Learn Hardcore Greek: Νιώθω πιο ασφαλής όταν ξέρω ότι υπάρχει φύλακας στην παιδική χαρά και ότι τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο. - I feel safer when I know there is a guard at the playground and that the children don’t go near the road.

νιώθω is more common and a bit more informal/neutral in everyday speech.
- Νιώθω κρύο. – I feel cold.
- Νιώθω χαρούμενος. – I feel happy.
αισθάνομαι can sound slightly more formal or introspective, sometimes used for physical sensations or emotions too:
- Αισθάνομαι πόνο στο πόδι. – I feel pain in my leg.
- Αισθάνομαι άσχημα γι’ αυτό. – I feel bad about this.

In this context, νιώθω is the most natural everyday choice, but αισθάνομαι would also be grammatically correct.

What exactly does πιο ασφαλής mean, and why isn’t it ασφαλέστερος?

Both forms are correct comparatives of ασφαλής (“safe”):

πιο ασφαλής = safer / more safe
ασφαλέστερος = safer (more formal, more “traditional” comparative)

Modern Greek usually prefers πιο + adjective for comparisons, especially in everyday speech:

πιο μεγάλος rather than μεγαλύτερος (though both are used)
πιο ενδιαφέρον rather than ενδιαφερέστερος

So:

Νιώθω πιο ασφαλής = I feel safer. (normal, colloquial)
Νιώθω ασφαλέστερος = I feel safer. (correct but more formal or bookish)

That’s why πιο ασφαλής is used here.

Why is the adjective ασφαλής in that form? Shouldn’t it change for gender and number?

Ασφαλής is an adjective of the type:

ο ασφαλής (masc. singular)
η ασφαλής (fem. singular)
το ασφαλές (neuter singular)

In the sentence, the subject is (εγώ) – “I”. The speaker can be male or female:

A man: Νιώθω πιο ασφαλής.
A woman: Νιώθω πιο ασφαλής.

The masculine and feminine nominative singular forms are identical: ασφαλής.

If the subject were neuter plural (e.g. “the children are safer”), you’d change it:

Τα παιδιά είναι πιο ασφαλή.

So here ασφαλής agrees with the (understood) subject εγώ in gender (masc. or fem.) and number (singular), and its nominative form happens to be ασφαλής in both masculine and feminine.

Why is όταν followed by ξέρω in the present tense, not something like a subjunctive form?

In Greek, όταν (“when”) with the present tense often describes situations that are:

habitual / general
or a condition that makes something else true

Όταν ξέρω… νιώθω… = “When I know…, I feel…”

There is no subjunctive after όταν in this type of sentence. You simply use the present indicative for a real-time or general condition:

Όταν πεινάω, τρώω. – When I am hungry, I eat.
Όταν δουλεύω, δεν μιλάω πολύ. – When I work, I don’t talk much.

Subjunctive with να is used after verbs that express wish, necessity, possibility, etc.:

Θέλω να ξέρω… – I want to know…
Πρέπει να ξέρω… – I must know…

But ξέρω ότι introduces a statement (“I know that…”), so using να there would be wrong.

What is the function of ότι here, and how is it different from πως?

In this sentence, ότι is a conjunction meaning “that”, introducing a clause that is the object of ξέρω (“I know”):

ξέρω ότι υπάρχει φύλακας… = I know that there is a guard…

You could also say:

ξέρω πως υπάρχει φύλακας…

Here πως (no accent) is effectively a synonym of ότι = “that”.

So:

ότι / πως (no accent) → conjunction = “that”
τι / πώς (with accent) → interrogative (“what / how”), used in questions or indirect questions.

In this sentence ότι (or πως) is not interrogative; it just introduces the content of what you know.

Why does it say υπάρχει φύλακας and not something like είναι φύλακας?

Υπάρχει is the standard way to say “there is” in Greek:

Υπάρχει φύλακας. – There is a guard.
Υπάρχουν παιδιά. – There are children.

Είμαι (“to be”) is used differently:

Είναι φύλακας. – He/She is a guard. (describing the person’s identity/profession)
Είναι παιδί. – He/She is a child.

In our sentence we are not describing who someone is; we’re saying that a guard exists / is present at the playground. So υπάρχει is the natural verb here.

Why is there no ένας before φύλακας? Shouldn’t it be υπάρχει ένας φύλακας for “there is a guard”?

Both are possible:

Υπάρχει φύλακας στην παιδική χαρά.
Υπάρχει ένας φύλακας στην παιδική χαρά.

Greek often omits the indefinite article (ένας / μία / ένα) when English would use “a/an”, especially when:

you are just stating existence in a neutral way:
- Υπάρχει πρόβλημα. – There is a problem.
the exact number is not important.

