Learn Hardcore Greek: Όποτε έχουμε καλεσμένους, η μαμά μου τους καλωσορίζει στην πόρτα με μεγάλη αγκαλιά. - Whenever we have guests, my mom welcomes them at the door with a big hug.

όταν = when (more neutral, can be for a single event or general truth).
όποτε = whenever / any time that, with a stronger feeling of repetition or whenever it happens.

In this sentence, both are possible, but:

Όποτε έχουμε καλεσμένους… emphasizes every time this situation occurs.
Όταν έχουμε καλεσμένους… can sound slightly more neutral, but in practice Greek speakers often use them interchangeably in such general statements.

Why do we say έχουμε καλεσμένους instead of something like έχουμε φιλοξενούμενους or just έχουμε επισκέπτες?

Literally, έχουμε καλεσμένους means “we have invited people”, but idiomatically it means “we have guests (over)”.

καλεσμένος comes from the verb καλώ (to invite), so καλεσμένος is “invited person” → guest.
έχουμε καλεσμένους is a very common everyday way to say:
- We are having guests (over).
- We have people over.

Alternatives:

έχουμε επισκέπτες – more like “we have visitors”, slightly more formal or neutral.
έχουμε φιλοξενούμενους – “we are hosting people”, emphasizes that they are staying with you (overnight or longer).

In casual family context, έχουμε καλεσμένους is the most natural.

What exactly is καλεσμένους grammatically (form, gender, case), and why is it in that form?

καλεσμένους is:

From the adjective/participle καλεσμένος (invited → guest).
Masculine, accusative, plural.

Full pattern:

Singular: καλεσμένος (masc. nom. sg.)
Plural nominative: καλεσμένοι
Plural accusative: καλεσμένους

In έχουμε καλεσμένους:

The direct object of έχουμε is καλεσμένους, so it must be in the accusative case.
It’s plural because we’re talking about more than one guest.
Masculine plural is used by default for mixed or unspecified groups of people in Greek, even if some or all guests are women.

What does η μαμά μου literally mean, and is it different from η μητέρα μου?

η μαμά μου = my mum / my mom (informal, affectionate).
η μητέρα μου = my mother (more formal or neutral).

Grammar:

η = feminine singular definite article (the).
μαμά = mom.
μου = my (an unstressed possessive pronoun after the noun).

So η μαμά μου literally is “the mom of me”, but it’s how Greek normally says my mom.

In this sentence, η μαμά μου fits perfectly because it’s a warm, everyday family context.

What does τους refer to, and why does it come before καλωσορίζει?

τους here means “them” and refers back to καλεσμένους (the guests).

Grammar and position:

τους is a clitic object pronoun, 3rd person plural, masculine (or mixed gender).
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb καλωσορίζει (she welcomes them).
In standard Greek, these little pronouns (με, σε, τον, την, το, μας, σας, τους, τις, τα) normally come before the verb:
- η μαμά μου τους καλωσορίζει = My mom welcomes them.

You cannot say η μαμά μου καλωσορίζει τους unless τους is a full noun (e.g. τους καλεσμένους), because the clitic pronoun must appear before the verb in this type of sentence.

What does καλωσορίζει mean, and which verb form is it?

καλωσορίζει means “(she) welcomes”.

It’s:

From the verb καλωσορίζω = to welcome.
3rd person singular, present tense, active voice:
- (εγώ) καλωσορίζω – I welcome
- (εσύ) καλωσορίζεις – you welcome
- (αυτός/αυτή/αυτό) καλωσορίζει – he/she/it welcomes

So η μαμά μου τους καλωσορίζει = My mom welcomes them (habitually, whenever there are guests).

The present tense in Greek also covers this kind of habitual action: what she usually does.

What does στην πόρτα mean, and what is στην exactly?

στην πόρτα means “at the door”.

στην is a contraction of:

σε (in, at, to) +
την (the, feminine accusative singular).

So:

σε την πόρτα → στην πόρτα.

Why accusative?

After the preposition σε, Greek usually uses the accusative case.
πόρτα is feminine, so την πόρτα is the correct form.

Meaning-wise, στην πόρτα is naturally translated as “at the door” in this context.

Why is there no article before μεγάλη αγκαλιά? Could we say με μια μεγάλη αγκαλιά?

The phrase με μεγάλη αγκαλιά literally is “with big hug”, but idiomatically it means “with a big hug”.

In Greek:

After με (with), you can sometimes omit the indefinite article (μια) when talking about the manner of doing something, especially with common, almost fixed expressions:
- με χαμόγελο – with a smile
- με αγάπη – with love
- με μεγάλη αγκαλιά – with a big hug

You can say:

με μια μεγάλη αγκαλιά – also correct, and slightly more “spelled out”.

The version με μεγάλη αγκαλιά sounds a bit more idiomatic and fluid here.

Why is it μεγάλη αγκαλιά and not something else? How do the adjective and noun agree?

μεγάλη αγκαλιά = big hug.

Agreement:

αγκαλιά (hug) is feminine, singular, accusative.
The adjective μεγάλη must match the noun in:
- Gender: feminine
- Number: singular
- Case: accusative

Feminine singular forms of μεγάλος (big):

Nominative: μεγάλη
Accusative: μεγάλη (same ending here)

So μεγάλη αγκαλιά is the correct match; you wouldn’t say μεγάλο αγκαλιά or μεγάλη αγκαλιές.

Is the word order fixed? Could we move parts of the sentence around?

The basic word order is:

Όποτε έχουμε καλεσμένους, η μαμά μου τους καλωσορίζει στην πόρτα με μεγάλη αγκαλιά.

Greek word order is fairly flexible, but:

The clitic pronoun τους must stay before the verb (here: καλωσορίζει) in this kind of sentence.
- ✅ η μαμά μου τους καλωσορίζει
- ❌ η μαμά μου καλωσορίζει τους (ungrammatical with the pronoun)
Some acceptable variations (with slightly different emphasis) could be:
- Όποτε έχουμε καλεσμένους, η μαμά μου τους καλωσορίζει με μεγάλη αγκαλιά στην πόρτα.
- Η μαμά μου, όποτε έχουμε καλεσμένους, τους καλωσορίζει στην πόρτα με μεγάλη αγκαλιά.

The original order is very natural and clear, so it’s a good model to copy.

Could we use όταν instead of όποτε here, and would the meaning change?

Yes, you could say:

Όταν έχουμε καλεσμένους, η μαμά μου τους καλωσορίζει στην πόρτα με μεγάλη αγκαλιά.

This is grammatically correct and very natural.

Meaning difference:

Όταν – when (can be used for both single and repeated situations).
Όποτε – whenever, every time that, a bit more explicitly repetitive or habitual.

In practice, in this specific sentence, both are often understood as “whenever we have guests…” and many speakers would not feel a strong difference in everyday usage.

How would I pronounce καλεσμένους and καλωσορίζει? Where is the stress?

Stress in Greek is shown by the accent mark.

καλεσμένους → ka-les-MÉ-nous
- Stress on -σμέ- (-smé-).
καλωσορίζει → ka-lo-so-RÍ-zi
- Stress on -ρί- (-rí-).

Each word has one stressed syllable, and you should make that one clearly stronger/longer when you pronounce it.