.

Why is it ο ανιψιός μου and not μου ο ανιψιός, or just ανιψιός μου without the article?

In modern Greek, the normal order for “my X” is:

ο/η/το + noun + μου
e.g. ο αδερφός μου, η μητέρα μου, ο ανιψιός μου.

So:

ο ανιψιός μου = my nephew

Details:

ο is the definite article (masculine singular nominative)
ανιψιός = nephew
μου = my (here as a weak possessive pronoun after the noun)

You can in some contexts drop the article (e.g. είμαι ανιψιός σου = “I’m your nephew”), but when you refer to a specific family member as subject, the article is very standard and natural:

Ο ανιψιός μου έρχεται. = My nephew is coming.

The order μου ο ανιψιός is not normal in standard modern Greek; it would sound wrong or at least highly marked.

Could I replace αν και with another word like παρόλο που in this sentence? Would the meaning change?

Yes, you could say:

Όποτε έρχεται ο ανιψιός μου, του φτιάχνω τηγανητές πατάτες, παρόλο που δεν είναι πολύ υγιεινές.

αν και and παρόλο που are both translated as “although / even though”, but there is a slight nuance:

αν και: neutral, very common in both speech and writing.
παρόλο που: often feels a bit more emphatic (“even though / despite the fact that…”).

In practice here, the overall meaning doesn’t change:
You’re acknowledging a contrast between doing something (making fries) and the fact that they’re not very healthy.