Learn Hardcore Greek: Όταν βρίσκω μετά από μήνες αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα, αισθάνομαι περήφανος για τις πρώτες μου λέξεις. - When I find this secret note after months, I feel proud of my first words.

Όταν βρίσκω αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα, αισθάνομαι περήφανος.
= Whenever I happen to find this hidden note, I feel proud. (general, repeated)
Όταν βρω αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα, θα αισθανθώ περήφανος.
= When I (eventually) find this hidden note, I will feel proud. (one specific future event)
Όταν βρήκα αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα, αισθάνθηκα περήφανος.
= When I found this hidden note, I felt proud. (one specific past event)

So βρίσκω is correct because the sentence describes what regularly or typically happens, not one particular past or future time.

What is the role of Όταν here, and how is it different from αν or όποτε?

Όταν introduces a time clause: it means when (in the sense of “whenever, at the time that”).

Όταν βρίσκω …, αισθάνομαι …
= When / Whenever I find …, I feel …

Differences:

αν = if (condition, not time)
- Αν βρω το σημείωμα, θα χαρώ. = If I find the note, I’ll be happy.
όποτε = whenever (often a bit more explicitly “every time that”)
- Όποτε βρίσκω το σημείωμα, χαμογελώ. = Whenever I find the note, I smile.

In many cases of repeated events, όταν and όποτε overlap; όποτε simply emphasizes the idea of every time a little more. Using αν here would make it sound conditional rather than purely temporal.

Why is μετά από μήνες placed between βρίσκω and αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα? Is that the normal word order?

Greek word order is quite flexible. All of these are possible and natural:

Όταν βρίσκω μετά από μήνες αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα…
Όταν μετά από μήνες βρίσκω αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα…
Όταν βρίσκω αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα μετά από μήνες…

μετά από μήνες = after months (have passed), and it’s an adverbial phrase of time. In Greek:

Time expressions can come before or after the verb.
They can also appear between the verb and its object, as here.

So the placement here is natural; it slightly highlights the time span (“after months”) by putting it early in the clause, but does not change the basic meaning.

What exactly does μετά από μήνες mean, and how is it different from things like σε λίγους μήνες?

μετά από μήνες literally means “after months”, with the idea that:

a long time (several months) passes, and
only then something happens.

Nuances:

μετά από μήνες = after (some) months, after months have gone by (open quantity, but feels long)
μετά από μερικούς μήνες = after a few months (more explicit: a few)
σε λίγους μήνες = in a few months (looking forward from now: in a few months’ time)

So μετά από μήνες focuses on the elapsed time before the finding of the note, not on a precise number or on a planned future moment.

Why is it αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα and not just κρυφό σημείωμα? What is the function of αυτό and the article το together?

αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα = this hidden note.

In modern Greek, demonstratives like αυτός / αυτή / αυτό usually appear together with the definite article:

αυτό το σημείωμα = this note
εκείνο το σημείωμα = that note

Structure:

αυτό = this
το = the (neuter singular article)
κρυφό = hidden (adjective, neuter singular)
σημείωμα = note (neuter singular noun)

So the pattern is:

αυτό(ς/ή/ό) + definite article + adjective + noun

Using just κρυφό σημείωμα would mean “a hidden note” in a more generic sense, without the “this” reference and without clearly indicating you mean a specific, known note.

What is the difference between κρυφό σημείωμα, κρυμμένο σημείωμα, and μυστικό σημείωμα?

All three could be translated as “secret/hidden note”, but the nuances differ:

κρυφό σημείωμα
- κρυφό = hidden, secret
- Focuses on the secret character; it’s something that is kept from others, not openly visible or known.
κρυμμένο σημείωμα
- κρυμμένο = hidden (physically put somewhere so it can’t easily be found)
- Emphasizes the act of hiding it: it’s been stashed away, tucked somewhere.
μυστικό σημείωμα
- μυστικό = secret
- Stresses that the content or purpose is secret, like a secret message.

In this sentence κρυφό σημείωμα nicely combines the ideas of both “hidden away somewhere” and “not meant for everyone to see,” without focusing narrowly on either the physical act (κρυμμένο) or the message content (μυστικό).

Why is αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα in that form? Which case is it, and how can I tell?

αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb βρίσκω (I find).

You can see it from:

The article το: nominative and accusative neuter singular both use το, but here position and function show it’s the object.
The pronoun αυτό and adjective κρυφό agree in gender (neuter), number (singular), and case (accusative) with σημείωμα.

So the pattern is:

(Εγώ) βρίσκω [τι;] αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα.
- I find [what?] this hidden note.

In Greek, the direct object of a verb like βρίσκω normally appears in the accusative.

Why is it αισθάνομαι περήφανος and not just είμαι περήφανος or νιώθω περήφανος?

