Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους.

I don’t easily talk with strangers.

Breakdown of Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους.

• δεν: not
• με: with
• μιλάω: to talk
• ο άνθρωπος: the person
• εύκολα: easily
• άγνωστος: strange

Questions & Answers about Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους.

What does each word in Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους literally mean, and what part of speech is it?

Word‑by‑word:

• Δεν – negative particle, equivalent to not / don’t. It goes before a verb.
• μιλάω – verb, I speak / I talk, 1st person singular, present tense (imperfective aspect).
• εύκολα – adverb, easily (from the adjective εύκολος = easy).
• με – preposition, with.
• άγνωστους – adjective, unknown / unfamiliar / strange, here masculine accusative plural to agree with ανθρώπους.
• ανθρώπους – noun, people / persons / human beings, masculine accusative plural (singular: άνθρωπος = person, human).

So a literal structure is:
Not I-speak easily with unknown people.

Why is the negative word δεν placed before μιλάω? Can it go somewhere else?

In modern Greek, the standard negative particle for verbs is δεν, and it is placed directly before the verb it negates:

• Δεν μιλάω. – I don’t speak.
• Δεν τρώω. – I don’t eat.
• Δεν καταλαβαίνω. – I don’t understand.

You cannot move δεν freely around the sentence the way you sometimes can in English. For example:

• Δεν μιλάω εύκολα… – correct
• Μιλάω δεν εύκολα… – incorrect

The only common variation is that in fast or informal speech, people often pronounce it as δε (without the final -ν), especially before certain consonants, but in writing δεν before a verb is the norm:

• Spoken: Δε μιλάω εύκολα…
• Written standard: Δεν μιλάω εύκολα…

What is the difference between μιλάω and μιλώ?

Both μιλάω and μιλώ mean I speak / I talk and are forms of the same verb.

• μιλάω – more common in everyday spoken Greek.
• μιλώ – slightly more formal or literary, but still very much in use.

This happens with many -άω verbs:

• ρωτάω / ρωτώ – I ask
• ζητάω / ζητώ – I ask for, I request
• συζητάω / συζητώ – I discuss

In this sentence, you could also say:

• Δεν μιλώ εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους.

Both are correct; μιλάω just sounds a bit more colloquial.

Why is it μιλάω με άγνωστους ανθρώπους? Could I say μιλάω σε instead?

The verb μιλάω can combine with different prepositions, and the preposition slightly changes the nuance:

• μιλάω με κάποιον – I talk with someone (conversation, two‑way interaction).
• μιλάω σε κάποιον – I talk to someone (I address them, I speak in their direction).

In most contexts of having a conversation, Greek prefers μιλάω με:

• Μου αρέσει να μιλάω με φίλους. – I like talking with friends.

Your sentence is about having conversations with strangers, so με is the natural preposition:

• Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους. – I don’t easily talk with strangers.

μιλάω σε would sound more like “I don’t easily address strangers,” which is possible but less neutral and less common for this generic idea.

What exactly does εύκολα do here, and why is it placed after μιλάω?

εύκολα is an adverb meaning easily. It modifies the verb μιλάω, so the basic meaning is:

• Δεν μιλάω εύκολα… – I do not talk easily …

In Greek, adverbs like εύκολα often come:

1. Right after the verb they modify:

   • Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους.

2. Or at the end of the sentence for emphasis:

   • Δεν μιλάω με άγνωστους ανθρώπους εύκολα.

The position in your sentence (after the verb, before the rest of the phrase) is the most common and neutral.
The meaning is: it’s not easy for me; I am not someone who easily gets into conversation with strangers.

Why are άγνωστους and ανθρώπους both masculine plural? Could this be singular instead?

In Greek, adjectives agree with the nouns they describe in:

• Gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
• Number (singular / plural)
• Case (nominative / accusative / etc.)