Adding ένας can:

slightly emphasize “one” guard (as opposed to more), or
sound a bit more specific: “there is one guard on duty”.

So the version without ένας is perfectly natural and quite common.

What does στην παιδική χαρά literally mean, and why is it one phrase for “playground”?

Literally:

στην = σε + την → “in/on/at the”
παιδική = “childish / children’s” (feminine adjective)
χαρά = “joy, happiness”

So παιδική χαρά literally is something like “children’s joy”, and the whole phrase στην παιδική χαρά = “at the playground”.

Over time, παιδική χαρά has become a fixed expression meaning “playground”, not “joy”. That’s why it functions as a standard noun phrase:

Πηγαίνουμε στην παιδική χαρά. – We go to the playground.
Υπάρχουν κούνιες στην παιδική χαρά. – There are swings in the playground.

The adjective παιδική agrees with χαρά (feminine singular).

Why is it στην and not just σε την before παιδική χαρά?

Στην is simply the contracted form of σε + την:

σε + την παιδική χαρά → στην παιδική χαρά
σε + τον δρόμο → στον δρόμο
σε + το σπίτι → στο σπίτι

In speech and writing, Greek almost always uses these contractions; the full σε την sounds overly careful or unnatural in normal sentences.

So στην παιδική χαρά is the standard form.

Why does the sentence repeat ότι: …και ότι τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο? Could it be left out?

The second ότι repeats the structure ξέρω ότι… και (ξέρω) ότι…:

ξέρω ότι υπάρχει φύλακας… και ότι τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο.

You are listing two things you know:

that there is a guard at the playground, and
that the children do not approach the road.

In Greek, the second ότι is:

Optional from a purely grammatical point of view:
- …ξέρω ότι υπάρχει φύλακας στην παιδική χαρά και τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο.
Often kept for clarity and rhythm, especially in writing or slightly more careful speech.

So it’s there to make the structure clear and balanced, but could be omitted in informal speech.

Why is it τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο and not τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν στο δρόμο?

The verb πλησιάζω means “to approach / to get close to”, and usually takes a direct object in the accusative, without a preposition:

Πλησιάζω τον δρόμο. – I approach the road.
Μη με πλησιάζεις. – Don’t come near me.
Το καράβι πλησιάζει το νησί. – The ship is approaching the island.

Using σε is possible in some contexts (e.g. motion toward a place in a looser sense), but with πλησιάζω + a specific object like τον δρόμο, the natural pattern is no preposition, just accusative:

Τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο. – The children do not go near the road.

That’s why τον δρόμο (accusative with definite article) is used directly after πλησιάζουν.

Why is τον δρόμο used with the definite article τον here? In English we might just say “near the road / near the street” or even “near roads” in general.

Greek uses the definite article much more often than English, including in fairly general statements.

Here, τον δρόμο can be understood as:

the road near the playground (specific in the context), or
“the road” in a general, typical sense – the nearby traffic area children should avoid.

In Greek you very often say:

Τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο.
Μην πετάς σκουπίδια στον δρόμο. – Don’t throw rubbish in the street.

Leaving out the article (δρόμο) would sound incomplete or unnatural in this context. So the article τον is the normal, expected choice.

Why is it τα παιδιά and not just παιδιά; does the article mean specific children?

Τα παιδιά can mean:

specific children previously known from the context, or
children in a more general or “group” sense, especially when we are talking about all the children in this situation.

In this sentence, it most naturally refers to:

the children at the playground (all of them, in that situation)

Greek tends to use the definite article with plural nouns in these generic or situational cases:

Τα παιδιά πρέπει να κοιμούνται νωρίς. – Children should sleep early.
Οι άνθρωποι φοβούνται το άγνωστο. – People fear the unknown.

So τα παιδιά is normal and does not necessarily mean “some very specific children we’ve already named”; it can be “the children (in this context / in general)”.

Is the word order Νιώθω πιο ασφαλής όταν ξέρω… ότι τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο fixed, or could parts of it move?

Greek word order is fairly flexible, but the given order is the most natural here.

Possible, but less common or more emphatic variants:

Όταν ξέρω ότι υπάρχει φύλακας στην παιδική χαρά και ότι τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο, νιώθω πιο ασφαλής.
(Fronting the όταν-clause for emphasis on the condition.)

Within the clauses, you can also move the subject for emphasis:

Τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο. (neutral)
Δεν πλησιάζουν τα παιδιά τον δρόμο. (emphasizes the children as the ones who don’t approach)

However, the original order:

Νιώθω πιο ασφαλής όταν ξέρω ότι υπάρχει φύλακας… και ότι τα παιδιά δεν πλησιάζουν τον δρόμο.

is smooth, neutral, and the most typical in everyday speech.