Learn Hardcore Greek: Η γιαγιά μου είναι συνταξιούχος, αλλά κρατάει συχνά τα παιδιά της θείας μου και τα πηγαίνει στην παιδική χαρά με το καρότσι. - My grandmother is retired, but she often looks after my aunt’s children and takes them to the playground with the stroller.

Η γιαγιά μου είναι συνταξιούχος, αλλά κρατάει συχνά τα παιδιά της θείας μου και τα πηγαίνει στην παιδική χαρά με το καρότσι.

My grandmother is retired, but she often looks after my aunt’s children and takes them to the playground with the stroller.

Breakdown of Η γιαγιά μου είναι συνταξιούχος, αλλά κρατάει συχνά τα παιδιά της θείας μου και τα πηγαίνει στην παιδική χαρά με το καρότσι.

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Questions & Answers about Η γιαγιά μου είναι συνταξιούχος, αλλά κρατάει συχνά τα παιδιά της θείας μου και τα πηγαίνει στην παιδική χαρά με το καρότσι.

Why does the sentence say Η γιαγιά μου with the article Η? In English we just say “my grandmother”, not “the my grandmother”.

Modern Greek normally uses the definite article with specific people, even when there is a possessive:

η γιαγιά μου = my grandmother
ο πατέρας μου = my father
η φίλη μου = my (female) friend

Leaving out the article (γιαγιά μου) is possible, but it’s much less neutral:

γιαγιά μου! – sounds more like direct address (“grandma!”), or a more emotional / poetic style.

As the subject of a normal sentence, the idiomatic form is Η γιαγιά μου είναι…, with the article. Greek and English just differ here: Greek keeps the article; English drops it.

Why does the possessive μου come after the noun (γιαγιά μου, θείας μου) instead of before it like in English (my grandmother, my aunt)?

The short possessive forms in Greek (μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους) are unstressed clitics and almost always come after the noun they modify:

η γιαγιά μου – my grandmother
η θεία μου – my aunt
τα παιδιά της θείας μου – my aunt’s children

You cannot say *μου γιαγιά or *μου θεία in normal Greek. The order is always:

article + noun + (other modifiers) + possessive clitic

When you want to stress the possessor (e.g. my grandmother, not someone else’s), you can use the “strong” possessive:

η δική μου γιαγιά – my own grandmother

But even there, the possessive still follows the noun.

What exactly is συνταξιούχος here? Is it an adjective or a noun, and why doesn’t it change form for the feminine?

συνταξιούχος is a common‑gender noun meaning “retired person, pensioner”. It has the same form for both men and women:

ο συνταξιούχος – the (male) pensioner
η συνταξιούχος – the (female) pensioner

In the sentence:

Η γιαγιά μου είναι συνταξιούχος

συνταξιούχος is a predicate noun linked to the subject by είναι (is). The subject is clearly feminine (η γιαγιά μου), but the noun συνταξιούχος itself doesn’t change shape between masculine and feminine; the gender is shown by the article (ο / η) and by the context.

So the structure is like:

Η γιαγιά μου (subject)
είναι (linking verb “is”)
συνταξιούχος (predicative noun: “a pensioner / retired”)

Does κρατάει literally mean “holds”? How does it come to mean “looks after / babysits” here?

The verb κρατάω / κρατώ has several related meanings, including:

to hold
- Κρατάω το βιβλίο. – I’m holding the book.
to keep, to retain
- Κρατάω τις αποδείξεις. – I keep the receipts.
to last (for time)
- Η ταινία κρατάει δύο ώρες. – The film lasts two hours.
to look after / babysit (colloquial, with children)
- Κρατάω τα παιδιά. – I’m looking after the children / babysitting.

In the sentence:

…κρατάει συχνά τα παιδιά της θείας μου…

it’s clearly this 4th, everyday meaning: she looks after or babysits the children. Context (children + then taking them to the playground) makes that interpretation natural.

So yes, the basic idea is “to hold/keep”, and from that you get “to keep the children with you and take care of them” → to babysit / mind the kids.

Is there any difference between κρατάει and κρατά? Which should I use?

Both forms are correct 3rd‑person singular present of κρατάω / κρατώ:

κρατάει – more colloquial/spoken spelling
κρατά – a bit more formal/“cleaner” spelling

In everyday modern Greek:

κρατάει is extremely common in speech and informal writing.
κρατά is also used, especially in more formal writing, but you’ll hear it in speech too.

Meaning and grammar are identical. For speaking and casual writing, you can safely use κρατάει; just be aware you’ll also see κρατά in texts.

Can συχνά go in other positions, or must it be κρατάει συχνά?

Adverbs of frequency like συχνά (often) are quite flexible in Greek. All of these are natural:

Η γιαγιά μου συχνά κρατάει τα παιδιά της θείας μου…
Η γιαγιά μου κρατάει συχνά τα παιδιά της θείας μου…
Η γιαγιά μου κρατάει τα παιδιά της θείας μου συχνά… (a bit more emphasis on how often)

The most typical positions are:

Just after the subject
- Η γιαγιά μου συχνά κρατάει…
Just before the main verb
- Η γιαγιά μου κρατάει συχνά…

Putting συχνά right at the very end can sound slightly marked or emphatic, but it’s still grammatical. What you usually avoid is splitting the verb and its clitic pronoun:

ΤΑ συχνά κρατάει – unnatural; instead:
- Τα κρατάει συχνά…

Why is it τα παιδιά and not a masculine form, and how does that connect to the pronoun τα in τα πηγαίνει?

