Learn Hardcore Greek: Όταν χτυπούσε το κουδούνι για διάλειμμα, νιώθαμε ότι η ώρα δεν είχε διαρκέσει πολύ. - When the bell rang for break, we felt that the time had not lasted long.

“Whenever the bell would ring for break…”
“When the bell rang (each time, regularly)…”
It describes a repeated situation (every time there was a break).

If we said Όταν χτύπησε το κουδούνι, with the aorist χτύπησε, it would usually refer to one specific event:

“When the bell rang (that one time)…”

So χτυπούσε fits better because school bells for breaks are a regular, repeated event.

Why is νιώθαμε (imperfect) used instead of νιώσαμε for “we felt”?

νιώθαμε is also in the imperfect, indicating:

a repeated feeling (every time the bell rang)
or a state that lasted for some time

The idea is: each time the bell rang, “we felt that the time hadn’t lasted long”.

If you used the aorist νιώσαμε, it would usually suggest a single, completed emotional reaction to one event:

Όταν χτύπησε το κουδούνι, νιώσαμε…
“When the bell rang, we felt…” (once)

In the given sentence, both the ringing and the feeling are habitual/typical, so the imperfect (χτυπούσε, νιώθαμε) is natural.

What is the role of όταν here, and how do the tenses after όταν affect the meaning?

Όταν means “when” and can introduce:

Generic / repeated past
- Όταν χτυπούσε το κουδούνι, νιώθαμε…
  “When(ever) the bell rang, we felt…”
  Here the imperfect (χτυπούσε, νιώθαμε) shows a repeated situation.
A single completed past event
- Όταν χτύπησε το κουδούνι, νιώσαμε…
  “When the bell rang, we felt…”
  Here the aorist (χτύπησε, νιώσαμε) usually refers to one particular moment.

So:

όταν + imperfect → “whenever / each time in the past”
όταν + aorist → “when (on that occasion)”

In your sentence, the writer is talking about the typical pattern at school, so όταν + imperfect is appropriate.

What exactly does για διάλειμμα mean? Why use για here?

για διάλειμμα literally means “for break / for recess”.

The preposition για often shows:

purpose (“for, in order for”)
or intended use

Here, το κουδούνι για διάλειμμα = “the bell (that is) for break”, i.e.:

the bell whose purpose is to signal the break

It’s similar to English:

“the bell for recess”
“the lunch bell”

You could also say το κουδούνι του διαλείμματος, but το κουδούνι για διάλειμμα sounds very natural and focuses more on the function of the bell (it rings to start break).

In η ώρα δεν είχε διαρκέσει πολύ, what does η ώρα mean here? Is it literally “the hour”?

η ώρα in Greek can mean several related things:

Clock hour – “It’s three o’clock.” → Είναι τρεις η ώρα.
A specific time/moment – “The time has come.” → Ήρθε η ώρα.
A period of time, not necessarily exactly 60 minutes.

In your sentence, η ώρα is the lesson / class period / time since the last break.
So η ώρα δεν είχε διαρκέσει πολύ ≈ “the time (lesson) hadn’t lasted long.”

Greeks often say:

Πότε πέρασε η ώρα; – “How did the time pass so quickly?”
Η ώρα πέρασε γρήγορα. – “Time went by quickly.”

So it’s not strictly “hour” but more like “that time period”.

What tense is είχε διαρκέσει, and how is it formed from διαρκώ?

είχε διαρκέσει is the pluperfect (past perfect) of διαρκώ (“to last, to endure”).

Formation:

διαρκώ → perfective stem διαρκέσ-
third person singular aorist: διάρκεσε
pluperfect: είχε διαρκέσει = “had lasted”

Structurally:

είχε (past of “have”) + διαρκέσει (perfective non‑finite form)

Function: The pluperfect is used for an action that was already completed before another past reference point.

Timeline here:

The lesson had lasted (completed duration in the past).
Then the bell rang and we felt that the time had not lasted long.

