Learn Hardcore Greek: Στην τσάντα μου έχω μια παλιά κασετίνα όπου κρύβω ένα κρυφό σημείωμα με ελληνικές λέξεις. - In my bag I have an old pencil case where I hide a secret note with Greek words.

Τσάντα is grammatically feminine. In Greek, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. You usually learn the gender together with the noun.

Clues for gender:

Many feminine nouns end in -α or -η:
- η τσάντα, η πόλη, η κασετίνα, η λέξη
Masculine often ends in -ος, -ας, -ης
Neuter often ends in -ο, -ι, -μα

Here the article and adjective agree with the gender of τσάντα:

η τσάντα (the bag)
την τσάντα (accusative, as in our sentence: Στην τσάντα)
η παλιά τσάντα (the old bag)

So: it’s feminine, so you must use η / την and feminine adjective forms that match it.

Why is μου after τσάντα instead of before it, like in English my bag?

In Greek, the unstressed possessive pronoun usually comes after the noun:

η τσάντα μου = my bag
το σπίτι σου = your house
το βιβλίο του = his book

So instead of my bag, Greek literally says the bag my.

Here:

Στην τσάντα μου = In my bag

Μου is the genitive of εγώ (I), used as a weak possessive. It always follows the noun in this typical pattern and doesn’t require a separate word for my.

What’s the difference between μια and η in μια παλιά κασετίνα?

Μια is the indefinite article = a / an.
Η is the definite article = the.

μια κασετίνα = a pencil case
η κασετίνα = the pencil case

In the sentence:

έχω μια παλιά κασετίνα = I have an old pencil case

You’re introducing it as something not specific/known, so you use μια, not η.

What does παλιά mean, and why is it before κασετίνα? How does the adjective agree?

Παλιός / παλιά / παλιό means old.

Adjectives in Greek agree with the noun in:

Gender (masc / fem / neuter)
Number (singular / plural)
Case (nominative / accusative / etc.)

The base pattern is:

Masculine: παλιός
Feminine: παλιά
Neuter: παλιό

Our noun κασετίνα is feminine singular accusative, so the adjective is:

μια παλιά κασετίνα (feminine singular accusative)

Position: adjectives can go before or after the noun, but before is very common:

μια παλιά κασετίνα = an old pencil case
μια κασετίνα παλιά = also possible, but emphasizes old more, or sounds slightly more expressive.

What exactly is a κασετίνα? Is it about cassettes?

In modern everyday Greek, κασετίνα usually means a pencil case or pen case, especially one used at school to hold pens, pencils, erasers, etc.

It’s not typically used for cassette tapes in modern usage; for tapes you’d usually hear κασέτα (cassette). Historically the words are related, but in current language:

κασετίνα = pencil case / small case for stationery
κασέτα = cassette (audio tape, video cassette, etc.)

What does όπου do here? How is it different from που?

Όπου is a relative word that means where / in which and introduces a relative clause tied to a place (or sometimes time/situation):

μια παλιά κασετίνα όπου κρύβω…
= an old pencil case where I hide…

Που is a more general relative pronoun, usually meaning that / who / which:

η κασετίνα που έχω = the pencil case that I have
ο άνθρωπος που είδα = the man that I saw / whom I saw

In this sentence, όπου emphasizes the location (inside the pencil case). You could say:

μια παλιά κασετίνα στην οποία κρύβω… (more formal)
μια παλιά κασετίνα που κρύβω μέσα της… (less natural here)

But όπου is the natural, concise way to say where in this context.

Why is the verb κρύβω used and not something like κρύβομαι?

Κρύβω is active voice: I hide (something).
Κρύβομαι is middle/passive voice: I hide (myself) / I am hidden.

In this sentence:

κρύβω ένα κρυφό σημείωμα
= I hide a secret note (I am the one doing the hiding, and the note is the object)

If you used κρύβομαι, it would mean I hide myself:

όπου κρύβομαι = where I hide (myself)

So κρύβω is correct because you hide the note in the pencil case.

Why is it ένα κρυφό σημείωμα and not ένα κρυμμένο σημείωμα?

