Learn Hardcore Greek: Προσπαθώ να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα με τη φίλη μου, εκτός αν εκείνη έχει βάρδια και δουλεύει μέχρι αργά. - I try to speak Greek every day with my friend, unless she has a shift and works until late.

So να μιλάω is the natural way in Greek to say to speak in this kind of construction after προσπαθώ (I try). The να itself is not translated directly; it is a marker that introduces this kind of subordinate (subjunctive) clause.

In this sentence, προσπαθώ να μιλάω ελληνικά literally feels like I try that I speak Greek, which we render in English as I try to speak Greek.

What is the difference between να μιλάω and να μιλήσω after προσπαθώ?

This is a question of aspect (imperfective vs aorist):

να μιλάω (imperfective) focuses on an ongoing or repeated action.
- προσπαθώ να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα
  → I try to keep speaking Greek / speak Greek habitually every day.
να μιλήσω (aorist) focuses on a single, complete event.
- προσπαθώ να μιλήσω ελληνικά με τον γιατρό
  → I’m trying to (manage to) speak Greek with the doctor (this one time).

In your sentence, the action is a regular habit (κάθε μέρα), so the imperfective να μιλάω is the natural choice.

Why is it μιλάω ελληνικά and not μιλάω τα ελληνικά or μιλάω στα ελληνικά?

Greek treats language names in a few different ways, and they are not always interchangeable:

μιλάω ελληνικά
- Literally: I speak Greek (as a language / I know how to speak it).
- No article, just the bare language name.
- This is what you normally use when talking about your ability or habit:
  - μιλάω ελληνικά, αγγλικά και γαλλικά – I speak Greek, English, and French.
μιλάω στα ελληνικά
- Literally: I speak in Greek.
- Focus is on the medium of communication at a particular time.
- Often used when choosing which language to use in a specific situation:
  - Θες να μιλήσουμε στα ελληνικά ή στα αγγλικά;
    Do you want us to speak in Greek or in English?
μιλάω τα ελληνικά
- This is rarely used in everyday speech and usually sounds odd or marked.
- With an article, it can sound like I speak the Greek (language) in a more technical or old‑fashioned context, but it’s not what learners should aim for in normal conversation.

So, in a sentence about a daily habit and language ability, μιλάω ελληνικά is exactly what you want.

Why is ελληνικά in the plural? Isn’t Greek singular?

In Greek, many language names are neuter plural in form:

τα ελληνικά – Greek
τα αγγλικά – English
τα γαλλικά – French

When you say μιλάω ελληνικά, you are using the neuter plural form ελληνικά but without the article τα. Grammatically it is still a plural form, even though in English Greek is singular and uncountable.

This is just a structural difference between the two languages. You do not need to translate the plurality; you just remember that in Greek, language names often appear in this neuter‑plural shape.

Why is it κάθε μέρα and not something like καθημερινά? Are they different?

Both are correct, but they are slightly different structures:

κάθε μέρα – literally: every day
- κάθε = every, each
- μέρα = day (informal for ημέρα)
- Very direct, everyday expression: κάθε μέρα πηγαίνω στη δουλειά.
καθημερινά – an adverb meaning daily / on a daily basis
- Μιλάω ελληνικά καθημερινά – I speak Greek daily / on a daily basis.

In your sentence:

προσπαθώ να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα sounds perfectly natural and conversational.
προσπαθώ να μιλάω ελληνικά καθημερινά is also correct, but a little more “neutral/formal” or stylistic.

So there is no grammatical problem with either; κάθε μέρα is simply the more common everyday phrasing.

How does με τη φίλη μου work grammatically? Where is of in my friend?

The phrase με τη φίλη μου breaks down like this:

με – with
τη – the (feminine, singular, accusative form of the article)
φίλη – friend (female)
μου – my

Greek expresses possession using short pronouns after the noun, not with a separate word of or a possessive adjective my in front:

η φίλη μου – my friend (literally: the friend my)
το σπίτι μας – our house (literally: the house our)
το βιβλίο σου – your book

When you add a preposition like με (with), the noun phrase goes into the appropriate case (here, accusative), but the structure stays:

με τη φίλη μου – with my (female) friend
με τον φίλο μου – with my (male) friend
με το παιδί μου – with my child

Does η φίλη μου necessarily mean my girlfriend, or can it just be my (female) friend?

η φίλη μου can mean either:

my (female) friend (platonic), or
my girlfriend.