So it parallels the English past perfect:

“the time had not lasted long.”

Why pluperfect δεν είχε διαρκέσει instead of something simpler like δεν διήρκεσε or δεν διαρκούσε?

Each choice gives a slightly different nuance:

δεν είχε διαρκέσει (pluperfect)
- “had not lasted”
- action already completed before the moment of feeling
- emphasizes that, by the time the bell rang, the period was already over and its total length (in hindsight) felt short.
δεν διήρκεσε πολύ (aorist)
- “did not last long”
- views the duration as a single completed fact in the past, not as “past of a past”
- closer to a simple narrative statement about that period.
δεν διαρκούσε πολύ (imperfect)
- “was not lasting long”
- would sound like you are describing the ongoing duration at some point, not necessarily the total completed period.
- less natural with a bell that ends the period.

In this sentence, using the pluperfect nicely mirrors English:

“We felt that the time had not lasted long.”

Could I replace δεν είχε διαρκέσει πολύ with δεν είχε κρατήσει πολύ? Is κρατάω a good substitute for διαρκώ here?

Yes, δεν είχε κρατήσει πολύ is very natural and idiomatic:

κρατάω / κράτησα can mean “to last (in time)” in everyday speech.
διαρκώ is a bit more formal/literary, though still common.

So you could say:

νιώθαμε ότι η ώρα δεν είχε κρατήσει πολύ
“we felt that the time hadn’t lasted long.”

Both are correct; the difference is mainly tone:

διαρκώ → slightly more formal / neutral
κρατάω → very common, colloquial or neutral everyday Greek

What is the function of ότι in νιώθαμε ότι η ώρα δεν είχε διαρκέσει πολύ? Can I use πως instead? And how is this different from ό,τι?

Here, ότι introduces a content clause (object clause) after νιώθαμε:

νιώθαμε ότι… = “we felt that…”

In this use:

ότι ≈ “that” in English

You can often replace it with πως in similar sentences:

νιώθαμε πως η ώρα δεν είχε διαρκέσει πολύ.

In modern Greek, ότι and πως are usually interchangeable when they mean “that” (introducing reported content), though ότι is slightly more formal/standard.

Be careful with ό,τι (with a comma):

ό,τι = “whatever / anything that”
It’s not the same as ότι (“that”).
Example: Κάνε ό,τι θέλεις. – “Do whatever you want.”

Can I change the word order and say Όταν το κουδούνι χτυπούσε για διάλειμμα? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Όταν το κουδούνι χτυπούσε για διάλειμμα…

Both:

Όταν χτυπούσε το κουδούνι…
Όταν το κουδούνι χτυπούσε…

are grammatically correct and mean the same thing: “When the bell was ringing / rang for break…”.

Greek word order is relatively flexible. The difference here is only a tiny shift in emphasis:

χτυπούσε το κουδούνι – very neutral narration order: verb + subject
το κουδούνι χτυπούσε – slightly more focus on “the bell” as the subject

In context, they are essentially interchangeable.

Who is the subject of νιώθαμε? There’s no εμείς – how do I know it means “we felt”?

In Greek, subject pronouns (like εγώ, εσύ, αυτός, εμείς) are usually dropped, because the verb ending already shows person and number.

νιώθω – I feel
νιώθεις – you (sing.) feel
νιώθει – he/she/it feels
νιώθουμε – we feel
νιώθετε – you (pl.) feel
νιώθουν(ε) – they feel

Past imperfect:

νιώθαμε → 1st person plural → “we were feeling / we felt (repeatedly)”

So:

νιώθαμε ότι η ώρα δεν είχε διαρκέσει πολύ.
= Εμείς νιώθαμε ότι η ώρα δεν είχε διαρκέσει πολύ.

The εμείς is understood from the verb ending and usually omitted unless you want to emphasize we (as opposed to someone else).