Here:

• άνθρωπος (person) is masculine
  → plural: άνθρωποι (nominative), ανθρώπους (accusative)
• άγνωστος (unknown) is also masculine in its base form
  → plural accusative masculine: άγνωστους

So you get:

• άγνωστους ανθρώπους – unknown people (masculine, accusative, plural, both words matched)

You could make it singular if you wanted to talk about one stranger:

• Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστο άνθρωπο. – I don’t easily talk with a stranger.

But the plural is more natural when you mean “strangers in general,” just like English often uses plural for general statements:
“I don’t talk easily with strangers.”

What grammatical case are άγνωστους ανθρώπους in, and why?

άγνωστους ανθρώπους are in the accusative plural masculine.

Reasons:

1. The preposition με (with) in Greek always takes the accusative case:

   • με + εμένα (acc.) – with me
   • με τον φίλο μου (acc.) – with my friend
   • με άγνωστους ανθρώπους (acc.) – with strangers

2. Because άνθρωπους is accusative, the adjective άγνωστους must agree and also be accusative plural masculine.

So the whole phrase με άγνωστους ανθρώπους is a prepositional phrase with + accusative: with strangers.

Can I leave out ανθρώπους and just say Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με αγνώστους?

Yes, and that is actually very common and perfectly natural.

• Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με αγνώστους.

Here, αγνώστους is used as a noun meaning strangers (literally “unknown ones”). Greek often uses adjectives as nouns when the meaning is clear:

• οι πλούσιοι – the rich
• οι ξένοι – foreigners / strangers
• οι άγνωστοι – the strangers

So both versions are correct:

• Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους.
• Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με αγνώστους.

The second one is a bit shorter and very natural in conversation.

How would the meaning or feel change if I moved εύκολα to the end: Δεν μιλάω με άγνωστους ανθρώπους εύκολα?

Both are grammatically correct:

1. Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους. – neutral word order.
2. Δεν μιλάω με άγνωστους ανθρώπους εύκολα. – same basic meaning, but εύκολα is now emphasized.

In (2), putting εύκολα at the end makes it feel a bit more contrastive, almost like:

• “I don’t talk to strangers easily, you know.”
• Implicitly: “If I do, it takes effort / special circumstances.”

In everyday speech, the original word order (with εύκολα after μιλάω) is slightly more common and neutral, but both are understood the same way.

How do you pronounce Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους?

Approximate pronunciation with stress marks:

• Δεν – /ðen/ (the δ is like English th in this)
• μιλάω – /miˈla.o/ or /miˈlao/ (stress on λά)
• εύκολα – /ˈefkola/ (stress on εύ; ευ before κ sounds like ef)
• με – /me/
• άγνωστους – /ˈaɣnostus/ (stress on άγ; γν pronounced /ɣn/)
• ανθρώπους – /anˈθropus/ (stress on θρώ; θ like th in think)

Spoken smoothly:

• /ðe(n) miˈlao ˈefkola me ˈaɣnostus anˈθropus/

In fast speech:

• The ν in δεν may be weakened or dropped: δε μιλάω…
• Some speakers pronounce μιλάω almost like μιλάω with a light glide (no strong break between the vowels).

Does this sentence basically mean “I am shy”? Are there other natural ways to say this idea in Greek?

The sentence:

• Δεν μιλάω εύκολα με άγνωστους ανθρώπους.

literally says:

• I don’t talk easily with strangers.

It implies something like I’m shy or I’m reserved around people I don’t know, but it focuses specifically on talking to strangers rather than on your general personality.

Other natural ways to express similar ideas:

• Είμαι ντροπαλός / ντροπαλή. – I’m shy. (masc. / fem.)
• Δυσκολεύομαι να μιλήσω με αγνώστους. – I find it difficult to talk to strangers.
• Δεν ανοίγομαι εύκολα σε ανθρώπους που δεν ξέρω. – I don’t open up easily to people I don’t know.

Your original sentence is very natural, especially when you want to emphasize the act of talking to strangers rather than labeling yourself as a generally shy person.