All three are possible, but with slightly different flavors:

αισθάνομαι περήφανος
- Literally “I feel proud.”
- Slightly more formal/neutral than νιώθω, but very common.
- Focuses on the emotional state you experience at that moment.
νιώθω περήφανος
- Also “I feel proud,” often a bit more colloquial/spoken.
είμαι περήφανος
- “I am proud.”
- Describes more of a lasting quality or state, not so tied to a specific trigger moment.

In this specific sentence, αισθάνομαι περήφανος ties the emotion directly to the action Όταν βρίσκω … (when I find it, that’s when I feel proud), so it’s a natural choice.

Why is the adjective περήφανος masculine? What if the speaker is a woman?

περήφανος agrees in gender, number, and case with the (understood) subject εγώ (I).

If the speaker is a man:
- αισθάνομαι περήφανος (masculine singular)
If the speaker is a woman:
- αισθάνομαι περήφανη (feminine singular)

Greek adjectives must match the subject:

Masculine: περήφανος
Feminine: περήφανη
Neuter: περήφανο

So the form tells you the gender of the speaker (or the subject), even though the pronoun εγώ is not explicitly written.

Why do we say αισθάνομαι περήφανος για…? Do we always use για with περήφανος?

Yes, the typical pattern in Greek is:

είμαι / αισθάνομαι / νιώθω περήφανος/-η/-ο για κάτι
= be / feel proud of something

So:

αισθάνομαι περήφανος για τις πρώτες μου λέξεις.
= I feel proud of my first words.

The preposition για here corresponds to English for or of, introducing the reason or cause of the pride. This is the natural construction with περήφανος.

Why is it τις πρώτες μου λέξεις and not something like πρώτες λέξεις μου without the article?

In Greek, when you have:

adjective + noun + possessive pronoun (like “my”),
you normally also use the definite article.

So:

τις πρώτες μου λέξεις is the standard pattern:
- τις = the (fem. plural accusative)
- πρώτες = first (fem. plural adjective)
- μου = my (enclitic possessive)
- λέξεις = words (fem. plural noun)

Patterns you will often see:

τις πρώτες μου λέξεις
τις πρώτες λέξεις μου

Both are correct; the article τις is almost always present when speaking about specific “first words” that “I” have, not just any random first words.

Saying just πρώτες λέξεις μου without the article sounds incomplete or unidiomatic in standard modern Greek in this context.

What case and gender are τις πρώτες μου λέξεις, and why?

τις πρώτες μου λέξεις is:

Feminine plural accusative

Breakdown:

λέξη (word) is a feminine noun.
- Singular: η λέξη (nominative), τη λέξη (accusative)
- Plural: οι λέξεις (nom.), τις λέξεις (acc.)
τις: definite article, feminine plural accusative
πρώτες: adjective πρώτος (first), feminine plural accusative
λέξεις: noun, feminine plural accusative
μου: possessive pronoun “my” (doesn’t change form, but agrees logically with “λέξεις”)

It’s accusative because it is the object of για:

για + accusative:
- για [τι;] τις πρώτες μου λέξεις.
- for / about [what?] my first words.

Is there any difference between τις πρώτες μου λέξεις and τα πρώτα μου λόγια?

Both can mean “my first words”, but there is a nuance:

λέξεις
- More formal / literal: individual words as language units.
- Often associated with reading, writing, vocabulary, etc.
λόγια
- More colloquial / general: the things you say, utterances.
- Can feel warmer or more emotional, and is very common in speech.

So:

τις πρώτες μου λέξεις might suggest the very first words you learned or wrote (e.g., as a language learner).
τα πρώτα μου λόγια might suggest the first things you said (perhaps as a child, or the first things you said in Greek).

In this sentence about a κρυφό σημείωμα, λέξεις fits nicely, because you picture the written words on the note.

Can the clauses be reversed, as in Αισθάνομαι περήφανος για τις πρώτες μου λέξεις όταν βρίσκω…? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can reverse them:

Όταν βρίσκω μετά από μήνες αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα, αισθάνομαι περήφανος…
Αισθάνομαι περήφανος για τις πρώτες μου λέξεις, όταν βρίσκω μετά από μήνες αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα.

Both are grammatically correct and keep essentially the same meaning:

The first version (original) puts more emphasis on the condition/time first: When I find it, (then) I feel…
The second version starts with the emotion and then adds the time clause as extra information.

This kind of clause order flexibility is very common in Greek.

Why is there a comma before αισθάνομαι περήφανος?

The comma separates:

the subordinate time clause:
Όταν βρίσκω μετά από μήνες αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα

from

the main clause:
αισθάνομαι περήφανος για τις πρώτες μου λέξεις.

In Greek punctuation, it’s standard to put a comma after an initial subordinate clause (introduced by όταν, αν, επειδή, etc.) when it comes before the main clause.

If you reversed the order:

Αισθάνομαι περήφανος για τις πρώτες μου λέξεις όταν βρίσκω μετά από μήνες αυτό το κρυφό σημείωμα.

You would usually not put a comma before όταν in this position. The comma helps clarify the sentence structure and makes it easier to read.