Both are grammatically correct, but they have slightly different nuances:

κρυφό σημείωμα = secret note, a note that is meant to be secret, not publicly known
κρυμμένο σημείωμα = hidden note, a note that is physically hidden somewhere

In context, we often talk about secret notes, so κρυφό σημείωμα sounds more idiomatic.

Some contrasts:

κρυφός έρωτας = secret love (people don’t know about it)
κρυμμένος θησαυρός = hidden treasure (literally hidden)

Here, κρυφό stresses its secret nature; κρυμμένο would stress the fact that it has been physically hidden by someone.

What gender is σημείωμα, and how does that affect ένα κρυφό?

Σημείωμα (note, written message) is neuter.

So:

Nominative: το σημείωμα
Accusative: το σημείωμα (same form)
Indefinite: ένα σημείωμα

The adjective κρυφός / κρυφή / κρυφό adapts to match the neuter noun:

Masculine: κρυφός (ο κρυφός φίλος)
Feminine: κρυφή (η κρυφή πόρτα)
Neuter: κρυφό (το κρυφό σημείωμα)

And the article/pronoun also matches neuter accusative:

ένα κρυφό σημείωμα

So all three (ένα, κρυφό, σημείωμα) are neuter singular accusative, agreeing with each other.

What does με mean in με ελληνικές λέξεις? Does it literally mean with?

Yes. Με is the preposition with.

με ελληνικές λέξεις = with Greek words

Here it has the sense of containing / made up of / full of:

a note with Greek words = a note that contains Greek words

You could also say:

ένα σημείωμα γεμάτο ελληνικές λέξεις = a note full of Greek words
ένα σημείωμα με πολλές ελληνικές λέξεις = a note with many Greek words

Why is there no article before ελληνικές λέξεις? Why not με τις ελληνικές λέξεις?

In Greek, when you talk about indefinite plural nouns in a general, non-specific sense, it’s common to omit the article:

λέξεις = (some) words
ελληνικές λέξεις = Greek words (not specific ones)

So:

με ελληνικές λέξεις = with Greek words

If you said:

με τις ελληνικές λέξεις = with the Greek words

…it would sound like you mean some specific, known set of words that both speakers have in mind. That doesn’t fit the general meaning here, so no article is more natural.

Why are ελληνικές and λέξεις in the plural, and how do they agree?

Λέξη (word) is feminine:

Singular: η λέξη (the word)
Plural: οι λέξεις (the words), accusative plural τις λέξεις

In our sentence, λέξεις is in the accusative plural (because it follows the preposition με, which takes the accusative).

The adjective ελληνικός / ελληνική / ελληνικό (Greek) agrees with λέξεις:

Feminine plural accusative: ελληνικές λέξεις

So both are:

feminine
plural
accusative

That’s why the form is ελληνικές λέξεις.

Can I change the word order to something like Έχω στην τσάντα μου μια παλιά κασετίνα…? Is that still correct?

Yes, Greek word order is relatively flexible. You can say:

Στην τσάντα μου έχω μια παλιά κασετίνα όπου κρύβω ένα κρυφό σημείωμα…
Έχω στην τσάντα μου μια παλιά κασετίνα όπου κρύβω ένα κρυφό σημείωμα…

Both are grammatically correct. The original order slightly emphasizes in my bag by putting it first. The alternative starts more neutrally with I have.

What you cannot do is break the basic groups in unnatural ways, but reordering larger units like:

Στην τσάντα μου (prepositional phrase)
έχω (verb)
μια παλιά κασετίνα (object noun phrase)

…is normally fine.

Why are the nouns after σε and με in the accusative case?

In modern Greek, prepositions almost always take the accusative case.

So:

σε
- accusative:
- στην τσάντα (from την τσάντα)
- στο σπίτι (from το σπίτι)
με
- accusative:
- με ελληνικές λέξεις (from τις ελληνικές λέξεις, but article omitted)

That’s a general rule to remember: for the vast majority of everyday prepositions (σε, με, για, από, χωρίς, κτλ.), the noun they introduce is in the accusative case.