Context, tone, and sometimes extra words clarify the meaning:

Clearly romantic:
- η κοπέλα μου – my girlfriend
- η σχέση μου – my partner (romantic)
Clearly platonic, if context makes it clear:
- η φίλη μου από τη δουλειά – my friend from work
- μια πολύ καλή φίλη μου – a very good (female) friend of mine

In your sentence, με τη φίλη μου is ambiguous on its own; it could be either. Native speakers would determine the meaning from broader context.

Why do we say εκτός αν εκείνη έχει βάρδια? What exactly does εκτός αν mean?

εκτός αν means unless or except if. It introduces a condition that blocks the main statement:

Προσπαθώ να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα … εκτός αν εκείνη έχει βάρδια.
I try to speak Greek every day … unless she has a shift.

You will also hear:

εκτός κι αν – very common, a bit more colloquial, same meaning as εκτός αν.

Do not confuse this with:

εκτός από – except for / apart from (not conditional)
- Μιλάω όλες τις γλώσσες εκτός από τα γαλλικά.
  I speak all the languages except French.

So in this sentence, εκτός αν is exactly the right way to say unless.

Why is the pronoun εκείνη used here? Could we just say εκτός αν έχει βάρδια?

Yes, you can say simply:

… εκτός αν έχει βάρδια και δουλεύει μέχρι αργά.

Greek usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person:

έχει – he has / she has / it has
δουλεύει – he works / she works / it works

The pronoun εκείνη is added for:

Clarity: to remind you we are talking about she (the friend), not someone else.
Emphasis or contrast: like saying unless she has a shift (as opposed to me, you, etc.).

You could also hear εκτός αν αυτή έχει βάρδια; αυτή and εκείνη are both third‑person feminine pronouns. εκείνη can sound a bit more pointed or contrastive (a bit like that one / that woman), but in everyday speech here it is just “she”, slightly emphatic.

What does έχει βάρδια literally mean? Can I say something else for she has a shift?

έχει βάρδια is a very standard way to say she is on shift / she has a (work) shift.

έχει – has
βάρδια – (work) shift, duty period

Common alternatives:

είναι σε βάρδια – she is on shift
είναι σε νυχτερινή βάρδια – she is on night shift

You might also hear:

δουλεύει σε βάρδιες – she works in shifts (in general, as a job pattern)

In your sentence, έχει βάρδια focuses on that particular day’s shift, which fits nicely with κάθε μέρα and the idea of a daily routine with exceptions.

Why is the article τη and not την in με τη φίλη μου?

The full form of the feminine accusative singular article is:

την (for feminine singular accusative)

However, in actual spoken Greek, and often in informal writing, the final -ν is dropped before many consonants:

την φίλη μου → τη φίλη μου
την πόρτα → τη πόρτα

Both την φίλη μου and τη φίλη μου are grammatically correct; τη φίλη μου is simply the more natural, everyday pronunciation and spelling.

There are some rules about when the -ν is usually kept (before vowels, certain consonants like κ, π, τ, ξ, ψ, μπ, ντ, γκ, τσ, τζ), but in real life you will see and hear both forms a lot. In this sentence, τη φίλη μου is absolutely fine and very common.

What exactly does μέχρι αργά mean, and can it go in other positions in the sentence?

μέχρι αργά means until late.

μέχρι – until, up to
αργά – late (adverb; from adjective αργός)

So δουλεύει μέχρι αργά = she works until late (implicitly: late at night / late in the evening).

You can move μέχρι αργά a bit in the sentence, though the given order is very natural:

… εκτός αν εκείνη έχει βάρδια και δουλεύει μέχρι αργά.
… εκτός αν εκείνη έχει βάρδια και μέχρι αργά δουλεύει. (possible, but more marked/emphatic)

Other common variants with similar meaning:

δουλεύει ως αργά – works until late
δουλεύει μέχρι αργά το βράδυ – works until late in the evening

In everyday speech, δουλεύει μέχρι αργά is short, natural, and idiomatic.

Is the word order fixed in Προσπαθώ να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα με τη φίλη μου? Could I move things around?

Greek word order is relatively flexible, especially with adverbials like κάθε μέρα and με τη φίλη μου. All of the following are possible and natural, with small differences in emphasis:

Προσπαθώ να μιλάω ελληνικά κάθε μέρα με τη φίλη μου.
Προσπαθώ να μιλάω κάθε μέρα ελληνικά με τη φίλη μου.
Προσπαθώ κάθε μέρα να μιλάω ελληνικά με τη φίλη μου.
Κάθε μέρα προσπαθώ να μιλάω ελληνικά με τη φίλη μου. (emphasis on every day)

What tends to stay together is the idea να μιλάω ελληνικά as a unit (to speak Greek), and με τη φίλη μου as another unit (with my friend). The exact adverb order around them can vary without changing the basic meaning.