The noun παιδί (child) is neuter in Greek:

το παιδί – the child
τα παιδιά – the children (neuter plural)

Because παιδιά is neuter plural, it takes the neuter plural article τα:

τα παιδιά – the children

Later in the sentence, Greek uses a neuter plural object pronoun to refer back to these children:

τα πηγαίνει… – she takes them…

That τα is the clitic pronoun (not the article), but it has the same form as the neuter plural article. It must agree in gender and number with the noun it replaces:

τα παιδιά → τα (them)
If it were masculine plural (e.g. οι άντρες – the men), the pronoun would be τους:
- τους πηγαίνει… – she takes them (masc.)

In της θείας μου, why is θείας in the genitive case, and how do I make similar phrases like “my brother’s children”?

Greek normally uses the genitive case to express possession or relationships that English would show with ’s or of.

τα παιδιά της θείας μου
– literally: the children of my aunt
– English: my aunt’s children

Here:

της – feminine singular genitive article (“of the”)
θείας – genitive singular of η θεία (aunt)
μου – clitic possessive “my”

So the pattern is:

[possessed thing] + [article in genitive] + [possessor noun in genitive] + [possessive clitic]

For “my brother’s children”:

ο αδερφός – brother
Genitive singular: του αδερφού

So:

τα παιδιά του αδερφού μου – my brother’s children

A few common genitive patterns:

masculine: ο φίλος → του φίλου
feminine: η θεία → της θείας, η μαμά → της μαμάς
neuter: το παιδί → του παιδιού

Why is it στην παιδική χαρά and not σε την παιδική χαρά? What’s going on with the preposition and the article?

The preposition σε (in, at, to) contracts with the definite article in everyday Greek. So we don’t normally say σε την, but:

σε + την → στην
σε + τον → στον
σε + το → στο
σε + τους → στους
σε + τις → στις

Therefore:

σε την παιδική χαρά → στην παιδική χαρά – to the playground

You will almost always see the contracted forms (στον, στη(ν), στο, στους, στις). Writing σε την etc. is rare and usually either very old‑fashioned or used for special emphasis.

The phrase παιδική χαρά literally looks like “childish joy”. How does it mean “playground”?

Literally:

παιδική – child(ish), children’s (feminine adjective)
χαρά – joy

So παιδική χαρά is something like children’s joy. Over time, this became the set phrase for:

the place where children play (with swings, slides, etc.) → playground

In modern Greek, η παιδική χαρά is understood almost exclusively as the physical place (playground). You would not normally use it to mean “a child’s joy” in an emotional sense; for that you’d say:

η χαρά του παιδιού – the joy of the child / the child’s joy.

In και τα πηγαίνει στην παιδική χαρά, what exactly does τα replace, and why don’t we just repeat τα παιδιά?

Here τα is the neuter plural object pronoun (them) and it replaces τα παιδιά (the children).

We already introduced the children in:

…κρατάει συχνά τα παιδιά της θείας μου…

To avoid repeating the full noun phrase, Greek (like English) prefers a pronoun:

…και τα πηγαίνει στην παιδική χαρά…
– and she takes them to the playground.

If you said:

…και πηγαίνει τα παιδιά στην παιδική χαρά…

it would still be grammatical, but it feels slightly heavier and more repetitive. Also, without τα, πηγαίνει στην παιδική χαρά would mean simply “she goes to the playground”; the pronoun makes it clear it’s the children that she is taking.

Why is πηγαίνει used here and not πάει? Is there a difference between πάω and πηγαίνω?

πάω and πηγαίνω are very close in meaning; both translate as “go” or “take (someone) somewhere”.

Present tense 3rd person singular:

πηγαίνει – he/she/it goes, takes
πάει – he/she/it goes, takes

In modern spoken Greek:

πάω / πάει is shorter and extremely common in everyday speech.
πηγαίνω / πηγαίνει can sound a bit more formal or careful, but is also fully normal.

In a sentence expressing a habitual action (something she does regularly), both are fine:

τα πηγαίνει στην παιδική χαρά
τα πάει στην παιδική χαρά

Here πηγαίνει just happens to be used; there is no important meaning difference.

What does με mean in με το καρότσι? Is it “with (together with)” or “by means of”?

The preposition με covers both:

with (accompaniment) – together with someone
- Πάω με τη φίλη μου. – I’m going with my friend.
with / by (instrument, means) – using something
- Πάω με το αυτοκίνητο. – I’m going by car.

In:

…τα πηγαίνει στην παιδική χαρά με το καρότσι.

με το καρότσι is mainly instrumental: she takes them using the stroller / pushchair. She’s transporting them in the stroller.

If you said στο καρότσι, that would mean into the stroller (location), not by means of the stroller. So με το καρότσι is the natural way to say by stroller / in the stroller here.

Could we leave out είναι and say Η γιαγιά μου συνταξιούχος, αλλά… like in English “My grandmother, a pensioner, but …”? If not, why?

In standard Greek, a finite clause like this normally needs the verb είναι:

Η γιαγιά μου είναι συνταξιούχος…

If you drop είναι:

*Η γιαγιά μου συνταξιούχος, αλλά…

it sounds incomplete or like a note/telegram style, not like a normal sentence.

There are ways to make something similar to English apposition, but you have to change the structure, for example:

Συνταξιούχος πλέον, η γιαγιά μου κρατάει…
Now retired, my grandmother often looks after…

Here, Συνταξιούχος πλέον is an initial phrase, and later you have a full clause with a proper verb. But in the original structure, είναι cannot simply be omitted in natural modern Greek.