Learn Hardcore Greek: Η ανιψιά μου όμως είναι πολύ γενναία όταν πηγαίνει μόνη της στη σκηνή στο σχολείο. - My niece however is very brave when she goes alone onto the stage at school.

In the phrase Η ανιψιά μου, why do we need the article Η when we already have μου (“my”)? In English we just say “my niece”, not “the my niece”.

In Greek, a noun with a possessive pronoun almost always takes the definite article:

η ανιψιά μου = the niece of mine → “my niece”
ο αδελφός σου = the brother of yours → “your brother”
το σπίτι μας = the house of ours → “our house”

So the structure is really:

η (the) + ανιψιά (niece) + μου (of me / my)

Leaving out the article (ανιψιά μου) is possible, but it sounds:

vocative / exclamatory: Ανιψιά μου! = “My niece!” (calling her)
or poetic/unusual in normal sentences.

So in normal statements like this one, use the article with a possessive.

What does όμως mean exactly, and where can it go in the sentence?

Όμως means “however / though / but” and shows contrast with what was said before.

In your sentence:

Η ανιψιά μου όμως είναι πολύ γενναία...
→ “My niece, however, is very brave…”

Position is flexible. You could also say:

Όμως η ανιψιά μου είναι πολύ γενναία...
Η ανιψιά μου είναι όμως πολύ γενναία...

All are grammatical. The differences are mainly in rhythm and slight emphasis:

At the very beginning (Όμως η ανιψιά μου...) → stronger “However”.
After the subject (Η ανιψιά μου όμως...) → mild contrast, very common.
After the verb (είναι όμως...) → emphasizes the quality: “she is, however, very brave”.

In everyday speech, placing όμως after the subject (as in your sentence) is very typical.

Why is it γενναία and not γενναίος or γενναίο?

Γενναίος, γενναία, γενναίο is an adjective meaning “brave”:

masculine: γενναίος
feminine: γενναία
neuter: γενναίο

Adjectives in Greek agree with the noun they describe in:

gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
number (singular / plural)
case (nominative / accusative, etc.)

The subject is η ανιψιά (niece), which is:

feminine
singular
nominative (subject)

So the adjective must match:

η ανιψιά → γενναία
η ανιψιά μου είναι πολύ γενναία = “my niece is very brave”.

If it were “my nephew”, you’d say:

ο ανιψιός μου είναι πολύ γενναίος (masculine).

Why is it πολύ γενναία and not something like *πολλή γενναία? Does πολύ change for gender?

In this sentence, πολύ means “very” and functions as an adverb modifying the adjective γενναία.

As an adverb, πολύ is invariable:

πολύ γενναία = very brave (fem.)
πολύ γενναίος = very brave (masc.)
πολύ γενναίο = very brave (neut.)
μιλάει πολύ καλά = he/she speaks very well

When πολύς / πολλή / πολύ is an adjective meaning “many/much/a lot of”, then it does change:

πολύς κόσμος = a lot of people (masc.)
πολλή δουλειά = a lot of work (fem.)
πολύ νερό = a lot of water (neut.)

So:

Here it’s adverb → πολύ γενναία (“very brave”).
*πολλή γενναία would be wrong.

Why is there no word for “she” before πηγαίνει? How do we know it means “she goes”?

Greek is a “pro‑drop” language: subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, etc.) are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

The verb πηγαίνει is:

3rd person singular, present tense → “he/she/it goes”

So:

(αυτή) πηγαίνει = she goes
(αυτός) πηγαίνει = he goes

Greek normally leaves the pronoun out unless:

there is ambiguity,
or you want to emphasize it.

If you really want to stress she (as opposed to someone else), you can say:

Όταν αυτή πηγαίνει μόνη της... = “When she goes alone…” (emphatic).

What is the difference between πηγαίνει and πάει? Could the sentence use πάει instead?

Both πηγαίνει and πάει can translate as “(she) goes”.

πηγαίνει comes from πηγαίνω → more “standard/neutral”.
πάει comes from πάω → very common in everyday speech, often a bit more colloquial.

In your sentence, you could also say:

…όταν πάει μόνη της στη σκηνή στο σχολείο.

Meaning stays practically the same: “when she goes alone on stage at school”.

For learners, a rough guideline:

πηγαίνω = “to go (regularly / generally)”
πάω = also “to go”, used everywhere in modern Greek, especially in speech.

They overlap a lot; both are very common and acceptable.

How does όταν work here? Why is όταν πηγαίνει in the present tense?

Όταν means “when” (introducing a time clause).

In Greek, when you talk about general or repeated situations, you often use the present tense in both clauses:

Η ανιψιά μου είναι πολύ γενναία όταν πηγαίνει μόνη της στη σκηνή.
= “My niece is very brave when she goes alone on stage.”
(every time this happens / in general)

Compare:

Όταν πάει αύριο στη σκηνή, θα έχει τρακ.
= “When she goes on stage tomorrow, she will have stage fright.”
(specific future time; often with future or subjunctive)

So here όταν + present expresses a habitual / repeated situation.

What exactly is μόνη της? Why is it feminine, and how would it change with other people?

Μόνη της literally means “alone of-her” → “(all) alone / by herself”.

Structure:

μόνος, μόνη, μόνο = alone (adjective)
- weak genitive pronoun (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους)

Forms (singular):

μόνος μου = alone by myself (speaker is male)
μόνη μου = alone by myself (speaker is female)
μόνος σου / μόνη σου = alone by yourself
μόνος του = he alone / by himself
μόνη της = she alone / by herself ← in your sentence

Plural:

μόνοι μας = we alone / by ourselves (mixed or all-male group)
μὀνες μας = we (all women) alone / by ourselves
etc.

In your sentence the person is η ανιψιά (feminine), so we must use the feminine form:

μόνη της = “(all) by herself”.

Why is it στη σκηνή but στο σχολείο? What is στη / στο exactly?

Στη and στο are contractions of the preposition σε (“in, at, to”) + the definite article.

σε + τη(ν) → στη(ν) (feminine, singular, accusative)
σε + το → στο (neuter, singular, accusative)

So:

στη σκηνή = σε + τη σκηνή → “to/on the stage”
στο σχολείο = σε + το σχολείο → “to/at the school”

Both σκηνή and σχολείο are in the accusative case because preposition σε normally takes the accusative. The article shows gender and case:

τη σκηνή (feminine, accusative)
το σχολείο (neuter, accusative)

That’s why it’s στη (feminine) with σκηνή and στο (neuter) with σχολείο.

Could we write στην σκηνή instead of στη σκηνή? What’s happening with that final -ν?

Yes, you could write στην σκηνή; both στη σκηνή and στην σκηνή are acceptable.

What’s going on:

The full form is σε την σκηνή → στην σκηνή.
In modern Greek, the final -ν of την / έναν is often dropped unless the next word begins with:
- a vowel, or
- certain consonants (κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ)

Since σκηνή begins with σ, we may drop the ν:

στη σκηνή (common modern spelling)
στην σκηνή (more conservative / also correct)

In everyday modern writing you’ll most often see στη σκηνή.

Why do we say στο σχολείο with the article? Could we just say something like σε σχολείο for “at school”?

In Greek, with places like school, church, work, home, you normally still use the definite article, even when English would drop “the”:

στο σχολείο = at school
στη δουλειά = at work
στην εκκλησία = at church
στο σπίτι = (at) home / the house

So:

στο σχολείο is the normal, neutral way to say “at school”.
σε σχολείο = “at a school” (non‑specific school, one of many) – different meaning.

In your sentence στο σχολείο means “at (her) school / at school” in the general, usual sense.

What case are σκηνή and σχολείο in here, and how can I tell?

They are both in the accusative case.

Clues:

They follow the preposition σε, which normally takes the accusative.
The definite articles show the case:
- τη(ν) σκηνή → accusative, feminine singular
- το σχολείο → nominative/accusative, neuter singular (same form for both cases; context + preposition show it’s accusative)

So:

στη σκηνή = σε + τη σκηνή (accusative)
στο σχολείο = σε + το σχολείο (accusative)

Whenever you see σε + article + noun, assume the noun is in the accusative.